Elvis Presley wasn't exactly a Harvard MBA. Most people think of him in a sequined jumpsuit, maybe sweating under the lights of a Las Vegas stage or lounging at Graceland. But look closer at his inner circle, his branding, and that jagged lightning bolt logo he wore around his neck. It said "TCB." Taking care of business. It wasn't just a catchy phrase or a backup band name; it was a high-speed, no-nonsense operating system for life and work. Honestly, most modern startups could learn a thing or two from it.
Business is messy.
In the 1970s, Elvis and his "Memphis Mafia" lived by the TCB mantra. To them, taking care of business meant getting the job done immediately, without excuses, and with a certain level of flair. It was about execution over deliberation. Today, we call that "agile" or "pivoting," but the King just called it common sense. If you're not taking care of business, someone else is taking yours. It’s a ruthless reality that applies whether you’re selling records in 1954 or SaaS subscriptions in 2026.
The Lightning Bolt Mentality
The logo itself tells the whole story. A lightning bolt crashing down beneath those three letters: TCB. The "In a Flash" part was crucial. Elvis was obsessed with speed. If he wanted a specific car, he bought it that hour. If he wanted a sandwich from Colorado, he flew there that night. While that sounds like rockstar excess—and it definitely was—the underlying business principle is about reducing friction.
How many deals have you lost because of a slow email reply?
Think about the last time you tried to solve a problem at work. You probably had a meeting. Then a follow-up meeting. Then a Slack thread that went nowhere. By the time you decided to act, the opportunity had evaporated. Taking care of business means you kill the bureaucracy before it kills the idea. You move fast. You strike like the bolt.
It’s about momentum.
Relationships and the Memphis Mafia Model
Business isn't just spreadsheets and cold calls. It’s people. Elvis surrounded himself with guys he trusted implicitly—the Memphis Mafia. They were his bodyguards, his roadies, his confidants, and his business proxies. They weren't always the "best" on paper, but they were loyal. In a modern context, we see this in "founder-led" companies where the inner circle is tight-knit and shares a singular vision.
There’s a downside, though.
If you only surround yourself with "yes men," you stop taking care of business and start taking care of your ego. Elvis eventually suffered from this. His manager, Colonel Tom Parker, was a marketing genius but also a master of isolation. Parker took care of business, sure, but he did it in a way that often trapped Elvis in bad movie contracts and grueling schedules. The lesson? Your inner circle needs to be honest, not just loyal.
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Real TCB requires a balance of speed and sanity. You need people who will tell you when the lightning bolt is about to hit a brick wall.
Beyond the Jumpsuit: Professionalism in Action
When you look at the grueling schedule Elvis kept during his Vegas years, it’s mind-boggling. Two shows a night. Every night. For weeks on end. Taking care of business meant showing up even when he was exhausted, ill, or bored with the setlist. He understood that he was a product. He had a duty to the "customers" who paid their hard-earned money to see him.
Professionalism is often boring.
It's the stuff nobody sees. It’s the late-night prep. It’s checking the fine print on a contract for the tenth time. It’s making sure your team has exactly what they need to succeed before the "show" starts. Elvis’s TCB ethos was a commitment to the craft. He wasn't just a singer; he was the CEO of Elvis Presley Enterprises, even if he didn't always act like a traditional executive.
Why Speed Is Still the Ultimate Competitive Advantage
In a world where AI can draft a business plan in four seconds, the only thing humans have left is the ability to make meaningful, rapid decisions based on intuition and relationship-building.
- Decision-making shouldn't take a week.
- Communication must be direct.
- Problems are solved at the source, not pushed up the chain.
- Loyalty is the currency that buys you speed.
If you’re waiting for "the right time" to launch that project or have that difficult conversation, you aren’t taking care of business. You’re stalling. And stalling is the opposite of the lightning bolt.
The Colonel Tom Parker Effect: A Warning
We can’t talk about TCB without talking about the Colonel. He was the ultimate business shark. He understood "Taking Care of Business" as a way to maximize every single cent of revenue. He was the first to realize that you could sell Elvis's image on everything from lunchboxes to lipsticks.
But he lacked empathy.
