Mkebe Akia > Mkebe's Quotes

“Business is about putting smiles on peoples faces. Business is about helping people to live better lives.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth, Business Essentials

“Nature isn't transactional. Nature is is about relationships and processes and systems. Transactions happen, but they happen within the clear context of relationships, processes and systems. Business should be like that. Markets should be like that. The economy should be like that.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth

“ESG ratings impact profitability - regardless of what industry your company is in. People like to know that the companies they interact with and buy from are companies that do good in the world.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth

“In the permaculture economy, recycling isn't good enough. It's more about upcycling - because as resources cycle through the system, they should continue to add greater value to the system.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth

“People like to know that the companies they interact with and buy from are companies that do good in the world.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth

“Businesses and markets have a symbiotic relationship. Each has a profound effect on the other.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth, Business Essentials

“Each business is like a tree in the forest that is the economy. Each business is like a living being that exists within an ecosystem that also has a life of its own.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth

“We can only have a Permaculture Economy when we systematically begin to treat waste as a resource.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth

“A dysfunctional society is bad for business. If the society you live in is wasteful or destructive or non-inclusive or inefficient.... It's more difficult to manage a business, and there are less business opportunities available. So every entrepreneur should be concerned about social dynamics and broader society.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth

“Every problem that we have in society has a suite of relative solutions that are also business opportunities.

Agricultural waste is a problem. But solving that problem is a business opportunity. Energy inefficiency is a problem. But solving that problem is a business opportunity. The abusive treatment of animals is a problem. But solving that problem is a business opportunity. Reduced biodiversity is a problem. But solving that problem is a business opportunity. Plastic waste in the ocean is a problem. But solving that problem is a business opportunity. And the list goes on indefinitely. We just have to think creatively and fluidly and we can solve all of these problems that plague Earth and we can grow businesses and earn money and provide for our families in the process.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth

“The key to having a permaculture economy is ensuring that the waste from every one is a resource for another.

When every ones waste is a resource for another, an interesting truths emerge - no waste exists in the system as a whole, resources become abundant and easily accessible, businesses become generally more profitable, and wealth becomes more widely distributed. This is a circular economy. This is a permaculture economy.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth

“The key to having a permaculture economy is ensuring that the waste from every one is a resource for another.

When every ones waste is a resource for another, interesting truths emerge - no waste exists in the system as a whole, resources become abundant and easily accessible, businesses become generally more profitable, and wealth becomes more widely distributed. This is a circular economy. This is a permaculture economy.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth

“Business is better able to solve societal problems than charity. Because solutions are sustained anywhere there is a profit motive.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth

“The profit motive is the most potent source of collective motivation and the most efficient means for society to solve its problems. Anywhere you insert a profit motive - people will self assemble groups, leverage resources, and implement processes all in the effort to satisfy that profit motive.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth

“With everything in business, the benefits gained should exceed the cost incurred.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth

“Every business sets its own pace for growth; the pace of that growth will determine what the business is going to be like in two, three or five years.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth

“Bartering has a suite of business applications in today's economy.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth

“There's so much beauty in getting paid to do what you love. That should be at the heart of every business - people getting paid to do what they love.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth

“Everything in this world has a business side to it.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth

“A Permaculture Economy provides the greatest conditions for people and businesses to thrive.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth

“Business failures are valuable. When you experience failure as an entrepreneur, make a conscious effort to try to understand everything about how you failed and how the business failed. It'll help you succeed.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth

“It's important to address the source of a problem. When you target the source and solve at the source, it prevents that problem from becoming a problem again.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth

“The success of a strategy largely depends on it's implementation. You can have a good strategy, you can have a winning game plan, but ultimately you and your team have to implement the strategy and execute and put the game plan into action if your business is going to succeed.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth

“People become more valuable when they gain skills and capabilities that enable them to add value to other peoples lives. A business is a collaboration of people. Businesses also become more valuable when they gain skills and capabilities that enable them to add value to peoples lives.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth

“One way to improve your business is to increase its capabilities. The more capable your business is of providing value to it's customers, the more success your business will experience.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth

“Mayflower-Plymouth is a company, and it's an ecosystem. We are an Investment Holdings company that holds mostly small and medium sized businesses in our portfolio. And we also provide a variety of resources and business services such as consulting - in the interest of helping businesses to be better.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth

“At Mayflower-Plymouth, we understand that each business is unique.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth

“As markets change and the broader economy evolves, new opportunities for businesses to add value emerge. And new possibilities for new kinds of businesses also emerge.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth

“In order to have a healthy economy, we need both entrepreneurs and employees. We need business of every size and we need people to accept the many jobs offered by those businesses. So it's okay to celebrate entrepreneurship, but let's also celebrate the good things about being an employee.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth

“It's just as great to be an employee as it is to be an entrepreneur. Great employees add immense value to businesses and therefore to markets and to economies. Being an employee is important.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth