Rarely does success in business come down to one big game-changing moment. More often it is the result of making a series of small but impactful decisions when no one else is looking. For example, how a founder handles a setback, how the team prioritises their limited focus, and how the business chooses to say no to becoming something. Whilst there are many great stories of people going from ‘rags to riches’, underneath most are built on a foundation of clarity, discipline and a willingness to change your mind.
Know What You Want to Achieve
Many businesses fail because they see success as hitting certain performance targets such as valuation, market share etc. This means that whenever they experience a dip in their performance they feel like they have failed. However, businesses that succeed usually set out very early what kind of value they want to bring to the world and who they want to bring it to. This should be clearly defined across your business so you know who you want to hire, what products you want to offer and how you will use your capital and time.
If you don’t have clear goals in place, your strategy will be reactionary to competition and trends in the market. Having clear goals will help reduce the time spent agonising over trade-offs. You will know that you will always focus on building long term customer relationships over short term growth so won’t feel any conflict in turning down a lucrative but extractive opportunity. Whilst your goals may change over time, they should still be clearly defined.
Build a Resilient Culture
Things will always change in business. Whether it be markets, technology or your assumptions. The difference between a business that can adapt well to change and one that struggles often comes down to how they interpret setbacks. A resilient culture looks at the data they have received and understands what they can control. This means they can change course but without losing who they are. They look to understand what they can change and what they can’t.
They also know when to make a decision that can be changed and when to invest resources confidently. A resilient culture will provide an advantage over competitors as they will be able to stay focused and coherent. Businesses who react to every change like it’s a crisis will waste time and energy. Whereas those that have practiced adapting will have less issues.
Build Strategic Relationships
Whilst doing business with people you will often find that leaders will not focus on building relationships. Often the speed and consistency of progress is determined by the quality of your relationships with customers, suppliers, employees and peers. Usually the best relationships aren’t the biggest or most high profile, but are those with clarity of mutual interest and openness to honest feedback. These relationships take time to build.
You need to invest in really understanding your counterparties and their limitations, delivering on your promises consistently and saying no to relationships that would compromise your standards. This will give you an advantage through information, priority and social capital. Whereas if you are doing business with people purely for transactional reasons you will struggle when things go wrong. Your organisation will constantly be in a position of negotiation from a weak position. This isn’t about being charismatic, it’s about building trust through consistency.
Create Systems to Deliver Consistently
There are plenty of ideas out there but few are able to turn them into a reliable business. High performing businesses have systems in place to reduce the need for individuals to be heroes. Processes, decision making and feedback systems have been put in place so that even if you don’t have exceptional talent, you can still achieve acceptable results. This doesn’t mean creativity isn’t valued, but it ensures you’re not losing out.
If you have basic processes in place you’ll have more time to focus on the unusual problems. Discipline also means knowing when to stop. Often initiatives will start with real potential but go on for too long as you don’t want to admit defeat. Organisations that have processes in place to review regularly based on evidence will be able to move their efforts to opportunities that still have plausible returns.
Create a Culture of Constant Improvement
Those who learn quickly in the market will be rewarded. However if you don’t have a goal behind your learning you will lose direction. To ensure you have a stable foundation but are open to new information you need to have processes in place to expose you to negative information early. This can be through talking to customers outside of your loudest voices, having leading indicators within your business and creating a culture where it’s ok to raise issues that may not be convenient.
However, not all new ideas will help. Successful businesses will have criteria in place to understand when improvements will help them deliver the value they have chosen and when they are just following trends. This will mean you feel like you are intentionally evolving. Over decades this will mean your business will still feel familiar to your customers and employees.
Overall success is the ability to deliver value with changing circumstances. The systems in place are quite subtle as they rely on many small decisions being made consistently. These decisions will ultimately decide if your enterprise is a flash in the pan or has relevance.
