The Top 10 Reasons Businesses Succeed

Only one of every 5 businesses makes it to its 5th year, and fewer
still make it to 10 years. What do the successful businesses have
in common?

1.The experience and skills of the top managers. Over half of
business failures are directly related to managerial
incompetence.

2.The energy, persistence and resourcefulness (the will to
make the business succeed) of the top managers. Many business
owners have failed or come close several times before their
"instant" success. Don't give up.

3.A product that is at least a cut above the competition and
service that doesn't get in the way of people buying. There
must be a compelling reason to buy; the product is great, the
people love to provide service, and the buying experience is
easy and fun.

4.The ability to create a "buzz" around the product with
aggressive and strategic marketing. Make scarce marketing
resources count. Do as much homework about your customers and
their choices as you can before investing your marketing
dollars.

5.Deal-making skills to sell the product at the highest
possible price given your market. It comes down to your
customers' perception of the value of your product and
sometimes the power of your personality.

6.The ability to keep developing new products to retain and
build a customer base. Consider gradual product development
based on improvements to the current product line and sold to
the current customer base.

7.Deal-making skills to work with resource suppliers to keep
costs low. Keeping costs lower than competitors' and
continuing to look for cost reductions even when the business
is profitable is key.

8.The maturity to treat employees, suppliers and partners
fairly and respectfully. Trust and respect result in
productivity increases in ways that may be difficult to see
and quantify.

9.Superior location and/or promotion creating a connection
between your product and where it can be obtained. Studies
have shown it can take seeing your product or name seven times
before a customer is ready to buy.

10.A steady source of business during both good economic
times and downturns. Over the long term, develop a product mix
that will include winners during good economic times and other
winners when times are tough.


About the Author
Jan B. King is the former President & CEO of Merritt Publishing,
a top 50 woman-owned and run business in Los Angeles
and the author of Business Plans to Game Plans: A Practical
System for Turning Strategies into Action (John Wiley & Sons,
2004). She has helped hundreds of businesses with her book
and her ebooks, The Do-It-Yourself Business Plan Workbook,
and The Do-It-Yourself Game Plan Workbook.
See www.janbking.com for more information.