WHY ARE YOU IN BUSINESS?

In my experience, one of the best predictors of long-term
business success are the questions, "Why are you doing
this? Why are you in business?"
Making money is too easy. By itself it's
just not worth the time and trouble to go after it directly.
As Emerson said, "sometimes money costs too much."
Profits are the necessary and delightful SIDE BENEFIT or
"EXTRA" of a well-run business. Profits and dividends and
cash in your pocket come from serving your customer very,
very well at a price that is a "bargain" for them and
provides a nice profit for you.
There are only a few reasons to go into business. One is to
do something you love, and another is to serve customers.
Everything else is simply a matter of arranging the details.
Yes, a good business plan is essential! You need to know
who your customers are, what they want, and how to serve
them. You need to serve them at a price they appreciate
while leaving some "margin" for yourself. If you don't run
a tight ship, no matter how much you love it, and no matter
how much your customers love you, in the end your business
is going down.
So, crunch the numbers. Design an elegant marketing
campaign. Check your pricing and keep a tight reign on
costs, but in the end all of those things are the details.
They can be learned; in some cases they can be delegated or
even contracted out. (Be careful about that, but sometimes
it can be done.)
The key to long-term success is loving what you do and
having a genuine, top-shelf desire to SERVE THE CUSTOMER.
If you do that, the other skills and arrangements can be
learned. First, make sure you have a good reason to be in
business, and then arrange your business plan to make a profit.