Business Monday: The Nine C’s of Business Success – Bob Salvas

by Bob Salvas, contributing business writer

I started my first entrepreneurial venture way back in January 2003. It did not take me long to realize I did NOT know anything about starting or running a business. Those early days were filled with self-doubt and wondering if I would ever make enough money to earn a living on my own.

I decided the best way to combat this problem was to dive into learning. I got my hands on everything I could possibly read or listen to and found some amazing authors along the way whose words encouraged and enlightened me.

One of those early authors was Brian Tracy. I took tons of notes as I read his articles and books or listened to his audios. One article I remember distinctly was THE SEVEN C’s OF SUCCESS. I will list all seven here with my comments and then I’d like to add a couple more from my own experiences in business (so the NINE C’s OF BUSINESS SUCCESS):

1. CLARITY– Brian said that 80% of your success will come from this and it is easy to understand why. In the words of Yogi Berra: “You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you are going, because you might not get there.”
2. COMPETENCE– In life, and especially in business, you just are not going to get as far as you want to go unless you are excellent at what you do.
3. CONSTRAINTS– These are the obstacles to your success. The vast majority of which are either from within or obstacles that are within your control. And you need to overcome them!
4. CONCENTRATION– The ability to focus and see things through to the end is crucial to achievement in anything. Don’t get distracted by those SHINY OBJECTS (many entrepreneurs do!)!
5. CREATIVITY- Read and get different ideas from many sources and industries. Some of the best creative ideas may be inspired by things seemingly unrelated to your industry.
6. COURAGE– It takes courage to start a business and even more to stay in business. In the words of Samuel Johnson: “Courage is the greatest of all virtues, because if you haven’t courage, you may not have an opportunity to use any of the others.”
7. CONTINUOUS LEARNING– When I felt lost starting my business, I dove into learning…but it does not ever end. You MUST buy into the concept that there is always more to learn. Always be the STUDENT.

I would like to add the two more C’s that I have seen benefit me in my many years of business experience:

8. COMMUNICATION– Not only do you need to have good skills in written and oral communication, but you also NEED to communicate. In other words, you need to be ‘seen’ by your communication. Reaching out in a friendly way to those you know (especially those you have not seen in a while) keeps those loose connections alive. You never know where the next great piece of business or the next great referral will come from.
9. COMMUNITY– Who is on your ‘team’? Who is in your ‘tribe’? Find your support and find your best customers. A big mistake in business which many of us make early on is to ‘trying to be everything to everybody.’ You can’t be and it doesn’t serve you well to try. YOU need to be YOU and only attract those who resonate with the YOU that YOU are!

“Just be you. Do what you love. I’ve learned that in the end, you can’t make everyone happy no matter what you say or do, some people will never be happy or like you.” – Anurag Prakash Ray

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 Bob Salvas is a Professional Development Manager for the RI Builders Assn, a marketing consultant, the founder of Momentum Networking, and the co-founder of THE MARKETING CAMP, a yearly conference to help small businesses achieve success.  For more information about THE MARKETING CAMP, go to themarketingcamp.com.  Bob can be reached at 401-359-1602 or at [email protected].