Fashion and Business Plans

The process of putting on a business suit and not looking like an amateur is simple. Yet most people still look bad when they put one on. Maybe because suits are annoying or unfamiliar or expensive.

But I have a different idea: The problem is that every man thinks he has a great fashion sense. These are so-called “day one experts”. They have no prior experience, but still walk around with the arrogance of an expert.

I have had an interest in fashion for years. And the way I dress is influenced by many things; most notably, how other people dress. I have no problem borrowing (or stealing) ideas from others.

I do not want to be creative or unique or different. My goal is to dress well.

Over this time I have created a mental check list. I have many different lists, and today I will share the one for men’s suiting. If you have never given this area any consideration and would like to dress better than 90% of people 90% of the time, follow these rules:

1. Wear a charcoal or navy suit; I like jackets with two buttons, two vents, and a notch lapel
2. Wear a white dress shirt
3. Wear a dotted or striped tie in a versatile color (blue, green, gray, etc.)
4. Wear black leather shoes, with black socks, and a matching belt
5. Wear a symmetrical tie knot; I like pratt
6. Do not wear a pocket square, tie bar, or cufflinks

If you can live within these constraints, several things will start to happen at the same time. First, you will notice that you dress better than 90% of men in 90% of meetings. Second, they will start to notice as well. And third, you will be forced to learn to be creative within these constraints.

It may sound counterintuitive but constraints always promote creativity.

Yes, the people in the magazines wear red pocket squares with no ties but they also have a team of stylists. Think about it: Models only wear clothes, and stylists only curates clothes, and designers only dream up clothes.

Each specific area requires its own expert. One magazine-quality print may take hours of photography, but it takes months and months of preparation.

The process of putting together a business plan and not looking like an amateur is simple. Yet most people are very bad at assembling one. Maybe it’s because there are preconceived notions of what a business should operate like or what a “business” person should act like.

But, again, I think the main problem is ego. I have seen dozens — if not hundreds — of business plans and read even more case studies.

And in much the same way there is are general principles for fashion, there are business principles that will help you in 90% of situations. Here are a few points that I have found helpful when understanding businesses:

1. A business exists to create value
2. A successful business first creates a large amount of value then has a mechanism of capturing some of that value
3. A successful business works in practice (It can be large or small, high or low growth, local or international, highly exclusive or widely accessible, etc.)
4. A successful business is aligned around one core idea or belief
5. A successful business culture is intellectually honest (Warren Buffet has a great quotation about rock concerts and ballets)
6. A successful business is better than all — or substantially all — competitive alternatives

Because #6 is more abstract, I will expand on it now.

Many have heard of competitive advantages. Most businesses compete by either (1) providing the same service as someone else for a cheaper price or (2) providing a better service for the same price.

This optimization can go on forever, and market positions can change quickly as new products enter the market. As a result, I put little weight on a competitive advantage. Instead, I look at a company relative to all possible competitive alternatives.

A few days ago I came across an interesting statistic. According to the IRS, one in four eligible taxpayers do not claim their Earned Income Tax Credit. Millions of people do not claim this tax credit, which is up to $6,000 per year, for only a handful of reasons.

They may not know it exists; or if they know it exists, they may not know how to appropriately receive it; or if they know how to receive it, they do not deem it worth the effort or the risk of incorrectly filing their taxes.

Today in the United States billions of dollars are left on the table because the competitive alternative — doing nothing — is so compelling. And this mentality carries over to nearly all economic decisions. Put another way, your startup is no exception.

I incessantly create rules for things in my life because it helps me make quick decisions. In a world filled with waste, this is my way of fighting back.

Some people chose to own multiple versions of the same outfit so they have to zero thinking about what clothes they wear. Some money managers have very strict mandates, and thus only invest in a narrow band of companies.

This works for some people; others find that too boring. Personally, I want to compare the entire world against my criteria and continually improve. I have zero interest in being better than 90% of people 90% of the time.

But that’s my threshold: If something doesn’t cross that — or, in other words, if something falls short of one of my rules — I know to not waste my breath.