There are seven widely-accepted pillars for growing a business in the 21st century:

  1. An effective business map: The world is changing too fast for a traditional business plan. You need a map that will guide you from where you are to where you want to be and give you the flexibility to anticipate and capitalize on change. When you use business innovation to successfully adapt to changing conditions, you are in a better position to help grow your business.
  2. Constant and strategic innovation: For your innovation to be truly strategic, you must know not only who your current customer is but who your ideal customer is. You must dig into what they value and what they want (not what you think they need). Only then will you connect with customers and achieve the profit you want.
  3. World-class strategic marketing: Never before has the marketing landscape been so competitive. In an age where everything is competing for your customers’ attention, you must find a better way to stand out amidst the competition. You must know the new rules of marketing and the unique Xfactor that separates your business from the noise.
  4. Mastery Sales Team: Learn how to be a master salesperson and how to find the very best salespeople and how to inspire, train, reward and lead them to become a dedicated and powerful sales force.
  5. Smart performance analysis: This applies to marketing & sales, production, before & after customer relations and financial performance. We all have blind spots. For example, how do you ensure that your business stays financially sound? You can’t just hire a CFO and forget it. After all, profit is just a theory. You must know the tools and gain the optics to understand and manage cash, not just your bottom line. Same applies to knowing what your profit & loss statement can tell you about your breakeven point and where to focus attention to increase your profits.
  6. Optimization and maximization: How is it possible to realistically grow your business in a way that doesn’t require extra investment in marketing and production? You need to be smart about how to deploy your resources. You need to optimize your business with a series of micro-improvements that create exponential growth.
  7. A raving fan culture: The more value you are able to add to your customer’s life and experience, the more easily you’ll dominate the marketplace. You need to understand, anticipate and consistently fulfill the deepest needs of your clients to create fans who advocate on your behalf.