A Simple 3-word Mantra Helped This Serial Entrepreneur Build Brands Like Gamestop And Laura Mercier

At each institution he joins, Gary Kusin hangs 3 words connected nan wall: "Data is oxygen." This elemental mantra has guided him successful co-founding nan business that would spell GameStop, co-founding nan Laura Mercier constitution marque and managing nan $2.4 cardinal merger betwixt Kinko's and FedEx. In his book, Always Learning: Lessons from Leveling Up from GameStop to Laura Mercier and Beyond, Kusin highlights really his portion breakthroughs stem from his attraction to data.

"I petition data, and I personification a very difficult clip conscionable going, 'Well, we're going to crush it. Let's spell unfastened these stores.' No, let's not do that," Kusin says. "Let's personification nan reply to nan questions nan landlord mightiness inquire us. Let's know, going into a negotiation, what percent of rent we tin afford. So erstwhile a landlord tells america what woody they propose, if it's that aliases less, we're going to beryllium good."

When we deliberation of data, we typically deliberation of quantitative information aliases numbers. However, immoderate of nan astir important accusation points Kusin collected passim his occupation were qualitative, focusing overmuch connected characteristics than quantity.

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For example, he observed conception stores were losing to emerging specialty stores for illustration Blockbuster. He shared this study pinch his erstwhile Harvard Business School classmate, Jim McCurry, who was moving successful nan emerging video crippled sector. Drawing similarities betwixt video games and Blockbuster, nan brace launched nan world's first package portion store, Babbage's — aliases arsenic we cognize it today, GameStop.

"We did our homework," Kusin says. "We made judge we had hypotheses astir what would happen. We would proceedings them. Sometimes, it took six months, and we had a difficult instruction that we had to pivot disconnected of. But [collecting data] is benignant of my modus operandi successful almost everything I do."

After his occurrence pinch GameStop, Kusin pursued his adjacent portion business successful nan cosmetics industry. He heard astir MAC from a erstwhile colleague, nan then-CEO of Neiman Marcus, and he wanted to spot if he could commencement a connection of his own. Kusin has a dense knowledge of cosmetics history, tracing its betterment from constitution artists for illustration Estée Lauder to lab-developed brands for illustration Clinique and yet to couture houses for illustration Chanel. He liked nan thought of putting nan spotlight backmost connected constitution artists.

His workfellow introduced him to a elder merchant, and together, they began to hunt for their prima constitution artist. "We interviewed each sorts of constitution artists, and Laura Mercier stood unsocial pinch a very clear position of what she was trying to execute pinch her constitution lines," Kusin says. "So we put her nether a semipermanent licence agreement, took off, and nan remainder is history."

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Kusin proves having a digit connected nan hit of manufacture trends is cardinal to building an enduring business. Even overmuch importantly, he ne'er pursued these endeavors alone. By nurturing your relationships pinch classmates and colleagues, you tin observe untapped opportunities and move them into world brands.

Kusin's obsession pinch testing hypotheses and collecting accusation became peculiarly useful erstwhile he was tasked pinch transforming Kinko's, which was operating astatine an $11 cardinal loss, into a profitable business and preparing it for sale.

"I realized that everything I had learned betwixt starting Babbage's and Laura Mercier would recreation into play astatine Kinko's," Kusin says. "I had, for nan first clip successful my life, a existent emotion that I was calved to do this."

Although astir group successful his position mightiness commencement astatine nan top, holding meetings pinch elder activity astatine nan patient headquarters, Kusin had different plans.

"We had 42 regions successful nan United States and 1,200 stores," Kusin says. "I said, 'Over nan adjacent 2 to 3 months, I'm going into each 1 of our 42 regions and having municipality hallway meetings connected each displacement successful each market.' And I asked nan aforesaid constituent astatine each municipality hall: 'What successful nan heck has happened to this company? How is it that we've mislaid money erstwhile we proviso specified an awesome activity that customers need?' By nan clip I was done, I knew what nan problem was, and I knew what nan solutions were."

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After 3 years, Kinko's had an EBITDA of $240 million, and Kusin facilitated nan company's discarded to FedEx for $2.4 billion. This illustrates 2 cardinal lessons for each entrepreneur. First, erstwhile business is down, get connected nan crushed and speak to your labour and customers. You tin personification theories of what nan problem is aliases what customers want, but you'll ne'er cognize for judge unless you inquire and cod that data. Second, location are galore ways to execute nan aforesaid goal. Kusin emphasized forging your ain way based connected what you're comfortable doing.

"There's immoderate number of paths to nan podium, arsenic I telephone it," he says. "There's not 1 way. If you ever comprehend nan relationship 'should' look successful a condemnation that comes retired of someone's rima trying to show you what you should do, you tally nan different way. You personification to deliberation astir what useful for you. What are you comfortable doing, and really are you going to return nan things that are comfortable to you and usage them to summation knowledge, which will make you amended astatine nan business that you're trying to start?"

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From creating GameStop's first building blocks to closing a multi-billion dollar merger, Kusin attributes his occurrence to these philosophies:

• Nurture your relationships pinch aged friends and colleagues. By staying successful touch pinch your network, you ne'er cognize what untapped opportunities whitethorn arise.
• If you want to cognize what's going connected connected nan beforehand lines, look. When it comes to marketing, you ne'er cognize what customers want unless you inquire them. Armed pinch that data, you tin usage customer feedback to amended operations.
• Do your homework earlier making a decision. Entrepreneurs often get truthful excited complete a caller endeavor they hide to do nan mathematics and investigation to guarantee operational and financial sustainability.
• When business is down, inquire labour why. Although crafting hypotheses is important, it's conscionable arsenic important to speak consecutive to your labour who understand nan day-to-day problems nan best. They'll too personification nan champion penetration into imaginable solutions.
• There are galore solutions to nan aforesaid problem. Just because personification mightiness lick an rumor erstwhile doesn't mean you personification to recreation their nonstop method. Use your intuition to lick problems successful your ain measurement that aligns pinch your business exemplary and goals.

Listen to nan conception beneath to comprehend consecutive from Gary Kusin, and subscribe to Behind nan Review for overmuch from caller business owners and reviewers each Thursday. Available connected Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Pandora.

Editorial contributions by Erin Palmero and Kristi Lindahl