7 Business Lessons from SUITS
The Suits Series isn’t directly a business or a hustling show but every moves in the series is very relatable in real life. If you haven’t watched the series yet and you’re looking for something to get entertained and learn from then this is the show for you. It’s certainly the show for us. And just to give you a setting for the story, Suits is about a law firm beating the odds against its rival law firms and infighting within the law firms itself. The protagonists are slick quick witted lawyers (almost) who knows a thing or two about psychology, smart and hard work.
1. Don’t Raise Your Voice, Improve Your Argument
Like what most lawyers should do, every civilized people should learn to argue and give a great argument in order to sway the battle in their favor. There is no need for violence or raising voices. To get someone’s heart, use your brains not your brawn.
In business, the people-persons are almost always the ones that get the most customers/clients. Entrepreneurs who know how to give the best explanation/solution to a problem will get the most business out of anyone.
2. Always Find the Best Solution
There are an infinite number of solutions to provide a client or a customer. The show highlights the solutions a brilliant lawyer can give versus just a regular one. You get what you pay for. The best lawyers can always find a loophole in a seemingly hard case to win.
McDonald’s might not provide the best tasting burgers and fries but they’re everywhere and can give you what you order in an instant. If you just need a quick bite, McDonald’s is perfect for most of us. They are everywhere! If you need to order something and you need it immediately, we have Amazon Prime. You pay extra for the premium but you can get the goods within a day.
3. Mistakes Are Normal, Correcting Them Should Be Too
Even the best lawyers make stupid mistakes. The only difference between them and mediocre ones is that the best lawyers are able to stand back up like nothing happened and correct their own mistakes.
Most big companies have had a recall or two from their own products. They’ve fully compensated for these mistakes and have even given their customers extra. Companies who fail to address the problems with their products and services are bound to go bankrupt.
4. Work Smart and Hard
In Suits, the protagonists always work overtime. They do everything they can to get the job done. And once they appear in court, it’s as if they’ve had all the answers all along.
In hustling and in life, we can’t always just be lazy and work smart like what other hustling websites romanticize. What works the most is a combination of working smart and hard. You can’t beat this combination. Even Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have worked 80 to 100-hour workweeks in their career. Be like them.
5. Learn from the Best
Mentors provide an exponential increase in knowledge and experience. Harvey Spectre is Mike Ross’ mentor. The young Mike is already a brilliant guy intellectually but it is amplified by the slick and quick witted Harvey Spectre who might be the ideal guy every aspiring lawyer wants to be.
Always find someone who has done what you want to achieve. They already have the experience in achieving one. They can share the mistakes they’ve done and the hacks they’ve learned along the way. Then you can achieve what they’ve done in a shorter period of time.
6. Appearance Does Matter
Harvey Spectre is the slickest guy we’ve ever seen so far in a series. He’s always well-dressed. He works out to maintain a good fit too. What does he get for it? He gets all the women he wants. Clients have a tendency of being nicer to him too.
What’s in it for us then? Admit it, appearances always matter. We have a tendency to be nicer to people who look good. We even have a tendency of respecting someone just by seeing how they dress. Even babies judge people by their looks. It’s human nature. So always follow the saying “dress to impress.”
7. The Best Approach Isn’t Always the Obvious One
If lawyers have the habit of looking for loopholes, that’s what we can always do in real life. Look at Elon Musk. Everyone else were developing petroleum based vehicles. Nobody wanted to make electric cars because at the time, most electric vehicles were golf carts. And golf carts weren’t sexy. What did Elon make? He made electric vehicles sexy. Now every other car manufacturer is playing catch up.
What problem has not been given a great solution yet? What innovation can you come up with?
No matter what a show is about, we should learn to use the lessons there and apply each in our real life. Let’s keep our eyes open. Who knows? We might even make solutions based on