The Key Elements of Building a Successful Business

If you are like most new entrepreneurs, you will most certainly make many mistakes in the process of building a successful business. You are human…and you will falter. Be ready to humble yourself, accept that you will fumble and fall, learn from your failures, pick yourself up, brush the dirt off your back, and continue to look in the only direction that will bring you success…Forward.

“Failure is the tuition you pay for success” ~ Walter Brunell

In the last 8 years since leaving my job for entrepreneurship, I have surrounded myself with many successful small business owners. I have taken notes, asked questions, investigated their tactics, picked their brain, silently watched and have done everything humanly possible to follow in their footsteps. In the process I have discovered the key ingredients of creating a business that can, and will survive in any economy…online or offline.

Putting People First

Putting your needs aside and putting people first is the foundation of any successful business. Building concrete relationships with your customers and associates will create trust. Once your customer trusts you, they will refer you to others, buy your products and continue using your services. Without trust and customer loyalty..businesses don’t have a fighting chance.

In the Online Marketing arena, thanking people may be as simple as re-tweeting an article, commenting on a comrades blog, or sharing their post on Facebook.

Zig Ziglar said it best when he said:

“You will get all you want in life, if you help enough other people get what they want.”

Market Yourself, Not Your Business

Spamming and slamming everyone you encounter with a sales pitch about your new product or business is not only unattractive…it’s completely ineffective. People can smell the desperation all over you. Cold calling strangers, neighbors or old friends, and pitching your network marketing business opportunity to them in the first few sentences of a conversation, is not only self serving…it’s downright annoying. You may not realize this…not only are you wasting your time, you are also wasting their valuable time too.

The great leaders of the most successful businesses today didn’t get where they are by jamming the phone lines and filling people’s in-boxes with useless and self serving sales pitches.

Remember what we all learned from our parents as a small child?

“You only get one chance to make a first impression” ~ Mom and Dad.

Learn the simple principles of Attraction Marketing. Not only will you see positive results in your business, but you will begin to see a difference in yourself as well.

Do Business With A Conscience

Your reputation as a person will become the fuel and driving force behind your business’s success. Be honest and forthright. If you lose the trust of one associate or customer, it can only take a few minutes, a few phone calls, or a few quick conversations…to lose them all.

One of my community’s most prominent and successful business owners has this sign in all of his stores.

“It can take weeks and months to gain a customer…but only seconds to lose them”

Self Education

Self education is in-arguably one of the most effective tools in creating a successful business. Becoming a business owner puts you in the driver’s seat. You no longer have anyone leading the way. It’s up to you to seek out all of the quality information you can get your hands on to implement your business plan. Invest in yourself. It will prove to be the best investment you will ever make.

“Formal education will make you a living, self-education will make you a fortune” ~ Jim Rohn

In A Nutshell

The holy grail of running a successful business doesn’t lie in the product you are Marketing or the service you offer. Implementing these key elements and tweaking them as you go along, is what most successful business owners focus on.

Surround yourself with leaders, listen to leaders…and learn from leaders.

And at the end of the day, after you’ve mastered how to implement the key elements of building a successful business, chances are…

You will be able to sell pet rocks to the President…or ice to an Eskimo. 🙂

To Your Abundance,