Business Growth Fundamentals – The Top 10 Priorities For Growing Successful Businesses

Statistics don’t lie. Numbers don’t stack in your favour when commencing a business venture alone. Numerous researches prove my point, where 80 % of businesses fail within 5 years from inception. It is a harsh reality for some who ignore basic principles and massive opportunities for those who do it the right way.

Being overly critical and somewhat pessimistic certainly doesn’t pay in the long run but you need to know these numbers and do whatever is necessary to avoid the path. You see, I am a firm believer in great starts because I have yet to see a business that started poorly and ended spectacularly for the right reasons.

You see, all that momentum builds with early wins, no matter how small they may be. Positive expectations accompanied by the right initial moves will make your journey enjoyable. With every positive encouragement and acknowledgement you not only build mental muscles, you build mental resistance to future difficulties and obstacles that you will almost certainly experience.

Many of my clients are small business people, just like you. We help them grow and design their businesses by optimising operations and providing guidance. We face their problems, issues and dilemmas often. We study good practices and define great performances. We measure and align so that our vision guides us.

We came to these 10 business principles that define great businesses and entrepreneurs that run them. The list is not excessive, but the common wisdom is not so commonly applied if you consider the statistics above. You and I both know this, but what stops us from getting to the root of our problems is a daily dose of urgencies, false priorities and trivial things. So, now, take your time and read these few lines and, above everything else, compare where you and your business are on or off desired course. How do your business, people and practices compare to the list bellow?

Our list goes as follows:

1 – Know what you want.

Most people that are successful in their endeavours know what they want. Vision guides & reminds them to perform consistently. Clarity of thought is precious to the commitment of any sort. To persist in your efforts, you absolutely must know what it is that you want.

2 – Have realistically unreasonable expectations

Hey, life is too serious to be taken seriously. You must dream with passion. Your life, business, career or whatever you dream about will shrink or expand with your dreams. Recognise the need for your input. Recognise necessities not yet fulfilled. You matter and you can make a difference. What you will become depends on you. Don’t let negative thoughts and small people to prevail. I purposefully used the term realistically unreasonable to stretch your thinking into a new dimension. You see, what is possible for you won’t be given without the efforts from your side; you must deserve it and want it stronger than what is usually expected. You are the best one to decide what it will be.

3 – Know your strengths and limitations.

Get real. Be critical. Earlier, you find your purpose, natural talents and passion for what you intend to do, the faster and more strategic you become. Perform a SWOT analysis on yourself. Find your unique points of difference, your strengths and inborn talents. You are most likely to get the desired results if you utilise everything you already have. By all means, expand. Be an early adopter. Follow the relevant trends, learn and grow daily. Success is built on strengths; there is no difference between personal leadership, great businesses and superior performance. The idea is that you find what you are good at and what you love and then work on it till you develop some form of competitive advantage. You can’t be good at everything, but you can be great at something. Be informed and stay relevant in your desired area of expertise and influence.

You should learn something about everything and everything about something.

Weaknesses serve you by pointing out your limitations; you must address them, or potential risks may be too large to comprehend.

My point is that you must utilise everything you’ve got in the form of strengths, experiences, knowledge and passion to maximise your opportunities. Then, you make weaknesses and threats irrelevant. And because threats come from the lack of awareness and to some degree higher ignorance, when you limit exposure to what you yet don’t know, your chances to get better results improve vastly.

4 – Define business growth objectives with precision.

I am firm believer that you must have goals. There must be some validation points where we measure how well plans and goals get executed. Define priorities based on your vision. Define the following steps and work relentlessly to achieve them. Limit your exposure to objectives and goals that matter and that will get you closer to your ideal vision. Most SMEs don’t have clearly defined goals to work on. And what is even more dangerous is that they don’t know what they want or why.

Uncertainty and poor definition is their number one obstacle but they do so little to address it. You must break this pattern and create clearly defined objectives, measurements and goals. Goals can keep you focused on where you want to go and how you need to get there. Define desired progress towards your vision and specify measurable goals that can indicate how well you are executing strategies and how fast you travel towards the ideal future. What gets measured can and will be improved. What gets neglected will end up in tears.

5 – Fail fast, fail cheap.

Most big business gurus teach us not to quit. I will suggest the opposite and, to some point, prove them wrong. You don’t quit on your vision, but you must quit if something doesn’t work to your plans. If you give your best and go above ordinary efforts and things still fail, you need not continue. Instead, pick yourself up, learn from what has happened, cure your ego and go on. You must test and abuse testing on a smaller scale.  You must implement and try. There are no guarantees that what works for me will work for you. The decision is ultimately yours.  Everybody who says the opposite is probably wrong. Your vision will guide you, which is why you must have it, but you will often quit unsatisfactory strategies, poor and ineffective tactics and bad practices.

