Companies today dominate the business world and corporate honchos like Elon Musk and the AAs sit at the apex of our society’s decision-making table. Their prominence gives them an influence that extends far beyond their business, and often they influence emerging social and political issues. Given this importance, a pertinent question to ask is what makes a business successful?
I see businesses as a potent blend of passion, relationships, intellect, and resources. Start-ups that dominate our media today show how businesses grow from infancy to unicorns within a decade, providing us enough material for analysis.
Spark-While a company is the vehicle for business, promoters are their drivers, often an individual or a small team of individuals who kick-start the business. Passion is the spark that ignites start-ups. Promoters have a unique lens that shows them solutions where others only see problems. While this passion may not be always explicitly, the time they invested in honing the solution is a good barometer of the intensity of their desire.
Flame-if passion is the spark relationships are the flame for a business idea to bloom. Passion, like a magnet attracts people with similar interest to form the initial team. Reflected in strong well-knit team, it creates the fuel for persistence which is essential for succeed. A team with complementary skill-sets is required to achieve the business goals. The minimum required is three members: a Visionary who paints the goal for all to see, a Mobiliser who buys into the goal and gets the required resources, and an Executor who fuses the vision and resources into a vehicle that propels the business forward.
Heat-ignited by a spark the dancing flames must generate heat. Heat in business is the result of intellect at work. A passionate and persistent team fused with purpose is measured only by its output. While success in a mature business is measured by satisfied customers and profits, an adolescent business must create patents and demonstratable artifacts that attract investors who contribute resources to get the business off the ground.
Fuel -Businesses are like aircrafts needing runways to take-off. Runway for a business is the time required to turn profitable. Bigger businesses, like larger aircrafts need a longer runway and the length of the runway in business is determined by the money at its command. Once they take-off businesses generate their own fuel, and successful businesses fuel their owners too.
In summary, businesses are a potent blend of passion, relationships, intellect and resources. It is only in start-ups that we can distinctly see each of them come together to create a successful business. For anyone starting a business please pray for passion, relationships, intellect and resources in that sequence. I must confess, that I was extremely lucky to have found all the four in my short decade long entrepreneurial journey with CimplyFive.
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