 What does Apple, Tesla, and McDonald's have in common? Well, today I'm gonna be sharing with you three surprising characteristics that these successful companies have. So in that way, maybe we can learn a thing or two from them and apply it into our small business. Hey guys, it's Wilson here, your friend in helping you start your dream small business and a thriving food business. And if you currently do own a business already, definitely let me know by smashing the like button. The number one characteristics of any successful businesses out there is that they build a sustainable business. Now, what do I mean by that? Now, what I mean by that is that the core item and the core product that they have to sell is not a fad item. What does that mean? That means that that product itself is not something that spikes up in demand and plateaus and drops off a cliff. Something like a fidget spinner is a fad, it is a hype. That means it only lasts for a very short period of time. Just imagine spending tons of resources, money and time into marketing this specific product that only lasts for a season or two. That is not a sustainable business and never ever build a business based on hype. Now, the second reason is also do not build a business based on seasonality. You do not wanna have this huge spike over the winters and then this drop off and not make any money throughout the last three seasons. Because at the end of the day, when you are running a business, it's very difficult to forecast your cash flow, to invest in marketing, brand building and all this good stuff when you only have business during one season. And that's the biggest fall and the biggest mistake that we have made when we first started off with 720 suites. We actually built our product based on hype. We had smoking ice cream. Who doesn't like smoking ice cream? Everyone loved smoking ice cream. We had lineups out the doors for months to come. But literally we know and literally we actually pay attention to the fact that we are actually building a business based on a hype item. What happened? After six months, after people came through the doors, they've tried our ice cream and they have taken pictures and posted it on their Instagram. What has happened? Completely dropped off that winter. We were barely scraping by throughout the whole winter season and it was a very, very difficult time for us. And that's the reason why never ever build a business based on hype or seasonality. Some tools that actually help you out, you can use Google Trends to find out whether the search term or whether the product you're creating or the item that you're creating for your restaurant is a hype item. And if it is, avoid at all costs. Second characteristic is that you should always work on the business and not in your business. Now, this is a very difficult concept to gather when you first start off because when you first start your business, you should always be working in the business. That means to work on the operation, product development, if you're running a restaurant, always work on customer service, always work on the product and quality of your items and your recipe. Work in the business until you have something that works. Until you've found the product that works until you have found that groove. And then you should always transition into working on your business. How do you grow it? How do you figure out the logistics? How do you make sure that you can brand this properly? How do you make sure that you can market this to the public? And this is what we see as an example for Tesla. For a good 10 years, Elon Musk has been working on Tesla from 2010 to 2020. And that 10 years, you see this graph? It is flat because he was working in the business. He was working on product development, figuring out the best product market fit. And then when he finally figured out the product market fit, when he finally figured out how to make something so beautiful, something so sexy, he went to work on the business, which is to market it, which is to get publicity, which is to run ads. And now you see this hockey stick growth because now is the time to work on the business. For you, when you're first starting off your small business, it is okay to work in your business with the operation, with the hiring, and wearing multiple hats all at once. But know for a fact that when you have found the right product, when you have found the recipe, transition into working on the business. That's the key with any successful businesses out there. If you guys enjoyed this video and find value in this video, make sure you guys smash the like button and let me know this is the type of content that you enjoy. Now back to regular programming. The third way to build a successful business is to focus on building a brand. What does that mean? That means that you have customers who buy into you long-term, they understand your values, they understand your culture, they understand why you're doing what you're doing. There's a reason of why you created this business because ultimately any businesses out there are a solution to a problem. Now a lot of people go to create a business with the wrong perspective. They just think about a business as something that makes money and that is a very bad perspective to have because your customers see right through that. They don't want to transact with a brand that just looks at making money for the sake of making money. They want to support their cause, they want to support the purpose behind the business. That's when you have longevity. That's when you can charge a premium on your products. That's when you actually are not worried about your competitors. I'll give you an example. How Supreme sold a $40 break just because there is a logo of Supreme on the break. They were able to sell it for $40. Kanye West, he sold a plain white t-shirt for over $100. That's the power of a brand. Make sure you guys focus on building a brand over creating something just for the sake of making money. So there you go guys. The three characteristics of very successful businesses that you should learn from and implement in your small business. These are the concept that I actually expand on in my A's formula, a training that I've done for you in the free masterclass in the link below. So if you guys want to learn more about how you can actually apply these principles in your own small business, definitely check it out in the link below. That's when I go in depth about how you can build a successful restaurant using my A's formula, Align, Connect and Explode. I really hope you enjoyed this video. Make sure you guys smash the like button if you guys do and I'll see you guys in the next video.