Ingredient number 1.

Know where you are going.

At the core of every successful business is an operating plan that draws from a system capable of generating marketing, financial and customer relationship information that is accurate and timely enough to enable the business owners and managers to make good decisions, to anticipate problems and to take advantage of opportunities as they come up.

On the personal level it is also wise to set personal objectives in terms of the lifestyle you seek to attain and the time frame for your commitment to the business.

Remember this catch phrase: ‘people don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan!”.