[CMA Newsletter 2014]: The Ten Keys to Business Success

Hi  Claudeville,

Did you know that 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 # 1:   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. On great writer once said “ The primary purpose of any business is to stay in business, and to stay in business you need to get and keep customers…” So, fully 50 percent or more of your time, efforts, and expenses should be focused on creating and keeping customers in some way.

Key # 2:  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 (your competitor), that they buy again, and that they bring their friends is the key determinant of growth and profitability.

Key # 3:  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 # 4:  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. Make your business customer-centric for success.

Key # 5:  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 # 6:  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 # 7:     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 # 8:  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 # 9:  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 # 10:  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.

 To your success,

Claudeville Mc Garrell

CMASSOCIATES

Tel:+ (592) 223-0823

Cell:+ (592) 651-9846

URL: https://cmassociates.coachesconsole.com/