People, Passion and Luck

Having started three companies and been part of three other start-up companies in my career, I often get asked about the secret to creating a successful business. While business is a huge topic with never ending facets to it, I've narrowed most business success down to three important elements.

The first element is people. Business isn't just balance sheets, inventory, buildings, or the many other things people define as a business. Business is about people. Although simplistic, to say that without people there would be no business is true. But when you distill it down that's exactly the point. Without customers, you can have buildings and inventory and cool technology to your heart’s content, but you won't be a business for long. Without vendors to supply you with different products and services, you'd have a hard time getting off the ground with no chance of growing your business.

Most importantly, without good people working in your business, the chance for long term success is tenuous at best. Hiring good employees is the first key to building a great company. The old adage of “hire slowly and fire quickly” is sage advice. Building a company with great employees makes the work so much easier and fulfilling!

Some will argue, “I can't afford the very best.” I'd argue that businesses can't afford not to hire the best employees. (We'll talk about what great employees are looking for from an employer in a future article. The answers might surprise you!) For now I think it’s well worth considering Jim Collins famous quote from his book, Good to Great. “In fact, leaders of companies that go from good to great start not with “where” but with “who.” They start by getting the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats. And they stick with that discipline—first the people, then the direction—no matter how dire the circumstances.” Do you have the right people in the right seats?

The second element is Passion. One of Merriam-Webster's definitions of passion is; “a strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity”. Applying the definition to your business is simple. If you're passionate about it - it's really not work. That's not to say it makes the continuous highs and lows of running a business go away. It does, however, keep you moving forward with a positive perspective. Compare it to someone who's only in business “because they need the paycheck”. Is that person really going to respond well when things get difficult? Will they treat their customers, employees, and vendors with the respect they deserve? Will they be willing to put in the time required to grow their business? If you had to bet on an owner with passion for his or her business, or one just doing it because they have to, where would you place your bet? We’ve all seen examples of both types. Which type of owner are you?

The last element is called luck, but I would define it as something else. Quite a few years ago, a large business magazine ran a survey of people who had started their own business. One of the many questions on the multiple choice survey was, “What do you attribute your success to?” The optional answers to this question were, “Hard work”, “Good product/service”, “Strong business environment”, etc. There was also the obligatory, “Other”. Unlike the other questions, for the success question, over 50% of the “Other” box was checked. When asked to fill in what “Other” meant, many answered with the word, “luck.”

This was such an intriguing answer the magazine did a follow-up survey. The results were interesting. Almost all of the answers revolved around the idea that, while talking with customers about their current product or service, the customers explained what they really wanted – something not quite the same as what was currently being offered.

These were not examples of luck. They were examples of listening to their customers. They are examples of people taking action on what they learned. The interesting thing about lucky people, is it only seems to happen when you're actively doing something. I don’t know anyone who has started a business while lying on their couch watching TV and all of a sudden a horde of customers came crashing in demanding to buy something from them. Yet how often do you have people like these tell you, “I thought of that before so-in-so did it.” Businessman and author Harvey Mackay got it right when he said, “Ideas without action are worthless.” Are you hiring great people, working with passion and creating your own luck?