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Small Business Success The 21 Essential Pieces for Your Business Success Puzzle

Guest post by: Leanne Hoagland-Smith

Article Overview: Success takes a different picture for each small business owner or entrepreneur. However, upon reflection, there appears at least 21 essential pieces that every business owner or CEO must have within their business success puzzle. Read about these pieces and why they are critical to your business success.

Small Business Success The 21 Essential Pieces for Your Business Success Puzzle

Small business owners and entrepreneurs who are seeking sustainable success probably don’t realize that they are creating their own success puzzle. Each executive builds a puzzle that is a unique picture because success is different for every entrepreneur.

However, within each of these success puzzles are many pieces that are always present even though the shape, size and color when comparing pieces may be different. And in some cases, there may be more than just one piece.

1.Accountability – Is accountability executed by everyone within the organization?

2.Attitudes – Is your success because of knowledge and skills or attitudes and habits?

3.Awareness – Is your ability to think creatively and “out of the box”?

4.Commitment – What is your level of commitment to doing the right thing at the right time in accordance with the right plan and aligned with the right values?

5.Customers or Clients – Do you have an identified customer base and how are you serving those customers?

6.Dreams – What are your dreams for your business and for yourself?

7.Execution – How well do you consistently execute your plans?

8.Goals – What are your goals?

9.Initiative or Risk Taking - Is initiative valued in your business or do you fear taking a risk?

10.Leadership – How well do your lead your business?

11.Measurement – Do you actively measure your actions to ensure that you know the results of your activities?

12.Mentors – Who do you turn to when you have questions and who supports you when you execute new initiatives to reach your dreams?

13.Passion – What is Your Passion or how do you love life?

14.People Development – Are your people being developed to reach their full potential because people make or break your business?

15.Plans – Do you have an overall strategic plan that includes marketing, sales, financials and productivity plans? Remember: If you don’t have a plan, then you are on someone else’s plan.

16.Processes – What processes do you have in place to ensure the smooth movement of products and services to your customers?

17.Products and/or Services – What products or services do you deliver to your customers or are needed by your customers?

18.Purpose – What is reason for you being in business?

19.Quality – Is quality part of your ongoing business development?

20.Values – What behaviors will you allow within your business for both internal and external customers?

21.Vision – What is your big picture of where you wish to take the business?


The challenge for each small business owner is three fold:

First, make sure that all 21 essential pieces are present within your success puzzle.

Second, when completing your success puzzle make sure that all pieces are connected to each other.

Finally, the picture that your success puzzle creates should be your picture of success not someone else’s vision.

Related Articles
  Smart Women Know How to Work the Puzzle
  Small Business Success: Commitment One Piece of the Puzzle
  A Puzzle: Who Are You?
  The Race to Success by Cheryl A. Clausen
  Don't Let Strategy Puzzle You

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