One of our earlier Biz Tip articles stated the secret sauce for success contained three main ingredients. These are a strong desire, solid work ethic and a good network of connections. While these are extremely important, this is just the sauce. There are other ingredients you will need to complete the recipe for success.

Your business is going to need good leadership. A good leader is not necessarily the boss, and leadership is not designated by a title. True leaders will be recognized by everyone around them. There can be many leaders in an organization, and they can be in any position from the CEO to the janitor. Leaders protect the people around them and provide a safe environment free of politics and back-stabbing. They create a team culture where every employee is focused on achieving the company’s goals, and not their own. Good leaders are humble and receptive to learning from others. They are just as ready to lead, as they are to follow.

Another important ingredient is passion. When you are passionate about what you do, everyone will notice it. This includes your staff and your clients. When the right people sense your passion, they will want to work with you, and they will buy from you. If your primary motivation is making a profit, everyone will notice that, too.

The final ingredient we will discuss is the ability to achieve goals. The vast majority of goals set by business owners go unfulfilled. In a previous Biz Tips article, we learned how to achieve goals in three easy steps. In summary, you must know what you really want, what you are willing to sacrifice to get it, and be humble enough to know you cannot do it alone. You will need the help of others.

When you combine a strong desire, good work ethic and a great network of connections with leadership, passion and the ability to achieve goals, you have a pretty good recipe for success.


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Bill Nordbrock is vice president of community relations for SCORE Southern Arizona, a nonprofit that offers free small-business counseling and mentoring by appointment. For information, go to southernarizona.score.org, send an email to mentoring@scoresouthernaz.org or call 505-3636.