Build, Sustain a Great Company: 10 Essentials
Feature By Carin Warner
Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Have you ever heard the adage, “If your business survives the first two years,then you are well on your way to success?” Well, this may be true on a basic level. If you are hoping, however, to build a sustainable and successful business that goes beyond good to great, here are 10 essentials to keep in mind.

1. Build a Successful Brand. To attain the kind of success that you want, you need to build more than a new widget — you must also build a great brand. Everysuccess story starts with a clear definition of what you have to offer the marketplace that is distinctive. You need to have a vision of what your brand should convey and how it will change the marketplace in which you play, whether that is consumer-facing or business-to-business.
You should develop your brand’s personality and the relationship the brand willhave with you, your co-workers and your target audiences. Build the brand and success will come.

2. Hire the Smartest People. Hopefully, hire people who are smarter than you are. In the end, it’s the people who are working with you that make all the difference. Companies take their successes to a whole new level by hiring
bright, motivated people. It’s a great differentiator and brand-builder
.
3. Motivate people. Smart people are the first step, but to maximize their productivity and capacity to deliver, youmust lead and manage them by understanding what motivational forces influence them. Use a workplace personalitysurvey such as the Predictive Index, which gives you unique insights into each worker and helps you use their talents to support your organization’s goals.

4. Be Passionate. Ray Kroc once said, “If you work just for money, you’ll never make it. But if you love what you are doing and always put the customer first, success will be yours.” Success comes easily if you love what you do. Why? Because we are more relentless in our pursuit of goals when there’s passion behind them.
Your company will achieve peak performance if you are doing something that you care about. Success in business isall about patience, long hours and hard work, and it’s only attainable if you love every aspect of your business —
including the ups and downs.

5. Cherish Your Customers. It’s very true that it’s much harder to win a new customer than to keep an old one. In addition, your customers, like your employees, are the best ambassadors of your brand. They can provide you with word-of-mouth referrals that will help your business grow. There is nothing more powerful or flattering than a personal business referral.

6. Willingness to Learn. You do not need to have an advanced degree to succeed in your own business. Consider the many “legendary” entrepreneurs who have not even finished college. Studies show that most self-made
millionaires have average intelligence. Nonetheless, these people reached their full potential and built great companies because they were always willing to learn.
To succeed, you must be interested in asking questions and remain curious, interested and open to new information.This dedication to continuous learning becomes more crucial given today’s rapid changes in technologies and ways
of doing business.

7. Persevere, Have Faith. No one said that the road to success is easy. Despite your good intentions and hard work, sometimes you will fail. So many successful entrepreneurs have suffered setbacks and resounding defeats and yet managed to quickly stand up to make it big in their fields. Your courage to persist in the face of adversity and ability to bounce back after a temporary disappointment will assure your success.
You must learn to pick yourself up and start all over again. Your persistence is the measure of your belief in yourself. Remember, if you persevere, nothing can stop you.

8. Focus on Your Strengths. Let’s face it, you cannot be everything to everybody. Each of us has our own strengthsand weaknesses. You will become more successful if you are able to channel your efforts to areas where you’re naturally talented. In business, for example, if you know you have good marketing instincts, then harness them to thefullest advantage. Seek help or assistance in areas where you don’t excel, such as accounting or bookkeeping. To transform your weakness to strength, consider hands-on learning or formal training.

9. Don’t Scrimp on Infrastructure. In order to be competitive in most industries, you need to have the right tools and technologies. If you require a great software package or training tool to best utilize your people, then purchase it. If you are a small company, these tools will let you compete with a larger entity. Invest in yourself. Invest in your people and give them the tools and infrastructure they need to get the job done.

10. Believe in Yourself. Believing in yourself and your success is critical to achieving that success. If you do not believe in yourself, who will? Be your own champion. Trust your instincts. Tell the truth and stand up for what you
believe in. Listen to that little voice inside you that tells you what to do. Do not over analyze. Make decisions and stand by them.

Carin Warner is founder and president of Warner Communications, Manchester, a world-class boutique public relations agency that specializes in building brands.