Financial and business success is easily achievable. Don’t destroy a great business by making a catastrophic, avoidable mistake.

Business is simple, as long as a few basic rules are followed, success is assured. There are several rules that must be met and these rules apply to all areas of personal finance and wealth acquisition. The vehicle of investment is really quite irrelevant, money can be made in any area, pretty much any venture can succeed and become very profitable. You see, a fundamental key here is understanding that there is no more or no less opportunity in any venture, the determining factor is you, or more precisely your attitude and your actions.

Results are arrived at from behaving in a certain way. Certain behavior will always bring about certain results. In this case let us look at a behavior that is going to be terminal to any project or investment.

This behavior is being profit driven. Whether you are looking to invest in a company, start a business or just get a grip of personal finances, look at the motivation of either yourself or the company you are looking to invest in. Any customer, when parting with money, is doing so for one reason and one reason only; they are making a purchase to fulfill a need. That need is never to make profit for the vendor! Now there is nothing wrong with seeking to make a profit, this is fine, but when it takes priority over meeting the need of the customer, well, a poor decision indeed.

A needs driven sale, with lower profit margins ensures warm, repeat business. A smaller front end makes for a much larger back end. Look at the bigger picture when making your decisions. I recommend finding out the mission statements and ethics of companies before investing in them. Find out who is running the company and what they stand for. Bet on the jockey not the horse.

Any company can perform for a short period of time. An investment may look fantastic in the present but look at how those sales have been driven. Are they needs driven or profit driven? If they are profit driven, the long term stability of that company may be in question. A needs driven company on the other hand has a future that is sustainable. This is what we want.

Of course this does not replace a sound financial assessment of the prospect.

Likewise, if you are self employed, look at becoming ever more needs driven in your sales process. Profitability is a natural by-product. People who’s needs you meet will return again and again. Customers who only meet your needs will be a customer only once.

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