Quotable Coles

• “The four keys to success are information, innovation, implementation, and improvement. The last one is the one that most businesses forget.”

    

• “The greatest disappointments in life come from failing to try something new or stand up to a challenge, and the greatest accomplishments come from going beyond what is expected.”

    

• “Growing a business is not really that complicated. It's about figuring out what you do really well and doing more of it.”

    

• “For me, the most important lesson is not that David defeated Goliath but rather that he had the courage to step into the valley without knowing the outcome. He defied everyone's expectations. The result was not as important as the initial decision to act.”

    

• “We each face our own Goliath-like challenges, whether it is trying to start a business, change careers, or go back to school. The first question to ask when facing such a challenge should not be ‘Will I succeed?’ The real question is 'Do I have the courage to start—to step into the valley?'”

    

• “My life and career have been about turning obstacles into opportunities, tragedies into triumphs, and poverty into philanthropy. I decided to tell my story not to boast about my accomplishments but rather to demonstrate that there is no single winning formula or straight line to success.”

    

• “All companies are reflections of the personalities and beliefs of their leadership”

    

• “Good service depends on good hiring practices—finding the right employees for the right jobs”

    

• “I discovered that hard work on behalf a cause you believe in is what matters most.”

    

• “Looking back on my career, I started to think about what made any business successful—and I distilled it down to what I now call the Four I's—information, innovation, implementation, and improvement. I developed this concept at Great American Cookies, and I approached all aspects of my business using this system”

    

• “By most conventional measures, I am successful. Peeling away that superficial veneer of accomplishment, though, reveals a pile of missed opportunities, false starts, and painful defeats. Ironically, some of those times have been the most satisfying, memorable, and victorious moments of my life, even though by most standards I failed.”

    

• “The most powerful thing I learned during my time at Caribou was not to rest on your laurels. The four keys to success are information, innovation, implementation, and improvement. The last one is the one that most businesses forget.”