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Guest post by: Deepak Vora Become an Author

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On the long weekend I visited a regional mall in a suburb of San Diego. The mall was full of people but not as crowded like it used to be on previous long weekends. The first time I visited this mall was in the mid eighties when it had opened. Out of nostalgia I walked by the locations where I had designed stores when the mall had first opened. Unfortunately all of those businesses closed many years ago.

Walking by numerous stores, many of them selling merchandise of similar categories I began to wonder how many of these businesses are going to be around ten years from now. A question popped into my mind. Why do some businesses succeed while the others fail? Some of them enjoy success for a short period of time succumbing to market forces causing their demise. Then there is Apple that was on the brink of extinction and was revived by the visionary Steven Jobs. Apple is now the envy of every business out there whose success story has become a legend.

What is it that makes a business successful? Is there a secret formula that some businesses have discovered which give them edge over other business? Do CEO's of the company know something which others do not know? Is their Luck involved where a perfect business plan is evolved at the most opportune time? Does the Universe plays favorite electing some to succeed while others fail creating favorable conditions for same? Does success have to do with companies comprised of a whole lot of successful individuals creating business success? Why is that no once in the academia has come up a formula of business success which everyone use ensuring every business to prosper?

After pondering over these questions I saw myself drifting in world of fantasy. Out of arrogance I thought why can't I come up with the magic formula? After all, achieving business success can't be that complicated since there are many successful businesses. The secret to success must be very simple and obvious which many have overlooked leading to their failure. Would looking at the past experiences with businesses will reveal secret of their success?

In my fantasy I saw the struggling retailers using my magic formula to draw customers to stores increasing their sales; the consumers started shopping (without affecting their savings rate!) Business started hiring people, the unemployment dropping, economy improving , the GDP growing, a classic " V " shaped taking place, stock market reaching new highs, Numbers of new IPO's soaring creating new jobs, good old times had returned with the recession becoming a figment of memory to be forgotten quickly! Though I was imagining things and the imagined scenario was a fiction the eternal optimist in me could not rule out the possibility of what appears as a fictional scenario becoming a reality in not too distant future!

After waking up from the fantasy the reality of the situation hit me. It became very obvious to me no matter how hard I try I will not be able to come up with a secret formula for success. After all there are so many people who have studied businesses and management and not come up with the formula so how can I? If such a formula existed the world would not be in the current economic condition it is and those who had the formula and shared it with humanity preventing the current crisis and made a bundle in the process.

So is the situation hopeless? I have to believe that considering direness of the situation affecting retail business and shopping centers everyone is working on ways to deal with the current situation. Retail business are working in-house or with the help of outside consultants fine tuning their business plans, adjusting merchandise mix , conducting customers survey and experiments to get customers back to their store, increase revenues revisiting their expansion and growth plans and waiting for the signs from consumers and economy for signs of revival. Cautious optimism can be said to be most beneficial mantra of the day to sustain company moral.

I felt a strong urge to explore the world of business success. Since I have spent my entire professional life serving businesses and the primary goal of every business is to succeed pursuit of that desire seems to be a worthy undertaking. If I had better understanding about businesses I can do a better job of serving them. The vision of breaking the mold of a stereo type Architect discounted with reality of business is extremely appealing.

So I am embarking on personal journey of learning about Business Success. Since I operate in the domain of retailers, restaurants, hospitality businesses in shopping centers I will be focusing my investigations in that arena where I will have access to maximum expertise. I will also talk to colleagues from college in India where I did my undergraduate studies to bring a bit of global perspective. I will also revisit numerous books I have read on business, motivational and spiritual literature for concepts relating to this subject. In the past I have written columns for various publications on multiple topics spanning from spirituality to architecture and looking for a place to write down my thoughts. Through my blog I hope to inspire others from my experiences as an architect, designer and an entrepreneur along with sharing experiences that have inspired me through the years.

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