Building Your Business Model: 4 Key Factors That Will Decide Your Success (in anything)

A lot of people have had great ideas from time to time. Whether it be a particular service, online platform, or retail product, most people at some time or another have had that "ah ha!" moment; "eureka!". But how do we take an intangible idea and transform it into something tangible? How do we take an idea and build a business model from it?

There are 4 key factors that decide the success of a business model and its subsequent entrepreneur(s): strategy, sacrifice, consistency, and patience. 95% of small businesses fail due to a lack in one or more of the 4 key factors of success.

Understand Your Vision and Build Your Game-Plan

Whether you're aiming for a $1B net worth or trying to earn a simple living, you need a strategy to acquire your vision. There cannot be one without the other. Like travelling, you intend to get from point A to point B. Understanding the destination of point B is your vision; how you get to point B is your strategy.

Are you walking? Are you Biking? Are you taking the train to some middle point and then catching a cab from the station? How do you intend to reach point B? Without knowing this, you will never reach point B.

Conversely, what if you get in your car and start driving with no intended destination? Where are you going? You don't know; and if you don't know then a prospective investor sure as hell has no clue either (hint: he won't be sticking around long enough to find out).

Point being, you have to understand where you are trying to go and how you will get there. This is applicable to every facet of life. It is the only way you will ever get what you want. If you want to drive a Ferrari 812 Superfast you must envision every step and detail of how you will be driving that car. From sweating day-in and day-out to acquire the funds, to walking into the dealership, test driving the car, and slapping that stupid smirk off of the salesman's smug face with a briefcase of money, you must envision every corner of how you will acquire your goals and aspirations. Mind before matter.

Sacrificing the Short-Term for the Long-Term

There are no such things as gray areas in life. There are haves and have-not's. There are those who do and those who do not. The only common denominator between you and what you claim to want is you. The guy in the Ferrari doesn't drive a Ferrari for any other reason than the fact that he made sacrifices in the short-term so that he could drive that car later on down the road (no pun intended).

So remove this way of thinking from your mental arsenal. It is only a contribution of mediocrity towards your daily life and motivation. If you want to be hiking 6-months out of the year through the Hindu Kush Mountains you can. If you want a collection of rare classic automobiles parked in a $3.5M estate you can have it. The only thing is: are you willing to do what it takes now to enjoy these things in your future? 95% of people aren't so willing. If you claim to want something you need to want it and do everything necessary to have it. It doesn't have to be a material desire. It could be anything. If you want it then put in the work to have it. Be willing to sweat until that day comes. You have to sweat and sacrifice for the strategy and, in turn, the strategy will eventually be sweating for you.

Be Consistent and Consistently Win

Michael Jordan is one of the greatest ballers to ever play the game of basketball. What made him so great? What made him perform so far ahead of the competition? He was consistently putting up points and making good plays. Consistency is the deciding factor in defining your success; breaking records is overrated.

Who do you want on your team? The guy who scored 55 points that one time, or the guy who consistently puts up 35-40 points per game? The guy who hit seven 3-point shots in a quarter, or the guy with 5 layups and 2 slam dunks per quarter? I would take the latter every time because I can guarantee his consistency to perform. I'd bet my money that the guy who's consistent has more wins under his belt too; winning matters.

Bottom-line, when you have a strategy that you've made sacrifices to execute, being consistent is of utmost importance to always achieving your next step. If your business relies on door-hangers you must establish how many hangers will be hung and in what span of time and you must be consistent about doing so. If you hang 10,000 door-hangers with a 1% retention rate, you need to ensure that you are hanging another 10,000 in consistent time frames. At a rate of 10,000 door-hangers every two weeks, you are looking at taking on 400 new customers per month. That equates to 4,800 new customers per year from door-hangers alone. If you have a subscription-based service that costs $14.99/month, you are adding on $5,996 in revenue per month. This equates to increasing yearly revenues by $71,952. In the long-run, consistency pays off bigly.

Patiently Awaiting the Fruits of Your Labor

No tree bore figs over night in Jerusalem; it took a long season. You must be patient with all aspects of your business as things take time to fully develop. Lack of patience is the number one reason why businesses fall short and fail. Without patience you will quit the game early; never truly knowing if you were sitting on a long-term gold mine. Patience and sacrifice go hand-in-hand. Those who sacrifice will be willing to wait to reap the rewards of their sacrifice. Those who are patient understand the value of the virtue and thus are willing to continue to make sacrifices to revel in that value.

What if you had a business dealing in localized risk management (essentially the basis of the business I own) and you quit your business because the lifestyle wasn't as glamorous as you envisioned it might be? Then what if a mid-cap company moved a headquarters into your city; effectively bringing your city 5,000 employees? What if this company was looking for some local benefits to provide to its employees? Again, at $14.99/month for your services, that's a lot of dough.

Deny yourself immediate gratification if it effects your long-term well being.

Conclusion

Stick to the 4 key factors above and you will be sure to see at least minor successes and accomplishments in striving towards your goal. Everyone wishes the status quo of their lives was better. The only thing is, not everyone is willing to do what it takes, scrape their pride to the side, and achieve their idea of success. You don't need a mansion, yacht, or Ferrari to be successful. Your idea of success is unique to you, and you owe yourself the effort to achieve it. While this was mainly for an audience interested in entrepreneurship, it goes for anyone regarding anything.

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