The 4 Pillars of Business Success

There’s no secret formula for success in business, there’s no genie in a lamp that will magically offer everything we need for our businesses to be successful and there’s no absolution that whatever strategy we employ is guaranteed to work.  But despite the odds, despite what intangible (and sometimes, tangible) obstacles that stand in our way, we can succeed and often will if we remember what a successful business truly needs to survive, sustain and grow.

• Employees
• Products/ Services
• Customers
• Ourselves (as the owner/ proprietor/ founder)

It’s a very short list, but all intertwined.  Every one of these pillars are needed, and without one, the others will suffer and so will the business.

— Employees: Granted, about 3/4 of all small businesses in the US are owned and operated by a single person.  Which means, one person, a solopreneur, is running and handling all the operational and functional needs of the business.  But regardless of how many or how few employees the company has (even if we’re the only one in the company) is dependent on how well those employees are treated and how well the understand the vision of the company.  Because employees are the ones that attract additional talent,  bring in customers and maintain the operation of the company, it helps to treat and value them as investors and make them feel they have a stake in the company.  When the company does well, so do they.

— Customers: If we have no customers, we have no business.  Plain and simple.  Who are we selling to?  Who are we providing services to?  Customers are what opens a business and what keeps the doors open.  But don’t monetize customers.  They’re people too, and they would prefer to interact with the human side of our business.  That means listening to their concerns and feedback.  This is where great customer service comes in provided by great employees that understand the vision and mission of the business.

— Product/ Service: If we have nothing to offer, again, who are we selling to? What can we offer that no one else can or can be better and improved?  There should be a need for the what our businesses offer, no matter how small the niche market is.  If we’re providing a product or service that people don’t want or need, then we’ll have no customers.  And no customers means no business.  As entrepreneurs and business owners, we have to seek out a need to fill or improve the quality of life.  If we find something that does that, we’re onto to something.

— Ourselves: We are forever our own worst critics.  We create the self-doubt, the second guesses, the worry, the anxiety and timidness that can hold us back.        But we’ve also brainstormed some of the greatest ideas, concepts and dreams known to us.  What we lack sometimes is the belief that we can actually accomplish those dreams.  So it’s important that no matter what, no matter what we’re up against, and matter who tells us “no” and how often we hear it, we continue to believe in ourselves and in our dreams.  We have to know like we know like we know that our business will succeed.

Without one of these pillars, we have a wobbly frame at best.  It’s important to remember that creating a successful business doesn’t happen at the snap of our fingers or the at the sound of our voice.  It takes real work, real planning and real execution to really build a business.  But what we use to build our business is just as important as the business itself.

Does any one pillar stand out as more important?

[*Photo Source: FreeDigitalPhotos.net/ scottchan]

How Many Hats Does An Entrepreneur Really Wear?

You’re self-employed, you work for myself.  You are the master of your universe.  You are the shot-caller, the mover and shaker, the boss, the head-hancho, the man (or woman).  But if you happen to be a “solopreneur”, you’re more than just the mastermind and face of your company.  You ARE the company.

You’re the:

• Bookkeeper/ CPA – You handle the books, the accounting; the money coming in and the money going out.  You decide the expenses and set the budget, effectively cutting costs and saving money
• Customer Service Rep – You handle and resolve all customer concerns and problems in a reasonable fashion; you follow-up with customers and listen to their opinions and make improvements within the company based on that feedback
• Marketing Team – You research ideas and channels to market your company’s products and services and to who and for how long; you collect the demographic data and compare it to your target market and decide what and which methods of advertising to use to effectively market the company’s brand and image
• Sales and Promotions Team – You’re responsible for handling transactions, process orders, deciding what kind, if any, discounts or promotions your company will run and for how long.  You also work closely with the marketing team so that any promotions the company has going on, it is a practical marketing strategy
• Administrative Assistant – You handle and organize the paperwork and documentation making sure everything is where it’s suppose to be; you scan, you copy, you input data, stock supplies and keep a good repertoire with vendors while, providing support to, well, yourself
• Receptionist – You answer the phone and greet customers; you are the first interaction people have with your company so it is important you are warm and inviting
• Mail Clerk  – You make sure all outgoing mail and packages are prepared for shipment, including any orders that must be shipped; you collect all incoming mail and sort it, ensuring everything is delivered to the right departments (you are the departments, ironically)
• Assistant – You schedule appointments and meetings, make any travel arrangements that are necessary, take notes during meetings, keep up email correspondences within and outside the company, make sure deadlines are met, discrepancies are caught, and errands are ran

Being an entrepreneur isn’t always as glamorous as it’s cracked up to be all the time.  And because most of the companies started in the US are operated by a single person, that person wears every hat in their company.  They may have the title of CEO but that is not the only role they play.

What Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners Should Be Subscribing To:

 

 

Subscribe to these magazines: Forbes, Website, Harvard Business Review and Entrepreneur and you’ll find tips to help drive your ideas and business —

• Social Media Management: Is your business making the most of its social media presence?  Don’t just upload posts, but respond, comment, connect, follow,  like, interact and as always, engage.  But be mindful, just because there are thousands of back links, doesn’t mean your business needs to be on all of them.
• Success Stories: Learn how other like-minded individuals turned their dreams and passions into the business reality it is now.  What challenges did they face and how did they overcome them?  What could you learn from their experiences?
• Marketing:  What tools should you be using, why and how?  Sometimes the tried and true isn’t for everyone and every business, and sometime it is.  Figure out which can work for your business on any given budget.
• Leadership:  You made be what has been coined as “solopreneur”, but that doesn’t mean you’re not making waves and shaking things up.  Discover what you can do to becomes  a better leader and more influential in your industry.
• Interfacing:  Every business should have a website; does yours and how is it interfacing with prospective and current customers?  Is it easy to navigate?  What tools do you have in place to track traffic and collect feedback?  What kind of SEO ranking is your website ranking with search engines?
• Technology:  See where the latest tech companies and apps are taking businesses and their consumers.  What should you be on the watch for?  How are you using technology to make business much more manageable; what technology should you be using?

You’re not trying to build a library of business articles to show and tell, but build a tool set of business knowledge to put to use.  Pick up some reading material and find out how you can make your business flourish.