Forcht offers insight at 13th Annual Business Forum for Young Professionals

When Dr. Terry Forcht first came to what was then Cumberland College in 1964, he had a wife, four children, a beagle and they all arrived in town in a Volkswagen bug.

There wasn’t much need for seatbelts. Everyone was packed in their pretty tight, Forcht recalled.

Today, the school is now known as the University of the Cumberlands, and Forcht is Founder, Chairman and CEO of Forcht Group of Kentucky, which is comprised of 95 separate companies with over 2,400 employees. The organization is composed of banking, healthcare, insurance, retail, financial services, data processing, broadcast media, print media, real estate and construction.

“What gets to be a problem in today’s world, everybody wanting something fast and moving on,” noted Forcht, who was the keynote speaker for the 13^th Annual Business Forum for Young Professionals. It was presented by the Hutton School of Business and took place March 29-March 30 at the University of the Cumberlands.

The theme for this year’s forum is “Start Right. End Right” which is based on a book about Forcht.

When Forcht talks about starting right and ending right, this first includes starting the day right, which in his case means waking up at 3:20 a.m., and being in his Corbin office at 5:30 a.m. where he stays until 8:15 a.m. when he either drives or is driven to his Lexington office. Forcht ends the day getting to bed most nights and being asleep by 7:30 p.m., he told the group of young soon-to-be business professionals.

Forcht said that when he talks with perspective employees, he always asks them five things. What is your credit score? Do you have an arrest record, any citations or convictions? Are you willing to work on Saturdays? Are you willing to start at a reasonable compensation? Are you on Facebook, Twitter, etc.?

Forcht encouraged participants to be responsible with what they post on social media, and told them that if they must have a tattoo to put it some place where it can’t be readily seen. He noted this is advice from a business professional and not one of their buddies.

Forcht offered the attendees several tips to help them succeed throughout their business career and life during his March 30 speech, which took place inside the Kohn Theater of the Grace Crum Rollins Center, including:

• Get as much education as you can. It will pay off in the long run. If you go to college, finish in three years and do so debt free.
• Look for opportunity others might have overlooked. “We built our businesses in small towns in Kentucky. Opportunity is where and what you make of it. Most people want to leave home, go to a big city and find opportunity. You don’t have to,” Forcht said. “I came from a big city, Louisville, to a small town in Williamsburg. It worked out well for us. Southeastern Kentucky has been very good to me and my family.”
• Sometimes it pays to look around at what you are paying for. Forcht’s nursing homes needed medicine so he opened a pharmacy to supply it. His banks needed advertising so he acquired radio stations and newspapers, and so forth.
• Don’t take money from outside investors. Work to generate the money you need. Start small and work at other things until you get enough money that you need.
• The most important thing you can do is hire the right people to work with you. “You need to find someone, who will help you keep your business on track,” Forcht said.
• Take time to build your business. Don’t get too big in a hurry. Go slow with brick and mortar projects. “We always look towards the future. Don’t dwell on the past,” he added.
• Don’t plan on retiring. The Bible says nothing about retiring.
• Be at least 15 minutes early for every appointment. Respect the other person’s time and your own.
• Find your niche. “You have to find out what you want to do. Do something you enjoy,” he noted.

“If I can do it, you can. Work. Work. Work,” he added.