Seek out strategic alliances; they are essential to growth and provide resistance to bigger competition.

To achieve consistently terrific customer service, you must hire wonderful people who believe in your company's goals, habitually do better than the norm and who will love their jobs; make sure that their ideas and opinions are heard and respected; then give them the freedom to help and solve problems for your customers. Rather than providing rules or scripts, you should ask them to treat the customer as they themselves would like to be treated - which is surely the highest standard.

I love stirring the pot. I love giving big companies a run for their money - especially if they're offering expensive, poor-quality products.

Be swift to take advantage of business opportunities. Bigger companies are too cumbersome to move quickly; this can be a competitive advantage for you.

You need lucky breaks to be successful.

Don't wait till you are big before you begin building your brand. Build a brand from scratch alongside your business.

No matter how big you are, details count!