Just like any other businesspeople, criminals and gangsters have a great deal to teach us about business. While their activities may be illegal, the skills required in the underworld can easily be applied for use in licit businesses.
So, with all of that in mind, we take a look at what criminals can teach us about doing business.
1. Constantly update your skills
The life of a criminal can be a dangerous one and this is doubly so if you’re running a highly illegal (and profitable) enterprise. In order to remain on top, you need to constantly keep improving your skills in order to remain ahead of your opponents.
On the smash TV series; The Wire, drug kingpin Russell “Stringer” Bell attends business school and uses his understanding of economics to better position his product in Baltimore’s saturated drug trade.
By improving his skills, Bell is able to stand out from other drug traffickers and eventually rise to the top. The above example shows us exactly why developing new skills is vital if one is to remain competitive.
2. Cultivate loyalty amongst your employees
One of the main reasons why the Mafia was so successful in the past was because of the code of silence practiced by its members. Known as La Cosa Nostra or “this thing of ours” members of the Mafia pledged their loyalty to the organization and vowed to never betray one another.
As men of honor, mafia members were sworn to silence and could be punished by death for collaborating with the police. This made it extremely difficult for law enforcement to prosecute or even obtain any information on crimes conducted by the mafia.
Such a high degree of loyalty allowed the mafia to operate with impunity for years at a time. However, all of this would end when the U.S Federal government, turned to the RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) act to indict high-ranking members of the mafia.
Faced with lengthy prison sentences, senior members provided the government with evidence needed to indict their compatriots. This would consequently lead to the downfall of the American mafia.
As entrepreneurs, this highlights the importance of inculcating a sense of loyalty in one’s employees. While disloyal employees won’t turn in evidence against you to the police, they won’t hesitate to jump ship when things go south, bringing with them valuable experience and wasting time spent training them.
3. The importance of sourcing for top talent
It is no understatement to say that in the underworld, the stakes are most definitely much higher. Failing to successfully launch a particular project i.e. money laundering or an assassination can lead to a lengthy prison sentence or even death.
While criminals have long viewed outsiders with suspicion and distrust, globalization has changed all of that. From cybersecurity experts to mercenaries, criminals have found that specialists with their own unique set of skills have been much more effective than using in-house talent.
For example, drug cartels in Latin America looking to tap into foreign markets have turned to gangs operating in Eastern Europe for their smuggling expertise. Rather than risk their own operations, drug cartels have found that local criminals with their extensive network of contacts are able to much more effectively smuggle contraband into the country.
The power of the internet has allowed businesses all over the world to gain access to the services of talented freelancers. Besides being highly specialized, freelancers also give you the flexibility of working on short-term projects without having to take on permanent staff. Probably, if you play football fantasy league, you have picked the top talents to get you more points on the road to SuperBowl 2020, right?
While it’s highly unlikely that you’ll be conducting any illegal activities in the near future (we hope), criminals have plenty to teach us about the nature of business.
The fact that they operate in a cutthroat environment with no regulations means that their ability to survive in the most hostile situations is unprecedented. Hence, any lessons that we can learn from these criminals is without a doubt extremely useful, but you should also be aware of the law and play within the rules to make sure you do not risk your dignity and freedom.
