I have interpret, on my business job, well more than 10,000 articles and will list about how anybody is successful with small business whether it is independent business or franchise. Lots of well-intentioned plus intelligent advisors I have met professionally believe that great idea with great advertising scheme and better desire will make anybody successful. Do a favor and tell next individual sending out this nonsense they are totally wrong!
Success and failure of huge majority of small businesses has very little things to do with desire, advertising scheme or great idea, which made business. Whereas these 3 items should be present in each successful business, the solid fundamental organization principles can allow small business to flourish and do well. Every winning company, be it small, medium ad large business, makes use of same set of running principals. Size of business will determine individuals principals that are used and sophistication of principle. As example, the small business usually has casual and maybe unwritten worker hiring guidelines. The medium sized business has legally approved, ample worker manual with worker hiring guidelines as separate segment. Large worldwide business has entire section writing some employee manuals in some languages with the employee hiring guidelines that are based on the legal and the social issues in every country. But, every company must use common sense management principal that all companies should have a fair, consistent and applicable employment program.
Since I spent huge majority of my job with small & medium sized of businesses, here is simple and choose set of running principles, which every small & medium business must follow to guarantee success & profitability:
Good accounting subdivision with timely financial statements gives basis for all the management choices. Any business officer who trusts purely in their "gut" feel, is managing what is failed business. Irrespective of business size, each owner and executive should have suitable data to verify the choices their "gut" will tell them to put up. Your monetary statements are factual evidence of your big business history & we should all clearly know our record so we don't repeat mistakes of past. How will you decide whether your current advertising campaign is success until you see & evaluate financial consequences? We have heard stories about marketing campaign, which brought lots of new consumers to company but killed company because advertising cost was larger than profit margin on new sales. The business proprietor doesn't need accounting degree however must know adequate to know and participate in monetary information review.
Running small business that is based on cash balance in business checking account as well violates this organization principle and can severely inhibit growth & success of business. Unless you would like to remain "mom & pop" business eternally, good accounting info is requirement.
Standardize & automate all custom functions. Have you noticed that majority of the flourishing business people have routine for their daily works? They have the staff meetings at same time, and they want all the reports in specific format, and they require all PC's & software to be same in office and they require external telephone calls to get answered with specific greeting.