There are a range of drivers that help define success for a business, and a lot has been written about what it takes to achieve success in a diversity of books, articles and blogs. No one but you can define what success means for you.

While we all have our own view of what success look and feels like, and it is arguable that the criteria for personal and business success are different, there are many “core” elements in all our versions of success. Some of these include achieving a level of financial sustainability beyond mere survival, fulfilling a worthwhile function that is recognised in some form, while achieving the standards you have set that define your version of personal and business success.

I believe there are three critical aspects to a business’ success:

1. The business model – what the business delivers or makes that meets client needs, how that product or service is marketed and sold to the client base, how the product or service delivers profit to the business and how the business positively interacts with the environment.
2. The finance model – the flow of cash into and out of the business that determines ongoing viability. Cash is the lifeblood of every business, the essential oil that must be managed effectively to keep the business operating.
3. The people management model – having the right people doing the right thing in an environment that encourages excellence in delivery and experimentation to always be better. People who are committed to being their best operating in an environment that accepts that failure for the right reason can be tolerated as the organisation seeks success for the business and its people.

 These aspects do not operate in isolation, and a real secret to success is to get each of these aspects of your business model operating at the right level for your business both statically in isolation, and more importantly in combination so they deliver value to the client, profit and cash to the business and rewards to the people who make the business function.

During this year I’ll examines the component parts of each of these aspects of business success individually, and provide examples of how each component contributes to success, yet can not succeed in isolation.

 In my view, success in a business sense is as dependent on excellence in coordination as it is on individual or technical excellence.