The document outlines 21 steps to help businesses succeed. It discusses the importance of standing out from competitors, being adaptable to change, understanding that success requires hard work, having self-belief, focusing on improving the business rather than just working in it, paying attention to detail, surveying clients for feedback, continuously learning, building a strong brand, and engaging with customers online through social media. Success requires implementing these lessons and addressing both the business idea and the hard work needed for execution. Ignoring the online business world is a risk for any company.

1. 21 easy steps to greatly improve your
chances
Succeeding in Business Part 2
11-21
Tony Morrison

2. Succeeding in Business
• This is the second of a two part series designed to
give yourself the absolute best chance to succeed
in the business of your choice. It doesn’t matter
the size of your business venture, the same rules
still apply.
Tony Morrison
CEO Harcourts Real estate
Tasmania

3. 11-Stand out from the Crowd

4. How hard is it to stand our from the
crowd?
• “The surplus society has a surplus of similar
companies, employing similar people, with
similar educational backgrounds, working in
similar jobs, coming up with similar ideas,
producing similar things, with similar prices
and similar quality.” Kjell Nordstrom & Jonus Ridderstrale,
Funky Business
• “Companies have defined so much “Best
practice” that they are now more or less
identical.” Jesper Kunde, A Unique Moment

5. 11-Stand out from the Crowd
• To be successful in today’s business world you
need to stand out from the crowd.
• You need to create meaningful points of
difference.
• At times being memorable is just as important
as being the best.
• If you don’t stand out from the crowd you will
be judged on price and not product, service,
skill, knowledge or expertise.

6. 12-Be adaptable to change
Cause change and
Lead, accept change and
survive, resist change
and die.
Ray Norda

7. Be adaptable to change
• To be able to change with the times you need to:
– Have flexibility to adapt
– Respond quickly
– Have ability to recognise new opportunities
– Wear multiple hats at times
– Develop new areas of expertise
– Be able to admit that you were wrong or that there is a
better way
– Analyse problems and come up with new strategies or
solutions
– If you want your business to change, you need to
change.

8. What happens if you don’t change
with the times?

9. Change is never easy, but it is
inevitable

10. Whilst change is good

11. 13-Success has a price

12. The Price of Success
• No matter how good the idea, how perfect the
location or how financially sound you are success
still requires lots of hard work.
• The ratio is usually 20% great business idea and
80% implementation (hard work)
• To achieve success you really need to want it
• Too many people give up when the going gets
tough
• A successful business is never just 9 to 5
• Failure or success, it’s all up to you

13. The main reason businesses fail
• It’s not the competition,
• It’s not the product,
• It’s not the economy,
• It’s not a poor service level,
• Poor cash flow is a sign of a failing business
• but in the end the main reason business’s fail
is the Business owner themselves.
• It is also the main reason they succeed.

14. Other common reasons businesses fail
• The owner going into business for the wrong
reason
• Poor advice from family and friends
• Being in the wrong place at the wrong time
• An entrepreneur wearing themselves out or
underestimating time requirements needed to
achieve success
• Family pressure on time and money commitments
• Pride getting in the way of making crucial decisions

15. • Lack of market awareness
• An entrepreneur falling in love with the product/business
and losing touch with common sense/reality
• Lack of financial responsibility and awareness, taking on
too much debt
• Lack of clear focus
• Too much money which sees the owner make foolish
decisions which someone on a tighter budget would
never make
• Being too optimistic or pessimistic
Other common reasons businesses fail

16. • The skill set doesn’t matter
• If the mindset is wrong.
• The world is full of really smart skillful failures.
The right attitude goes a long way
I never
Dreamed
About
Success.
I worked
For it.
Estee Lauder

17. Don’t give up when the going gets tough

18. 14-Belief in yourself is paramount

19. “If you think you are beaten, you are,
If you think you dare not, you don’t
If you like to win, but you think you can’t,
It is almost certain you won’t.”
If you think you’ll lose, you’ve lost
For out of the world we find,
Success begins with a fellow’s will –
It’s all in the state of mind.”
If you think you are outclassed, you are.
You’ve got to think high to rise,
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.”
“Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But soon or later the man who wins
Is the man WHO THINKS HE CAN!”
From “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill

20. 15-Work on your business, not in it

21. 15-Work on your business, not in it

22. 16-Where you focus is important
Never focus on making lots of money, focusing on creating a great business
If you succeed at creating a great business, the money will flow

23. 17-Attention to detail

24. 18-Survey your clients
• It is absolutely critical to survey your client
base to see how you are performing.
• You may not be performing quite as well as
you think are.
• Things that you think are important to your
clients may not be and vice versa.
• Upon getting feedback make sure you act on it
or the results can be worse than not doing the
survey at all.

