Success in small business is far from easy. In fact, it’s extremely difficult. Especially if your small business is built on shaky foundations. If you trek off into the small business wilderness without knowing the basics, you’re bound to become lost and start drifting towards failure.

Rest assured, knowing the core fundamentals is reasonably straight forward. There are four key pillars of small business success. By understanding these four key pillars, you can structure every part of business and ensure it’s super charged for small business success.

Key 1: Having a Valued Unique Selling Point

Your small business needs to be known for being able to deliver something no other business can. This is known as your unique selling point/proposition (USP) This does not necessarily mean you need to have a unique product (although this would be ideal). It means that you need an offering that’s better than the competition can provide. This could either be:

• Hard to source quality products
• A combination package which combines valued products and or services
• Superior choices of access (service hours, payment options, points of contact)
• Superior environment (inviting touchpoints, empowered staff, sense of credibility)

It’s important that your unique selling point is valued and sought after by your target market, otherwise – who’s going to do business with you? And how will you be a small business success?

Key 2: Your Small Business Must Consistently Deliver

The key word here is consistency. When doing business you must strive to deliver the same experience each time. It’s this consistency which is so important in establishing your small business’ trusted reputation. In a nutshell, it’s consistency which helps you build your reputation and your brand.

Your small business also needs to thread the same messages across all internal and external touchpoints – day in and day out. Yes, all touchpoints! This includes your website, business cards, email signatures, store layout and invoice layouts. Without consistency your business can’t gain traction, which will hurt your dreams of small business success.

 

Key 3: Understand the Finances of Your Small Business

To achieve small business success you must be profitable, or at least be sustainable. You should have a thorough understanding about the financial position of your business, including:

• Your break even point
• Your margins
• Your profit and loss statement
• Your balance sheet

Key 4: Have a Positive Attitude to Your Small Business

Starting a small business is exciting. Initially you won’t mind working the long hours, especially as you see your small business grow. But then the honey moon period ends and work starts to feel like work. This is when your attitude and mindset are so important. You need to stay positive. You need to keep looking for  opportunities. You need to keep finding solutions to your relentless challenges. Without the right attitude you will be running your small business into the ground and taking everyone else with you.

‘It is your attitude, not your aptitude, that determines your altitude.’ Zig Ziglar

I can’t stress enough about how important these four small business pillars are. In fact, almost 100% of the content on this site will be directly related to achieving small business success by capitalising on these four key areas.