A Whole New World For Your Business

Monday was Columbus Day. For government workers and other non-ambitious 99-percenters, that meant simply taking a day off. For us entrepreneurs, of course, it was a workday just like any other.

Yet we still gave some thought to Christopher Columbus, who, like us, was also a pioneer who went against the grain of his day to discover a better path to prosperity.

Today, you don’t have to acquire funding from a queen or risk death in order to discover new worlds of opportunity. But you do have to go against the commonly-held beliefs of the vast majority of business owners and implement successful strategies and systems into your business – unless you want to end up like the vast majority of business owners, whose businesses all-too-routinely fail.

Here are the seven key components to building a successful business:

1. Primary Aim
2. Strategic Objectives
3. Organizational Strategy
4. Management Strategy
5. People Strategy
6. Marketing Strategy
7. Systems Strategy

Mastering these seven areas will lead your business to the ultimate level of success, and help you live the life of your dreams. Today I’ll cover the first three…

Primary Aim

When you’re developing a plan for your business, it is essential to set goals and have a vision for the future. This is where you need to go beyond just the business itself and think about what you want out of life in general.

What do you dream about? How do you see your success unfolding? What will make you happy? Knowing and understanding these things will give you the momentum to get started, and the stamina to see it through the inevitable tough times. You may want to take a minute to write down your answers to these questions and post them near your work area as a constant reminder of what you’re ultimately aiming for in business and in life.

Strategic Objectives

These are essential in taking your business from surviving to thriving. All of these objectives should offer solutions for how you will achieve your Primary Aim. There are many areas in which you should set Strategic Objectives. Here are a couple of the most popular:

• Money: Setting monetary goals is a simple, straightforward way to see how you are doing at any point in the game. It’s easy to measure and easy for you to make adjustments to help reach these goals.
  
• Worthy Opportunities: When considering partnerships and other business opportunities, you need to think about whether or not they will help you reach your Primary Aim. Those that will are the best opportunities to seriously consider and follow through with.

The key in setting standards and goals is not to limit yourself or stress yourself out. Find a few quantifiable ways you can measure your progress toward your Primary Aim, and make sure that no matter what standards you set, you pay attention to the details and stay focused on your goals, because achieving these Strategic Objectives is one of the biggest keys to your success.

Organizational Strategy

The strength of your organizational structure can make or break your business, so it’s important to take the time to put together a solid structure for your business to grow from. Generally, a company is organized around the roles and responsibilities that need to be taken care of on a daily basis, and the skills, experience and personalities of the people who need to fulfill those roles.

No matter what roles and responsibilities you’ve defined for yourself and your team, make sure to keep your personal Primary Aim separate from your company’s Primary Aim or Mission Statement. Once you identify the Primary Aim for your company, it’s easy to set up an organizational structure that will work.

Make sure to write out job descriptions and have each member of your team sign a statement of his or her roles and responsibilities. This will help keep everything clear for you, your team members and anyone else who has a role in your business.

These three areas – plus the four I will discuss next week – all work together to form a solid structure on which to build your successful business.

If you need help defining, implementing or maximizing any of these areas, you can check out the extensive library of resources and tools at SSSMarketingUniversity.com and speak with one of our fantastic coaches during your FREE test drive.

Because the Earth isn’t flat, and your income and path to personal fulfillment shouldn’t be either.