The golden rules of growth: Greig Clark

No one knows how to build a business better than the entrepreneurs behind some of Canada's most successful companies. These are their most powerful lessons. Greig Clark Managing partner Horatio Enterprise Fund; Founder, College Pro Painters Toronto Build a board of advisors "When I started College Pro Painters in 1971, I didn't have anybody to talk strategies and actions with, so I just did them. That's the classic entrepreneurial mistake, which might explain why the success rate for entrepreneurs is 10% to 15%. "But you can edge those percentages up by having a mentor or advisor whom you regularly meet with and can call out of the blue, even just to talk for 10 or 15 minutes. Often, saying something aloud to someone you trust can make things clearer in your own head. "But you can't do that with your own employees, it's hard to do in the parking lot by yourself, it really doesn't work with a spouse or partner, and if you do it with an ad hoc group, there's no consistency. "In 1986, I started meeting with people I trusted from different areas of business. They became my first advisory board. And having these mentors to bounce ideas off of absolutely had an effect on my bottom line. If I could go back, I'd have done it from the start." —KA