25. The process of surveying your clients
• There are many surveys in existence which
you can use and I have tried most of them and
have developed others myself.
• The survey I have had the most success
with, the best rate of reply and gained the
most valuable feedback from to help improve
the performance of my business is ‘Net
Promoter Score’.
• See next slide for a simplified explanation
Google for detailed explanation

26. A simplified explanation
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
On a scale of 0 –10, how likely is it that you would
recommend our company to a friend or colleague?
Detractors Neutral Promoters
Ask your clients just one question
If they rate you 0 to 6 they are detractors of your business, detrimental to it’s growth.
7 to 8 are neutral in the sense that they won’t say anything negative or positive about
your business. The only ones that will actively promote your business in a positive
fashion to help it grow are the clients who rate you either a 9 or 10.

27. How to work out your Net Promoter
score?

28. 19-Never stop learning
It doesn’t matter how experienced or knowledgeable you are never
stop the process of increasing your skill, knowledge or expertise. If
you don’t someone will sail straight past you and take your success
away.

29. 20-Never underestimate the power of
a strong brand

30. • Work out what you want your brand to stand for.
• Is it quality, speed of delivery or service, leaders in
innovation, value for money, etc.?
• Then align all your marketing to sell the vision of what you
want your brand to say about your business.
• Build and protect what your brand stands for at all costs
• A strong brand sets you apart from your competitors.
• It creates enduring relationships with clients, prospects and
influencers.
• It motivates your staff to live what your brand stands for.
• It allows you to charge more than your competitors for a
product or service without losing demand.
20-Never underestimate the power of
a strong brand

31. The French Connection Story
In the early 90’s fashion brand French Connection was getting smashed
by a range of inferior but cheaper competitors. It just couldn’t
compete on price and even worse it was starting to lose it’s cool
youthful edge which is so important in the fashion business.
One night a creative director intercepted a fax from the Hong Kong
branch (FCHK) to the UK branch (FCUK) and experienced a light bulb
moment. Within weeks the letters fcuk appeared on every new item of
clothing, in every shop window and on every ad.
Some people were outraged but most, particularly the young loved the
sexy new look and all of a sudden price was no longer an issue as
people were prepared to pay more for something cool.
CREATE A COOL BRAND AND PRICE BECOMES IRRELEVANT

32. How does brand response translate to
Dollars?
• If your brand can create an emotional response you will
always achieve a higher price than a brand that creates a
rational one.
• Creating a brand that is based on quality of product or
expertise of services is the simplest way to justify a higher
retail price.
• A brand that delivers an established product or service in a
new or innovative manner will always justify a higher price.
• Brands that have established a reputation for going the extra
mile or delivering extra service will always give the public
plenty of reason to pay more.

33. How does brand response translate to
Dollars?
• Consumers will always pay a premium for a brand that has
developed a sense of trust through their products or services.
• Creating a brand that represents a niche in the market will
allow you to dictate price.

34. What is Brand?

35. 21-Ignore the online business world
and social media at your peril

36. 21-Ignore the online business world and
social media at your peril
• More and more consumers are looking to:
– Buy online
– Educate themselves online
– Look for references and testimonials online
(through social media)
– So if you are not interacting online, promoting and
protecting your brand online, educating your
clients online, you are going backwards.

37. Success, What does it look like?

38. Conclusion
• Success in business is something to be proud of
as it is not easy. There are so many things to think
about before you begin and then again once you
start to grow. I have outlined 21 lessons but
there are many more I could add. The bottom line
is that most people underestimate just how much
is involved in running a business and this is why
so many fail in the first few years.
• I hope these lessons, many of them which have
been learn’t the hard way help make success
come a little easier with your business.

39. 21 Lessons of successful Businesses
11-Make sure you stand out from the crowd
12-Be adaptable to change
13-Success has a price that you will need to pay
14-Belief in yourself is paramount
15-Work on your business, not in it
16-Where you focus is important
17-Attention to detail is critical
18-Survey your clients and act on their responses
19-Never stop Learning
20-Never underestimate the power of a strong brand
21-Ignore the Online business world and social media at your peril
1-10 (Follow Tony Morrison on Slideshare to view)