Have you ever wondered why some businesses are successful when others die shortly after seeing the light? It's not only about finding the right product to sale or the right service to offer. In business management sometimes what do you do is less important than how you do it. In competitive times like this, excellence wins the game. Every time a new business is created it has to struggle with its equals in order to take (and maintain) a small share of its relevant market.

So, what are the basis for establishing and running a productive business? In these lines we will explain the basics for running a successful organization. It doesn't matter what kind of business are we talking about, everything covered in this article will apply to almost every model of business.

The Concepts

The following are the foundation of a successful business. Remember that much of this information must be shared with all the levels of the company.

The Mission Statement: What is the purpose of your business? The understanding of your mission statement is crucial for achieving your goals. Employees that fully understand the mission statement of the company are much more committed with the company.

The Vision Statement: Where do we want to be in the future? A clear idea of where do you want your business to be in the future sets up a 'north' to point with the compass. It gives the business a reason to be.

The Values Statement: How do we do it? A successful business is an entity, and it has morals. The values shape your actions and are the first step for establishing the organizational culture of your business, which is extremely important for the cohesion and loyalty of very member of the company.

Organization: The blueprints of your business. It corresponds to the process to organize the resources (human, financial and material) of the company, with the objective to reach the desired results. One of the aspects of organization is the establishment of departments, which are the areas of a division where an administrator has the authority and responsibility for the correct performance of its activities.

Direction: The direction consists, fundamentally, on leading the personnel and making the right decisions to achieve the goals of the organization.

Control: The management control is a process that serves for guiding the enterprise management towards the organization's objectives. Additionally, it is an instrument of evaluation. It evaluates areas and employees individually, and how faithful they are to their manuals.

Planning: It implies to have one or several objectives to conduct. Planning is nothing more than taking decisions in advance. The companies have goals, and planning is deciding what we are going to do to achieve those goals. There's strategic, long-term planning and tactical, short-term planning.

If these basic concepts are taken into consideration, a business can start with the right foot. Direction, control, planning and organization, along with a clear mission, vision and values statements are the key to success. Remember it.