Cultivate these 6 P’s (Principles) for Business Success

For just a minute let’s compare your business to a garden you want to create, grow and watch bloom. You probably already understand that having a garden isn’t about just planting a seed into the ground and it magically grows to full health and height. Well, your business isn’t going to do that either. First you must plan for what kind of seeds you want to grow and how and where you want to grow them in your garden. Next you prepare the ground by digging and loosening the soil for the selected seeds. You plant your seeds with love and care. But they don’t just grow on their own. You will have to water, fertilize and trim, so that it grows properly and to their full potential. When the seeds have become a full-grown plant, you must continue to nurture it so that it doesn’t die. It will always need water, fertilizer and trimming or cleaning up throughout the year. Your business is similar. Here are the six P’s that are necessary to cultivate your business success.

Passion:

“Without passion, any rational person would give up.” ~ Steve Jobs

In essence we live a short life; being given a relatively short period of time to live our life. Why not do what you love to do? Follow your passions and you will see that you can live a life you love every single day and are excited about – and make money doing it. You have many passions. What are they – do you know? If you don’t know what you are passionate about, then make knowing your number one priority. Evidence shows when you are doing what you are passionate about doing in your business you have a much higher chance of being successful.

Preparation:

“Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.” ~ Alexander Graham Bell

To be prepared in business will mean you have thought through as many possible scenarios as possible knowing how you will or can resolve it. This will alleviate a knock-out punch from out of nowhere when something major comes up. Because a lot of something majors will come up if you are in business long enough, that much I can guarantee. Have a team of experts in place, whom you trust, that you know you can contact if something out of your expertise arises. You are not meant to know everything, as a matter of fact it is impossible to know everything, but it is important to know people you can contact and who you trust, who know the answers you may not have a solution for.

Planning:

“Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.” ~ Alan Lakein

Have a strategic plan and renew your plan every year to keep your business on track. Going through your plan every quarter at the minimum can be helpful to staying on task. A plan helps you make two steps forward even if you find yourself taking one and a half steps backward. You will still move forward especially when you are following a plan that is important to your business’s success. The purpose of a plan is to keep you energized and excited about the future of your business; to show you what is important to the growth, excellence, productivity, innovation, engagement and profitability of your business; and to help you gauge where you are now versus where you want to be; with simple steps to get there. It should not be arduous, it should be exciting to implement.

Paperwork:

“For small business people, less paperwork means higher profits, boosted sales and more time with the family.” Tony Abbott

Paperwork may not be fun for a lot of business owners and entrepreneurs, but it is a necessary evil. It is an essential part of owning a business to have your paperwork organized and in good order. Invest in a tall file cabinet…or two, or three if necessary. If you are in business long enough chances become higher that you will be audited at some point. Proof/paperwork is needed on everything you itemized on your taxes; on showing that all taxes have been paid; verifying that every customer transaction was correctly done; and proving your employees filled out the proper paperwork…the list goes on and on. Paperwork and efficient and effective processes go hand-in-hand to give you more time to do what you do best in your business.

Processes:

“Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.” ~ Peter Drucker

Streamline all your processes. Determine what processes need to be put in place for growth, excellence, productivity, innovation, engagement and profitability of your business. All processes should help your business be a better version of itself. It should enhance your relationship with your vendors, customers, accountant and employees. Every good process will create efficiency and effectiveness for everyone involved, including yourself, producing a smoothly ran business. No matter how excellent your business is, higher excellence is always a state to be striving for.

Profits:

A profit in business allows you to see the value you are giving to others.

Is it coincidence that in accounting when money increases it is called appreciation or gain? You started a business because you wanted to help. Therefore, when you receive money for what you do you are creating value for both who you are helping and yourself. When you are profiting you are allowing more of the good that you are doing to continue for others. When you are not profiting or making enough money it is a red flag that something is not right. If you are not making the money you need to make take a step back and reassess the first five P’s. What area is lacking? What is missing? Your profits will be one of the gauges to how successful your business is.

Cultivate your business success like you would cultivate a garden. The more it’s loved and fertilized and watered the higher the chance it will prosper.