A Successful Business is More Than a Good Idea

Good ideas are like babies, someone has one every minute. Yet successful businesses are much more rare. Therefore, there must be more to a successful business than a good idea. I don't mean to over simplify what is a very complicated process, but having a successful business boils down to having three important things:

1. A good idea
2. Capital (money to make that good idea a reality)
3. A good team (good employees, good partners, or both)

1. A good idea. Notice I said a GOOD idea, not an original idea. Henry Ford is famous for building automobiles and Alexander Graham Bell for the telephone but neither of them was the first to have the idea. They were just the first ones to present it in a workable form to the masses. The same is true with any business. If you own an HVAC company surely you aren't the first person in your area to do so. However, you can think of ways to make your HVAC company the best in the area. How you stand out as a company is going to have a lot to do with how long you stay around as a company. So you need to have some good ideas as to how to make your business unique.

2. Capital. You get out of something what you put in. If you put a dollar in the soda machine you get out a soda. If you put a nickel in you get nothing. The same is true with your business. Vehicles, uniforms, lawyers, accountants, computers, cell phones, business trips, tools, etc. These are all expenses that you will incur with your business. If you skimp on these or try to go cheap it will bite you in the butt later. If you can't afford to be in business for yourself then you best save up your money and try again later.

3. People. You need a talented staff who works well together as a team. You might have a guy working for you that can wire up a whole house in thirty minutes. But if he doesn't get along with the rest of your employees then he will end up hurting your business. Or you might have business partners who come up with some of the best ideas. But if they don't have the same goals and visions for the company as you do then it will end up hurting your business.

Whether your business is plumbing, carpentry, electrical, general contracting, painting, and so on, to be successful you need a good idea, money to make it happen, and a good team