Want to take your business to the top? Develop these habits and enjoy a smooth journey.

You must develop seven key habits for business success. The absence of any one of these habits can be costly, if not fatal to your business. When you become competent and capable in each of these areas, you’ll be able to accomplish extraordinary results, far faster and easier than your competitors.

PLAN THOROUGHLY FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS

The first requirement for business success is the habit of planning. The better, more thoroughly, and more detailed that you plan your activities in advance, the faster and easier it will be for you to carry out your plans and get the results you desire once you start to work.

There is a “Six P” acronym that says, “Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.” Very often, the first 20 percent of the time that you spend developing complete plans will save you 80 percent of the time later in achieving the business goals you’ve set.

To plan better, develop the habit of asking and answering the following questions:

• What exactly is my product or service?
• Who exactly is my customer?
• Why does my customer buy?
• What does my customer consider value?
• What is it that makes my product or service superior to that of my competitors?
• Why is it that my prospective customer does not buy?
• Why does my prospective customer buy from my competitor?
• What value does he/she perceive in buying from my competitor?
• How can I offset that perception and get my competitor’s customers to buy from me?
• What one thing must my customer be convinced of to buy from me, rather than from someone else?

Once you’ve asked and answered these questions, the next stage of planning is to set specific targets for sales and profitability. You must determine the exact people, money, advertising, marketing, distribution, administration and service people, and facilities you will require in order to achieve your goals. The more thoroughly you plan each stage of your business activities before you begin, the greater will be the probability that you will succeed when you commence operations.

GET ORGANIZED BEFORE YOU GET STARTED FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS

Once you’ve developed a complete plan for your business, you must then develop the habit of organizing the people and resources you need before you begin. In organizing, you bring together all the resources you’ve determined you’ll require in the planning process. In the military, there is a saying, “Amateurs talk strategy, but professionals talk logistics.” It’s absolutely essential that you determine every ingredient you’ll need before you begin business operations and bring them together so they’re ready to go when you open your doors or begin your project. The failure to provide even one important ingredient in advance can lead to the failure of the entire enterprise.

FIND THE RIGHT PEOPLE FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS

The third habit you must develop is the habit of hiring the right people to help you achieve your goals. Fully 95 percent of your success as an entrepreneur or executive will be determined by the quality of the people you recruit to work with you or to work on your team. The fact is the best companies have the best people. The second-best companies have the second-best people. The third-best companies have average or mediocre people, and they’re on their way out of business.

If you would like help with your employee staffing contact us at (920) 436-9887 or click here.

In my next blog, I’ll reveal the other four habits for business success. All four are related to employees.