| By :
Michael Griffiths
Setting up a business is step one, but keeping it afloat is the bigger and greatest step. The goal of every business is to earn profit that translates to more money in the bank for the rainy days. But sadly, not all businesses end up happily ever after. Most of them fold up within the first few months of start-up. The idea is to cut losses - and not incur more financial mistakes, but ideally, a business owner must strive and struggle to tide through the rough times. After all, not all businesses experience pure joy. So what are the characteristics of a good and successful business? If you are a business owner, analyse your business and see if you have any or all of the following: Recurring Sales. Take note - "recurring" and not "making" sales. This means that clients see value in coming back to patronize a business. It is not enough to try to get customers to buy - you must tweak your products, keep customer service at its peak, and keep abreast with developments in your niche. You will undoubtedly have so much competition, but yours must be the business that stands out among the rest. You can establish your reputation by satisfying a steady set of loyal customers, and ask if your business can be referred to their own set of friends. Of course, this does not apply to businesses that offer once-in a-lifetime procedures or sales, like Lasik eye surgery (if they come back, then something must be wrong with your procedure!), or selling million-dollar ultimate dream houses. But you may ask to be referred to their contacts. Remember, steady recurring sales = successful business. High return on invested capital. If your returns are much smaller than your investment, then you seriously need to vamp up business. In fact, if your returns are equal to your capital, then all you do is break even. If this is the case, then your business is not successful. Make sure your expenses do not eat up your earnings. Try to double, triple quadruple your profits - make the most money out of your efforts. The formula is to get inexpensive but high quality materials, and use them to build products that sell much higher than the cost it took to put it together. Durable and steady competitive margins. The best way to be successful is to build an obvious advantage over your competition - and to sustain this over time. It's easier to stand out sometimes, but what you must strive to do is to stand out all the time. Imagine the feeling of a business owner whose competitors backed out of the race - simply because they cannot compete with his sales? Nice huh? Now establishing this competitive margin and keeping it is the real challenge. Some tips in doing so may include: vamping up advertising promotions and media hype, simply coming up with better products which are hard to equal, and providing unparalleled customer service worth coming back for.
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