I have started several businesses as an entrepreneur (the last few have been successful), I planted a church, launched a non-profit, and for 15 years ran a summer camp that gave me the unique experience of basically building a new “business” each summer.

All of this experience in success and failure has helped me see exactly what makes an organization successful.

I don’t know who said it first, but I heard this business axiom from Andy Stanley:

All organizations drift towards complexity over time.

And that is a very true statement.

So, I like to combat this natural tendency with the power of a framework I’ve developed over time.  And recently I decided to put this framework into a form I could more easily share with my team.

Here is the results of that work.

The B.A.S.I.C.S. of Success

 

Basics build the base that success stands on!

B – Budgeting, Accounting, and the Legal Stuff

No way around it.  Your money will all go somewhere.  Either you can tell it where to go or it will find its own place to go without you.  Money is the lifeblood of your business.

A – Attract New Leads

You are going to need a predictable steady stream of new leads.  A lot of people start out and think that everyone they know will tell everyone they know and that word of mouth will be all they need.  This simply never happens.

S- Sales

Just because you can draw a crowd, doesn’t mean you can survive in business.  In fact, you don’t have a business until you convenience enough people to buy your product or service.  Sales is a skill you need to be a consistent student of.

I – Integrity in Everything.

Now that you have started to make promises with your product or service, you need to deliver on those promises every single time.  Integrity shows up in the decisions you make when no one is watching.  Don’t cheat on your taxes, don’t lie, and treat your team better than you’ve ever been treated.

C – Consistent Communication

From email marketing to social media, from appreciation to casting vision – you’ll have to repeat yourself hundreds of times.  Proactive communication wins the day every time.

If you are a web designer; download my 12 favorite email subject lines I have used in my web design business.

S – Systematize Success.

Once you see anything in your business work; build a system to ensure the success will repeat without you.

I have found that when I evaluate these six things weekly I’m successful.  When I neglect even one of them, I start to let the drift begin.  And, let that drift go without correction and your business will never reach its full potential.