Why businesses succeed
There are many reason why businesses succeed ranging for pure hard work to pure good luck;
Focus - At a university seminar Bill Gates (then 1st richest man in the world) and his friend Warren Buffet (then 2nd richest man in the world) were asked what drove them to be such successes, in unison the said focus. To focus on their business, their area of expertise, not to get distracted and to keep their goals in mind.
Hard work - Without doubt one of the most critical elements that turn good ideas into great businesses. A lot of people underestimate the actual amount of work and dedication required to run a successful business.
Education and training - Knowing about the field you are about to start your business in and having a good education is key to running a successful business.
The product - The product or service is so good that it almost singularly drives the businesses forward, the most typical example of this is Coca-Cola.
The person - The persona and character of the person drives the business, they are totally in tune with their business, with their client and their bottom line. The business would be in jeopardy without the person. A classic example is the iconic leadership and almost cult like following of Steve Jobs the head of Apple.
The business model - Some business models are such that even with no work being done they can run themselves, this is especially true of licensing arrangement or royalties.
Good luck - Beyond your control but a good dose of good luck can catapult your business forward. One of the other reasons that Bill Gates cites for Microsoft’s success is good luck, if they hadn’t been lucky and got their first deal with IBM they wouldn’t be where they are today.
