Well the fact is success is a matter of grabbing one idea here, plucking one advice there and putting them together till we find the right formula for our business and life. This article was sent to me by The business and success expert, Brian Tracy, grab one or two ideas from here and see if you can make them add to your formula for success.
There are ten critical areas where your ability to think largely
determines the success or failure of your business. The greater clarity
you have in each of these areas, the better decisions you will make and
better results you will achieve.
Key Purpose
What is the purpose of a business? Many people think that the purpose of
a business is to earn a profit, but they are wrong. The true purpose of
a business is to create and keep a customer. Fully 50 percent of your
time, efforts, and expenses should be focused on creating and keeping
customers in some way.
Key Measure
The key measure of business success is customer satisfaction. Your
ability to satisfy your customers to such a degree that they buy from
you rather than from someone else, that they buy again, and that they
bring their friends is the key determinant of growth and profitability.
Key Requirement
The key requirement for wealth building and business success is for you
to add value in some way. All wealth comes from adding value. All
business growth and profitability come from adding value. Every day, you
must be looking for ways to add more and more value to the customer
experience.
Key Focus
The most important person in the business is the customer. You must
focus on the customer at all times. Customers are fickle, disloyal,
changeable, impatient, and demanding--just like you. Nonetheless, the
customer must be the central focus of everything you do in business.
Key Word
In life, work, and business, you will always be rewarded in direct
proportion to the value of your contribution to others, as they see it.
The focus on outward contribution, to your company, your customers, and
your community, is the central requirement for you to become an ever
more valuable person, in every area.
Key Question
The most important question you ask, to solve any problem, overcome any
obstacle, or achieve any business goal is "How?" Top people always ask
the question "How?" and then act on the answers that come to them.
Key Strategy
In a world of rapid change and continuing aggressive competition, you
must practice continuous improvement in every area of your business and
personal life. As Pat Riley, the basketball coach, said, "If you're not
getting better, you're getting worse."
Key Activity
The heartbeat of your business is sales. Dun & Bradstreet analyzed
thousands of companies that had gone broke over the years and concluded
that the number-one reason for business failure was "low sales". When
they researched further, they found that the number-one reason for
business success was "high sales." And all else was commentary.
Key Number
The most important number in business is cash flow. Cash flow is to the
business as blood and oxygen are to the brain. You can have every
activity working efficiently in your business, but if your cash flow is
cut off for any reason, the business can die, sometimes overnight.
Key Goal
Every business must have a growth plan. Growth must be the goal of all
your business activities. You should have a goal to grow 10 percent, 20
percent, or even 30 percent each year. Some companies grow 50 percent
and 100 percent per year, and not by accident. The only real growth is
profit growth. Profit growth is always measurable in what is called
"free cash flow." This is the actual amount of money that the business
throws off each month, each quarter, and each year, above and beyond the
total cost and expense of running a business.
Action Exercise
You should have a growth plan for the number of new leads you attract
and for the number of new customers you acquire from those leads. You
should have a growth plan for sales, revenues, and profitability. If you
do not deliberately plan for continuous growth, you will automatically
stagnate and begin to fall behind. Growth is not an accident; so you
must plan and map out your growth plan if you want your business to see
a bright future.
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