The Classroom Was My First Boardroom: What Small Business Owners Can Learn From Teachers Who Build Companies

By Malcolm Dill, Founder of MAD Books

(small.news) — When people picture a small business owner, they rarely think of someone managing 25 restless seven-year-olds in the morning. Some take vendor calls on lunch break. But they should.

Teachers are resourceful, resilient, and relationship-driven. Still, most have never called themselves business owners, and no one around them has either. That needs to change. Small business owners can learn from this idea, as it goes beyond the classroom and can reshape how we see growth. To understand this in practice, we must look at a common pitfall.

The “Hustle” Trap Is Killing Your Growth

I have watched too many talented people — teachers and small business owners alike — fall into the same trap: grinding endlessly without building anything that lasts. In education, we call it burnout. In business, you might call it stagnation. The root cause is identical.

When I started MAD Books, I made a clear choice. I was not going to hustle. I was going to build. There’s a key difference. A hustle only supplements income and depends on your time and labor. A business replaces your income. It creates systems and partnerships that generate revenue, even when you’re not present.

If you are stuck in hustle mode, you know what I mean. You are busy, but not growing. You are earning, but not scaling. The shift from hustle to owner mentality is more than a mindset change. It is a structural change. This shift starts with recognizing your hidden strengths. The main takeaway: build systems and structures that let your business grow beyond your own effort. Equally important is understanding the full range of skills you already possess.

Your Existing Skills Are an Untapped Asset

I give teachers who consider entrepreneurship a simple first exercise. Write down everything you do in a single school day: classroom management, curriculum design, differentiated instruction, parent communication, budget management, conflict resolution, data analysis, and public speaking. The list is staggering.

This exercise also applies to small business owners. Before you invest in a new product or hire, audit what you already have. Small business owners often have transferable expertise, community credibility, and operational knowledge. Many undervalue these skills. The question is not what you lack, but whether you have defined what you already have and know how to monetize it strategically.

I used my background as an educator to position MAD Books as a certified NYC vendor. Now, we create literary activations for malls, museums, festivals, and credit unions. None of that required me to become someone new. It required me to value who I already was. With that foundation, I then focused on knowing who I could serve. Identifying your true customer is the next essential move.

Know Your Customer Before You Scale

Here is where many small business owners and aspiring teacher-entrepreneurs make the same critical mistake: they build a product or service before they identify who will actually pay for it.

Before I took MAD Books to market, I needed to answer one main question. Who is my ideal customer—parents, school administrators, or community organizations? That answer shaped every partnership, pitch, and program I developed. It is why the business has grown with intention, not by accident.

If you struggle to gain traction, revisit this question honestly. Not who you want your customer to be. Instead, focus on who is already interested—people raising hands, pulling out wallets, and spreading the word. Build toward that person with focus and precision. Once you know who they are, form partnerships to accelerate your growth. This brings us to the importance of partnerships.

Strategic Partnerships Are Your Most Valuable Currency

Revenue matters, but relationships matter more over time. The biggest growth for MAD Books came from partnerships with organizations serving my target community. These created visibility, credibility, and revenue simultaneously. I could not have bought that as a small operator.

Small business owners often miss the power of alignment. Who in your industry, neighborhood, or network is already doing similar work and serving the same customer? A conversation costs nothing. A well-structured partnership can change your business’s direction. This synergy extends naturally to your wider community impact.

Community Impact Is a Business Strategy, Not a Bonus

I am a Black male educator in a country where we make up less than 2% of the teaching workforce. That fact is present with me every day—in the classroom and the boardroom. When I built MAD Books, community impact was not a marketing afterthought. It was a core value influencing every choice about where to show up, who to partner with, and which gap to fill.

This is worth your attention as a small business owner. Businesses that are truly embedded in their communities—by creating jobs, solving problems, and showing up—build loyalty and trust that advertising can’t buy. Your community is not just your market. It is your infrastructure. Key takeaway: investing in community creates long-term value. How you build determines if you thrive or just survive. So, ask yourself what you are really building.

The Real Question Is Whether You Are Building or Just Surviving

I still walk into a classroom every Monday morning. I still teach. I still run a growing company. I will not pretend it’s easy. But choosing to build—not hustle, not scrape by—changed everything.

Small business owners face the same crossroads. You can keep reacting, trading time for dollars, and surviving each quarter. Or you can step back, think like an architect, and lay a profitable foundation—built on your real skills, relationships, and a clear sense of your market.

Let the classroom’s lessons fuel your entrepreneurial journey—choose to build, not just survive. Start today. Take inventory of your skills, define your true customer, and pursue one partnership that matters. Make building, not hustling, your next move.

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