Josh Kaufman, author of “The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business”, an international bestseller with translations in 12 languages, says:
“Every successful business (1) creates or provides something of value that (2) other people want or need (3) at a price they’re willing to pay, in a way that (4) satisfies the purchaser’s needs and expectations and (5) provides the business sufficient revenue to make it worthwhile for the owners to continue operation.”
IMHO, every business has to be firing on all cylinders to be long-term successful.
What else would you add to this list?
If you could improve one of the above areas with regards to your business, which would you target for immediate action, and what steps would you take to achieve the improvement?

i like the idea that  you dont have to be  great at everything  but  its   great  to  be tops in one  thing…..service, location,  inventory, price were 4 of the  things that  article  talked about…  …..  our store is low on  service and  high on   great prices and  inventory….. we  dont  compete on service  .by  choice…no  delivery, no layaway, little  custom work,  …. and our location is   pretty   bad….  country road  just off the highway..but  we  try  really hard on price and big interesting inventory….

.  @warrenveach  your list is  so good..and its  nice to  see  some business  ideas    from outside the   internet world……  the  customers have to want  what you are  selling….duh….but  all the hard  effort    you   do  will not  work  if  its the  wrong  stuff you are offering…. i see so many business  failures    with that   problem….most  businesses   dont make it…. its  really tough  out there….  what is it  1 in  5  that  survive  5   yrs?  

i would add  persistence and  flexibility  and   total  respeect  for the  market…..  i know  to  survive   i have to fit in to it….

we are so  flexible….if  the  customers  dont  respond i  change   something….

for improvement  i should   stay open on thursdays   our only  closed  day….. i know its a good idea  but   we  just  dont   get  around   figuring out how  …. i let  someone in today and  4   other  carloads  came in and i sold  about  600$$$ in 2  hrs…….so obviously   the market is  trying to tell me  something…..

Hi Dea,

That reminds me of the old line, ” if you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there”.

You absolutely have to know who your target market is, aka “the other people”.

@deairby

I’ve always believed in a win-win situation, but sometimes its hard to determine the true “winner”.

Often it can be said that the supplier puts forth much more effort in bringing their product/service to market than the buyer does in purchasing the end result.

However, if the buyer does feel that the product/service is fairly priced and meets their needs, then all is good.

People usually won’t over-pay for a product unless its a one-of-a-kind, or very rare.

You pay for what you get…..

@hildaalanisgonzalez

It seems that no ONE thing works for everyone – but the key is knowing yourself and your clients/customers.  However, no matter what, if your clients/customers feel valued, you have conquered a significant hurdle in your success.

@warrenveach hi  …back to the  service   conversation….  the  guy i  was  talking about  thought that  you  didnt have to  be  good at  everything    but  success  could  come if  you were  really  good at  something…. like  our stores    service policy,whichis  a lot  different  than most  stores …..  we dont  do     custom orders,   delivery,  keeping a data base of   customers  wants,  shipping   whatever they want..laying away  merchandise,  …  we totally and  thoughtfully   choose not to do all that …since it would  be too hard,  we make more money the way we  went,  we  probably  couldnt  do it right,   we dont have the mark up to  do it…  etc etc….  and it leaves  us all our  energy   trying to  be the  best wat  what we   can  do and  do well…… produce and present   lots of exciting  inventory at a  great price   and  cash and  carry…. 

hopefully  we are  pretty  good at  the  service we  do   go for,  great t reatment of  customers   who  come  to our  store..  ….

in  your world it might  be that you  are  great at  seo  and not so  good at   art….so  you  push  seo…. or  you might   be  good at a  fast   good   intro offer  instead of a long    thing   totally   involved with hand holding and  custom  detail…..either  road  could  work….. 

 you  might not  need to   try and   be  everything  to  everybody…. that  point  has  helped us   along the  way….i like  saying  no  we dont  do that….its kind of a relief… 

right….gps is  crucial for us,   since new  folks drive to us    from  far away….and  we are out in the boondocks….