Summary: The Five Rules for Business Success

The Laws of Business Success

Under the Laws of Business

The keys to business success have always been the same. A thousand books have been written and countless articles have been published, but they all eventually come back to what I call the "big five." First, the product or service must be ideally suited to the existing market and to what people want, need, and are willing to pay for. Products or services that are not ideally suited to the demands of the existing market must be changed quickly or run the risk of
disappearing.

Second, there must be a companywide focus on marketing, sales, and revenue generation. The most important energies of the most talented people in the company must be centered on the customer and on selling more of your most profitable products to ever-larger numbers of customers. The failure to focus single-mindedly on sales is the number one cause of business failure in any economy.

Third, efficient internal systems of bookkeeping, accounting, inventory management, and cost control must exist. Poor control of operating costs and internal administration is the number two reason for business failure.

Fourth, there must be a clear sense of direction and a high level of synergy and teamwork among the managers and staff in the organization. The company should function like a well-oiled machine, with a place for everyone and everyone in his or her place, performing at his or her best.

Finally, the company should never stop learning, growing, innovating, and improving. The Japanese call this the process of Kaizen. W. Edwards Deming, the father of quality in both Japan and America, taught that continuous training and upgrading of skills at all levels of the company is the key to achieving a meaningful competitive advantage and long-term business success.

The American free-enterprise system, where you and I and anyone else have the freedom to enter the marketplace, to attempt to serve customers with goods and services in better ways or at cheaper prices than anyone else, is the finest system ever evolved for the satisfaction of needs and the creation of opportunity.

You can take your place in this system at any time by offering a product or service that people want and are willing to pay for. By practicing these laws of business, you can build a successful company or career that brings you all the rewards and satisfactions you desire in life.

Source: Brian Tracy, The 100 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws of Business Success, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc, (San Francisco, 2000).