Small Business: "Guaranteed Success!!!!"

"Guaranteed Success!!!!" Arghhhh.....there are several advertisements out there that guarantee your small business success or growth. Unfortunately most are not true without other key elements. 

Your success depends on several factors: 

• You - First, how well versed are you in the operations of your business. Second, are you a good manager of your time, resources, and business acumen? Key to any small business venture is the owner, founder, and their ability to manage and run a business. 
• Service or Products Value - Do you offer services or products that are of value to your customer. Consider selling a "pet rock" today. You may have a few sales, but chances are it will not be a sustainable business without a lot of marketing and interest from your customers. 
• Marketing Strategy - No matter the business you must have an active marketing strategy whether word-of-mouth, television/radio ads, or others methods of getting the word out about your business. 
  
• Customer Service - There are business owners that make customer service a key point of their offerings. They are more successful than those that don't. Think about businesses you have dealt with that have bad customer service. Would you do business with them again? Over time, bad customer service will stifle your business growth. Unhappy customers result in loss of business as potential customers avoid you. 
  
• Business outlook/strategy - Only you can direct your business toward growth. Sure you may get ideas from others but in the end you are the sole determinant factor in whether your business succeeds. Directing your business takes creativity, being humble, accepting failure, and success with an eye to the future growth of your business. View success and failure as temporary. Always look to the future of your business as only you can do. 
  

Next time you see one of those ads guaranteeing growth of your business, increased traffic to your website, consider, "What do they know that I don't?"