He viewed Elvis as a commodity rather than a human being. This is a trap for modern entrepreneurs. It's easy to get so caught up in "taking care of business" that you forget to take care of the people in the business. High turnover, burnout, and toxic culture happen when the TCB mindset becomes "profit at any cost." You want the lightning bolt to power the house, not burn it down.
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Practical Ways to TCB Today
Actually taking care of business in 2026 requires a mix of old-school grit and new-school tools. It isn't about working 100 hours a week; it's about being effective in the hours you do work.
Touch it once. This is an old productivity hack that Elvis would have loved. If an email comes in, deal with it. Delete it, delegate it, or do it. Don't let it sit in your inbox for three days like a heavy weight.
Kill the "Status Update" meeting. If you need to know what's happening, look at the project management software. Meetings should be for solving problems that require multiple brains in a room. Anything else is just noise.
Focus on the "Big Rock." Elvis focused on the performance. Everything else—the costumes, the lighting, the travel—was secondary to the 90 minutes on stage. What is your "performance"? Is it writing code? Closing sales? Designing products? Spend 80% of your energy there.
The Cost of Hesitation
There’s a famous story about Elvis deciding he wanted to record a certain song. He didn't wait for the studio to book time three months out. He called everyone, got them in the room, and did it. That’s how hits are made. In business, the first-mover advantage is real.
The market doesn't wait for you to feel ready.
If you see a gap in the market, fill it. If you see a customer who is unhappy with a competitor, call them. If you have a brilliant idea for a new feature, build a prototype by Friday. Taking care of business is an active verb. It requires movement.
Nuance: When Taking Care of Business Goes Too Far
There is a dark side. Elvis’s obsession with TCB eventually morphed into a lifestyle that was unsustainable. The "In a Flash" mentality led to impulsive decisions that weren't always healthy.
You have to know when to turn the lightning bolt off.
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True business mastery is knowing when to strike and when to rest. If you're always in TCB mode, you'll eventually short-circuit. The best leaders I know are the ones who can flip the switch. They are intense, focused, and incredibly fast during the workday, but they also know how to step back and look at the long-term strategy.
Elvis didn't always have a long-term strategy. He had the next show. The next tour. The next record. Without a "Five Year Plan," you're just reacting to the world, even if you're reacting quickly.
Real-World Examples of the TCB Spirit
Look at companies like Netflix. When they saw the shift from DVDs to streaming, they didn't sit around and wait for the "perfect" moment. They essentially tried to kill their own business model to build a new one. That is taking care of business. They saw the lightning bolt and they rode it.
Compare that to Kodak or Blockbuster. They saw the change coming. They had the meetings. They wrote the memos. But they didn't act. They didn't take care of business, so the business took care of them—and not in a good way.
Actionable Steps for Your Workday
To truly embody this mindset, you need to change your relationship with time. Stop treating time like an infinite resource and start treating it like a deadline.
- Identify your "Lightning Bolt" task. What is the one thing that, if done today, makes everything else easier or irrelevant? Do that first.
- Shorten your deadlines. If you think a project will take two weeks, try to do it in one. The constraint of time often breeds creativity and forces you to cut out the fluff.
- Build your "Mafia." Surround yourself with three to five people who are faster and smarter than you. Give them the autonomy to make decisions without checking with you every five minutes.
- Audit your friction. Where are you getting stuck? Is it an approval process? A slow software tool? A toxic teammate? Fix it immediately. No excuses.
Taking care of business is a choice you make every morning. It's a commitment to being the most effective version of yourself. It’s about being "In a Flash" but with the substance to back up the style. Elvis might have left the building, but the TCB philosophy is still very much alive for those brave enough to use it.
Next Steps for Implementation
First, look at your current to-do list and highlight anything that has been sitting there for more than 48 hours. Decide right now whether you are going to do it in the next two hours or delete it forever. Middle ground is where businesses go to die. Second, identify one person in your professional life who slows you down and have a direct, honest conversation with them about how to speed up the workflow. Clear the path so the lightning can strike. Finally, write down your "In a Flash" goal for the next 30 days—something ambitious that requires immediate, daily action—and start on it before you finish your next cup of coffee.