6 – Define your business growth model.

Your business is complex, but we are discussing simplicity and functionality.

Start on your core priorities. Design the model that you think will produce results. Let me tell you one thing that you already know but is crucially important to be left out.

Sales and everything about sales is your number one priority for business growth.

Your business future and probably your future depends on it. So, now act accordingly.

New customers and clients are the lifeblood of your business. How well you define your sales and marketing systems will, in most cases, define your destiny. It doesn’t matter if you have a nice office, great procedures, efficient and modern equipment, great knowledge and 100 years of experience. Who cares?

The only thing that matters is the constant flow of new and repetitive businesses. When people buy, and they do that often, you have something to work with. Something that can be improved and built upon, but if that flow is missing, you have a problem.

There are three ways to grow revenues no matter your industry. First, increase the number of clients. Second, the value of transactions increases, and third, purchase frequency increases. Only 3, everything else are subsets and tactics.

These are general approaches, and you need to find out what works best for your particular business and your situation. There is no magic in it. In my opinion, you need to start with what you have or with your current clients and customers and then explore other available options.

Build relationships with your customers. People buy from and do business with people they like and respect. Relationship controls everything. Establish yourself as an expert and someone they call or contact when problems arise.

6 – Develop systems and empower people to take ownership in business growth.

Make your people better every day. Better people run better businesses. They develop better systems that produce better results. Better thinking produces smarter decisions and reduces costly mistakes. Raise the bars, set standards and engage in open communications.

Process maps, mind maps, flowcharts, instructional videos, action plans, and checklists are signs of a system in place for everything you do. And guess what, you do it once and then revisit periodically. Improve, seek for inputs, and ask for feedback.

Monitor and align. No one else will do it for you. You must roll up your sleeves to get closer to the ultimate freedom. If you want a business that runs independently from you, you must replace yourself with the systems. Only then can you employ others to run it for you, and only then will you feel safe assigning responsibilities and controls that go with it to somebody else.

7 – Create an encouraging & positive thinking environment in your business.

People need to be stimulated to bring their best thinking for business growth. There must be a supportive environment that will enhance their best efforts.

Today, more than any time before, creativity matters. Businesses that don’t innovate and create will disappear. It is a harsh reality for some, but new requirements exist for those who wish to thrive. Under no circumstances you must not stop to improve. Your future depends on it. Now act accordingly.

If you always do what you do in the same way, you will always get the same results. Competitors don’t sleep; they are already doing what needs to be done. They are already bridging the gaps and making your stuff obsolete or second-best. You can’t afford not to innovate and engage in creative thinking.

8 – Embrace the change.

As the famous Harvard professor John Kotter says

Lack of urgency or too much complacency is one of the main reasons for change not to be implemented.

Decide on what matters, set deadlines and explain why the matter is urgent. Keep it challenging and provide support. A channelled higher sense of urgency creates miracles. To prove my point, please revisit how much you accomplished in a week that led to your last holiday or a longer break. Your number one priority is to create a changing culture in your business and have creative juices flowing consistently. Avoid hidden agendas and “undiscussable”.

9 – Focus on growth.

Successful people and companies that reinvent themselves and keep focused on learning, progression, acquiring new skills and practices and improving them always win. You probably heard one:

If all things equal, knowledge wins, and if all things do not equal, knowledge again wins…

Have your plan to acquire knowledge always up to date. Be someone who improves core competencies daily.

10 – Know Your Priorities.

When you know your critical success factors and focus your resources meaningfully, it will be just a matter of time before your business takes off. Define what must happen for you so that vision gets closer to you. There is nothing new under the sun these days. Everything you are working on was probably already attempted by somebody else. Principles don’t change; only the applications vary. What this boils down to is that your problems and issues are not as unique as you think. There is a solution to your priorities, and it is your responsibility to find the right recipe for your situation. Borrow strengths from those who have already done it.  Mirror successful people in your industry and improve on what was already proven. Don’t reinvent the wheels. Shorten the journey to business growth by playing to your strengths, thinking creatively and being strategic.

The Bottom Line:

Building a successful business is a marathon, not a sprint. It requires discipline, resilience, and a relentless focus on the fundamentals. These 10 principles are your roadmap to sustainable growth. Embrace them, live them, and watch your business flourish. Now, go out there and make it happen! I’m rooting for you. And do not forget to be creative, direct and sarcastic where needed. Life is too short to be taken too seriously.