From selling decorative hangers at the age of seven to starring in a TV show broadcast in 160 countries, the Property Brothers always knew they wanted to be their own bosses. Twin brothers Drew and Jonathan Scott built an empire on HGTV with shows like Brothers Propertywhich first aired in 2011, and continue to expand their legacy with their newest series, Don't hate your house with property brothers.

Although Drew and Jonathan are household names now, they didn't reach their level of success starting out as experts. Like any entrepreneur, their careers were defined by their willingness to learn and grow as business owners. A great lesson they learned about them entrepreneurial journey it is the power of integrity. Drew said it's the most important component to growing your business and reputation.

Related: He's Hosted This Old House for 20 Years – These Are His Best Tips for Growing a Home Service Business

“You don't need to know everything,” he says. “It's much better for you to just say, 'Honestly, you know what? I don't know the answer to that, but I'll do my best to find you the answer.' They will respect you a lot more and it will help your business grow because you are building it based on integrity.”

Jonathan also suggests that by embracing integrity, business owners can recognize it in potential business partners and, even more importantly, the detection of inauthentic relationships.

“If you ever come across someone who thinks they can do all these amazing things that seem unreal, I guarantee you it's unreal,” he says. “How many times have we had people either give us advice that they have no place to give advice or people who have tried to come up with an incredible miracle of an idea, and it turned out to be inauthentic… Trust your gut with these partners”.

Believe in yours partnerships it's essential when building a brand of any size, but when your ambitions or business intuition are questioned, sometimes the right move is to trust your vision.

Related: Here's How the PopUp Bagels Founder Turned a Backyard Baking Project into a Viral Sensation

This lesson became increasingly important when the brothers wanted to explore marketing the Property Brothers brand, which they did not own at the time. When they proposed the idea to the network, they were rejected. Instead of getting discouraged, the brothers decided to trust their guts and the vision they had for their brand.

They asked the production to put it in writing that they were not in line with the marketing plans and decided to build their brand independently. Through their efforts, the brothers grew the retail side of the business to $100 million. When the production saw the success and demanded half the profits, the Scots showed them the document saying they had rejected the idea. Soon after, the duo won the rights to Property brothers.

This is just one example of why the most successful business owners are those who build a team that stands behind their vision. For Drew and Jonathan, family is their North Star, theirs and others'. They want to help families live in safe, happy, healthy and affordable homes. it business mission guides their every move, including off-television efforts.

The more families Drew and Jonathan met, the more they realized the importance of home health. A light bulb moment led the couple to create Healthy Home Innovation Fund (HHIF) to invest in startups focused on developing technology to make homes healthier for families.

“Whether it's how to decarbonise the home to make it healthier, indoor air quality, how you transact to buy, sell, renovate – any aspect of the home that can be improved for people, that's where we're going to invest.” says Drew.

Related: She was unhappy in her job as a lawyer, so she started a business serving comfort food – and made millions

Deciding where to invest time, energy and capital is one of the most important and difficult decisions for business owners – but Drew has a quick math tip for owners to check if they're investing the right amount of resources to . drive profitability.

“There are some categories where it can use 80% of your team's time but only bring in 20% or less of the revenue,” he says. “Is it really worth it? Instead, rely on those areas that have better margins or less stress on the team.”

They underscored the importance of a business area that truly moves the needle in any industry: marketing. Jonathan says that in real estate, beating the competition and winning consumer confidence is paramount and marketing allows business owners to do both.

“Everything in life depends on marketing,” he says. “It doesn't matter if it's your dating life. It doesn't matter if it's your business. It's all about marketing. Nobody's going to make you a success. You have to work for it yourself. We've always been focused on Strategy and long-term integrity once you lose consumer trust, you can't get it back.”

While marketing is a building block for trust, the brothers also recommend listening customer feedback. Not only do reviews and feedback forums allow customers to feel heard, but Jonathan also says they provide ways for business to innovate.

“Feedback has been important to us from the beginning,” he says. “We actually got into social media very early because we thought it was a great way to have direct contact with the consumer. We get about half a million messages a week each on social media from fans. Some of the innovations in our products have they actually come from suggestions.”

Although some companies do a review at the end of the year to consider such suggestions, Property Brothers will implement the changes from the very next day.

Inspiration can come from anywhere, but never underestimate the power of customer feedback to spark that golden idea. Like all entrepreneurs, the Scots took a chance on their vision, and they built an empire out of it. All they had to do was follow their North Star.

Related: He left the corporate world to pursue his passion for the outdoors. 25 years later, his business is thriving thanks to these 4 principles.

Season after season, the Scots have followed these basic rules of entrepreneurship:

• Marketing moves the needle. If you need an extra hand for write content or handle social media, the brothers recommend hiring a contractor or student with marketing experience. Either way, marketing is key to building a successful brand.
• Feedback is a gift. Leveraging customer feedback you can elevate your business and take it to the next level with innovative suggestions that you might not have thought of yourself.
• Honesty is the best policy. Admit it when you don't know the answer, but try to find it for the customer. This will create a reputation for integrity.
• Choose the realistic business partner, not the salesperson. Business partners often come up with grandiose ideas that may not be realistic. Pull yourself together and ask if what is being promised is too good to be true, because, more often than not, it is.
• Focus your time on the areas of the business that generate the most income. If one area drives 80% of revenue, the time spent on it should be proportionate. Conversely, if something only moves 10-20%, evaluate whether the time invested there was well spent.

Listen to the episode below to hear live from Drew and Jonathan, and subscribe to After the Review for more from new business owners and reviewers every Thursday. Available at Spotify, Apple PodcastsAND Pandora.

Editorial contributions from Erin Palmero AND Kristi Lindahl