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Key Takeaways Build teams and delegate: Great companies scale by not having the founder do everything.
Keep your toe in the water: Stay close to the business, even as your success pulls you in different directions.
Know that the customer isn’t always right, and take accountability when you make mistakes.
Understand that it truly is all about your people, and treat them the way you want to be treated.
On the surface, Nate Berkus and I couldn’t have more different businesses. He designs multimillion-dollar homes and commercial properties. I implement CRM and AI software systems and advise small businesses. But after talking with him, I realized we’ve learned many of the exact same lessons about growing a company, keeping clients happy and building teams that last.
Berkus founded Nate Berkus Associates — a design firm that specializes in luxury residential interiors and select commercial projects — more than 30 years ago and has since catered to the rich and famous, frequently appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, judged and hosted numerous TV shows on HGTV (most recently The Nate & Jeremiah Home Project) and has won numerous industry awards for his renovating, furnishing and custom interior work.
I can’t claim to have such a storied career. But I write, speak and consult. Berkus and I both built our respective companies — his has about 50 people, and I have about 10 — over about 30 years. Here’s what we’ve learned.
Build teams and delegate
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