Search:

Home | Business


The 5 Critical Business Success Factors

By: Stuart Burkow

All businesses, small or large, have five critically important core profit principles (business success factors). Using and understanding these principles can often make the difference between you just getting by - or getting ahead. And, in times of economic crisis like these, understanding them is essential.

Here, we'll explore what they are - and how you can put them to work for you in your own business. These principles form the basis for most success in business achieved by entrepreneurs, business owners, business managers, and professionals. Without following them at least to some extent, you'll find business to be a struggle - and much less rewarding than it could be.

As you read this, see how well your own thinking and actions in business stack up to these five core principles:

1) Profits are essential for your business to succeed - they are what pays you.

You don't have to look far to find examples of businesses imploding due to lack of profits. (Just look at the current banking and financial crisis... Or, remember the dot-com bubble?... that "spend your way to market-share" mindset.) And, those are just some larger, more visible examples... small businesses are at even more risk.

Ultimately, profits are the essential key ingredient for business survival - and your focus on them is key. The very existence of your business depends on a steady-stream of profits... to pay your bills... your salary... your employees... your vendors and suppliers... and to secure your financial future.

Profits make the difference between the success or failure of your enterprise. They're the essence of being in business and are the fruits of your labor. Without profits (or deep pockets), you can't last long.

2) Most businesses miss profit opportunities on almost every transaction or customer/client relationship - and are limiting their incomes without even knowing it.

Here again, you won't have to look far for examples. Just think of all the leads that don't get proper follow-up, the customers/clients that receive only occasional communications (if any), the up-sells, cross-sells and add-on sales that could have been part of a given transaction, the unrealized intangible opportunities that exist in your customer/client or vendor/supplier relationships - and you can begin to see a sad pattern.

It's a pattern of profit opportunities gone by... wasted utilization of assets... or under-realized profit potential in your transactions. In many cases, business owners, managers and professionals are completely unaware of their lost profit opportunities.

Make your expenditure of time, energy, capital, and resources produce more for you - and capture the money that most businesses miss. Consider your advertising, marketing and sales efforts as a complete process - and create, test, and put in place processes that take advantage of strengths in your business.

3) Stability and security comes from creating a "Web of Profits" in your business.

Do you have a number of different sources within your business to support you? Or, are you relying on only a few? Or, even worse, relying on only ONE primary source of profit?

The majority of businesses rely on fewer than five profit sources - and think in terms of "profit centers." In other words, a collection of different channels of profit from individual sales of products or services (retail), bulk sales (wholesale), joint ventures, ownership interests, licensing and/or other arrangements, and so on.

But, when you create a "Web of Profits" in your business - that is, an interconnected approach that integrates a variety of profit sources and activities together into a single unit of functionality - you stand a better chance of leveraging your business in new ways.

4) The focus on Increasing Profits is more beneficial than the focus on Cost-Cutting.

There are times of crisis or recession where cost-cutting is the only sane and logical choice. If you're bleeding... you stop the bleeding before anything else. But, when it comes to cost-cutting, the effect is temporary and fleeting. Once you've drastically reduced your expenses, any additional cost-cutting might hurt your business's effectiveness and viability.

Crisis management aside, it's much better to focus on getting more business, to create new profit sources, run better promotions, do better advertising and marketing, and generally operate your business in a more customer/client oriented way.

That's what eases the pressure from high-costs... and provides you with what you need from your business. The thinking that goes into a profit-oriented focus and mindset can often provide innovative and inspirational breakthroughs in results.

5) Strategically plan for Profits - and take the specific action steps needed to implement your plan.

Being laser-focused on profits - rather than your strategic planning being primarily focused on revenue - takes you to the next level in your business plan. You'll be able to see alternative profit possibilities - and the action steps needed - so you can build them directly into your plan.

By their very nature, business plans focus on the bottom-line - but are usually just focused on the immediately obvious profit sources - not necessarily on the alternative profit possibilities. And it's these alternative profits that most businesses miss... profits that could even eclipse what's being produced by your current business activities.

Often, the biggest difference between those who are able to implement new profit sources and those who aren't - is simply the willingness to identify what potential alternative profit sources exist... to prioritize the order in which you want to implement them... and to know exactly which action steps to take. Then, of course, to simply get started - and systematically put them into practice in your business, one-by-one.

Copyright © 2008, Guerrilla Profits International

Article Source: http://www.newagelivingarticles.com

Stuart Burkow is co-author of the new book, Guerrilla Profits: "10 Powerful Strategies to Increase Cashflow, Boost Earnings & Get More Business," with Jay Conrad Levinson (the famed "father" of Guerrilla Marketing). Just Released: You can get a Free "Profits Launch Kit" with 5 Free Bonuses worth $161... when you get the Guerrilla Profits book at the $14.78 "Amazon.com" price (reg. $18.95) -- Go To: www.guerrillaprofits.com/NewBook.html

Please Rate this Article

 

Not yet Rated

Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Business Articles Via RSS!
Additional Articles From - Home | Business


banner











Sign Up for a free account or learn more.
Article Directory Software
Click here to download the exact software that powers this directory for FREE. Start your own article directory today!
Google














Top Authors
Submit Articles
Member Login
Most Popular Articles
Submission Guidelines
Ezine Notifications
Article RSS Feeds
Little Book Of Becoming
Masters of the Secret
The Singularity Is Near
Distribute Your Articles to 1000's!
Wildwind Enterprises
Bookstore
About Us
Link to Us
Contact Us
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service
LINKS

All Links DirectoryAll Links Directory is 100% SEO friendly Directory and Human Edited.

Dominate The Search Engines with this software

Make Money Being an Affiliate with this software it's easy!

Learn How to Make Daily Profits Online starting Right Now!

Idiot Proof Clickbank Trick Makes $6,513 In 24 Hours

Amazing New Discovery: True psychokinesis easy to Use. Learn to control it for manifestation, healing, karmic repair with chakras.Visit us to find out how This Is 'PK' Mind Over Matter (Ebook, Free Download) fosters positive permanent change!

Submit Your Articles Quick and Easy with this software!

Get Keyword Elite and never hunt for keywords again!

Gaiam.com, Inc
Spiritual Cinema Circle
Visit the metaphysical directory for a complete list of metaphysics related websites.
Royalty Free Images
NewAgeLivingArticles.com » Copyright © 2007-2009 WildWind Enterprises
Terms of Service | Submission Guidelines | Contact Us | Link to Us| Privacy Policy | About Us | Article Submissions With A Click 100's of Sites!

Powered by Article Dashboard