Characteristics of a Successful Business

By illustrating the characteristics of a successful business we can learn identify some of the most important keys for business success.

Being able to learn from the best means to learn how to become one of the best! In the following I will show you business fundamentals that will help you to distinguish between a regular company and an excellent company.

A good company delivers its products and offers customer service.

Excellent companies are dedicated to a vision; a greater good if you so want; and delivers products that offer additional value to their customers, who are the utmost important part of the whole company as it would not exist without them.

First of we should split this project into two parts, the first part involves the characteristics of business owners, the second part is about the characteristics that the whole organization has got:

1. Characteristics of a successful business owner/entrepreneur

• Pure Passion

A successful business owner loves what he is doing to earn a living. It is not uncommon that successful entrepreneurs do really enjoy what they are doing; often they simply turned their hobby into a full time job. Their pleasure will spread to his colleagues and employees and create a joyful work climate.

• Responsibility

Some of the most successful sport-coaches were those that were able to remove the high pressure from outside which was lasting on the shoulders of their team by undertaking the full responsibility. A famous example for this is José Mourinho (football coach of Real Madrid) who releases his players from all the pressure that comes from the outside. This allows his players to work concentrated and focus all their attention on their tasks. Mourinho’s concept seems to pay off as he was able to win the Champions League title with FC Porto and with Inter Milan.

• Courage

Successful entrepreneurs or business owners are the ones that had the courage to go one step further than their competitors. They don’t let themselves getting limited from barriers or obstacles but try to push and expand the limits.

2. Characteristics of a successful business/corporation

• Offers its clients/customers an additional value

The iPod® has not achieved cult status because it is an excellent mp3-player. It became popular because it offered additional value to its buyers, such as ease of handling and being a luxurious lifestyle object, even though its price was twice as high as the one of a regular mp3-player. A company that is able to offer its customers additional values that their competitors cannot offer has found a unique selling proposition, which makes them successful! Therefore it is an objective of every successful business to deliver their customers not only value for their money, but also something special (additional value) that none of their competitors has to offer!

• There is no stagnation!

Another characteristic of a successful business is that it will always try to expand their product range and advance their services (e.g. account management) or products in any kind of way. One thing that a successful business does not: resting on their laurels. If it is a larger company it also will devote some of its resources into new innovations.

• Being sensibly financed

Having a decent mixture of debt and equity is an important factor for the decision-making ability of the company. The more debts the more persons will have influences on the decisions that are being made within a business.

• Costumer friendliness

Successful businesses are those that are very close to their customers and clients; take their problems, necessities and considerations serious and constantly try to advance their costumer friendliness in general. If their costumers develop new needs they will be ready to please these accordingly.

Achieving business success

Start to incorporate those above listed business fundamentals and characteristics of a successful business that you seem to fit for your own business and develop your company to a more successful one that gains new customers day after day.

Photo by AMagiII

What do you think are the characteristics of a successful business?