According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, only three percent of new business startups will make it to their 25thanniversary. When entrepreneurs Ken Mills and Cameron James started Mills James in 1984, few would predict they would beat the odds and build one of the nation’s largest independent production firms from the ground up. In today’s economy, when businesses are failing at an unprecedented rate, a legitimate que stion to ask is, “What’s the secret of your success?”

Cameron James, CEO of Mills James, said, “Being successful in business-to-business services means being successful at problem-solving. To do that, you need to listen generously. It’s not really what you know – it’s what you learn.”

Here are few more key business insights, as shared by the founders:

• Talent trumps technology
• Telling the fads from the trends
• It’s all about the experience
• Make things simple
• Deliver more choices
• The art and science of modern storytelling -- “In the end, it's not what thestory does to the audience, but what the audience does with the story that determines our success as communicators."