Who Wants a Successful Business? Part 2

In the last blog I talked about change and how change is a good way of discovering hidden talents or to corner a different market. Along with change in the process a change in the mentality of the business needs to happen. Small business open and unfortunately close at rapid paces, yet some of the most successful businesses in the world started off as a small business. Ray Kroc is probably one of the most successful small business owners of all time. If you don’t recognize the name you are definitely not alone. Many people don’t know who he is but there is a good chances you have tried his product. I’ll give you a hint, “I’ll have a Big Mac meal with a Coke” that’s right Ray Kroc is the founder of McDonalds. This multibillion dollar company once started off as a small business as well. What made them so successful? How did Ray Kroc establish such a flawless method? That’s what we will be looking at today. To see how your business stacks up to Mr. Kroc’s.
Here we are, day 1 of your new business. You have a single location, you are the only employee, and you make all the decisions. Where do you begin? What is flying through your head? What and how do I do to get all the materials for this location? If you asked yourself the last question there is already a 75% chance your business will fail within the first 5 years. With such an overwhelming statistic like that it is surprising how few business owners know that. The reason many businesses fail is because the mentality behind the company is not about owning many locations it is about owning their current location. When Ray Kroc started McDonalds, long before the first burger and fries were put into a customer’s hand he had set up the business as if it were a franchise. Every decision he made was thought of as if he had more than five locations, even if he did only have one. As a business owner you have to learn to think big picture. You want to make every decision as if you owned 5 or more locations, even if you never plan on it. The reason is a more structured business plan of attack. What days do you order new supplies? Yeah a business owner can play it by ear and order it when needed but if the structure was in place that the first and third Thursday of every month new supplies is to be ordered for all locations. That’s the structure that needs to be in place. Thinking and seeing the big picture will statistically lead to an over 80% chance of lasting longer than 5 years. Think about that. By only thinking about one location with even good structure you will fail 75% of the time while thinking franchise and good structure you will succeed over 80%. That’s the key to be successful, don’t make a decision based on your location make it based for all future locations.
Check back for part 3 of being a successful business when I discuss the value of a turn-key operation and why it is vital to success.