Seven Key Features for a Successful Business

It is always great to read about successful businesses. Stories of success always have a fairy tale quality to them. With changing times, success in itself has been redefined. When one looks at successful businesses that have emerged from start-ups we see some similarities, nearly all of them stand on the foundation of a person’s vision to make a change and their ability to disrupt businesses. Some great examples are Uber or Ola which do not have cars of their own but supply cars to customers and have almost entirely driven your age old taxi stands out of business. Another example would be Swiggy which own no restaurants but is the most popular food app for most customers. We at Paul Writer did some research and asked some industry leaders about what key aspects according to them make a successful business. Here is what they had to say:

1. Clarity of Vision: As mentioned earlier, most successful business thrive on clarity of vision of the business person. Each of us have great business ideas but to convert an idea to reality requires a clear step- by- step progress plan.

2. Timing: If great ideas are pre-maturely implemented they tend towards failure than success. Sandipan Mitra, Co- Founder and CEO, Hunger Box believes that “If you have the right product, the right team and the right solution at the right time, you are pretty much guaranteed success. While (a) the product can be tweaked over time (b) the team can be built/rebuilt over time (c) the solution can be arrived at, the timing for all of these coming together is pretty much the biggest determinant of success, although this aspect (timing) is not always in control of the company.”

3. Discipline: Discipline is the strongest foundation of a person or business’ success. How a business conducts itself and proves its credibility goes a long way in making it successful.
P Ravindra Pai, MD, Century Real Estate says, “As rightfully noted by eminent world leaders, “self-discipline” is the first and foremost rule for any measure of success. Whether on the professional front or personal terrain, focussing on your goals without allowing yourself to get distracted is crucial to achieving the desired target. A disciplined lifestyle and attitude ensures focus and perseverance which pave the way for success. As Will Durant observed, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Doing what you do best consistently, and striving to better it with each attempt, undeterred, and unperturbed through rigorous discipline ensures excellence and success.”

4. Company culture: How a company builds itself from its first employee to its latest employee says something about the company. People may come and go but how a company runs itself is an important contributor to its success or failure.
“It is the single most important factor that goes into building a successful company. All companies go through multiples phases and changes over the years across every aspect of the company’s operations – whether in terms of business model, the problem being addressed, how the solution to address the pain-point is crafted, restructuring and realignment of team etc. However, the one thing that remains constant throughout this journey is its culture in terms of risk-taking appetite, aggression, sense of ownership among team members, being adaptive etc. This is something that the founding team builds out during the formative years. The culture pretty much always determines whether the company succeeds or it doesn’t.”- Sandipan Mitra, Hungerbox

5. Clock Approach: Anil Menghani, Chief Sales Officer, Netcore Solutions has patented this term. He believes the term is “synonymous to scanning the face of the clock by 360 degrees. Like we have hands of the clock which keep going around the face of the clock, every organization should be scanning their ecosystem to stay relevant in the game of business.
Like the seconds hand of the clock, every organization should be scanning the activities in their immediate surroundings, the reactions of the consumer to the product, track the demand for the product or service, etc.
Like the minute hand, every business team should be scanning their competition and minutely keep watches on their activities including their products/services, their consumers, their selling approach which enables the business to strategise their own approach.
Finally, like the hour hand which moves slowly but without which time doesn’t advance, businesses should keep reflecting internally and review P&L periodically to maintain the business hygiene and keeping costs under control.
Also like the alarm of a clock, one should have checks & balances to empower the survival of the business and ensure its success.”

6. Passion: With the arrival of the millennials the one thing that could make or break a business is passion or the lack of it. One has to be passionate about what one does. One has to completely believe in what their company stands for and work with commitment towards achieving their goals.

7. People: How a company treats its people and its success at employee retention and loyalty is great indicator of a company’s success. No company can do well if its employees are unhappy. A company is built on the shoulders of its employees and dissatisfied employees reflect poorly on a company.
“I strongly believe if you take care of your colleagues/employees, they will take care of your business. We must empower them by giving due authority to take prompt decisions for the benefit of the business, to feel complete ownership for it and stand by them even if the results are unfavorable, as long as the intentions were right. The better we treat those who work with us; the better will be their performance and self-motivation that will ultimately meet the company’s goals. Needless to say, we must inculcate a culture of “listening and learning” from each other and be receptive to new ideas and suggestions. Sourcing and nurturing good talent are extremely crucial to the success of any business.”- P Ravindra Pai, Century Real Estates