We are fortunate to live near numerous successful businesses.

I've had the privilege of visiting many of these businesses, meeting the people who generate the success, and seeing the winning processes in live-action.

In a nutshell, here's how I would summarize our local, successful businesses:

• the owner-leaders lead balanced lives...as opposed to being eccentric
• at least one of the business owner-leaders has a magnetic personality, which is regularly put to use with clients, suppliers, and commercial allies
• the business models can be described in simple, easy to understand words
• the products and services are straightforward, tangible, and widely used in many geographies
• the businesses have leading-edge process equipment [that fits the products, services, and client needs in their industry sector]
• the owner-leaders have access to real-time information on business performance [ERP, CRM, Accounting, Dashboards]...either expensive world-class information systems or proprietary systems created to fit their specialized needs [and their people]
• a workforce that confirms right-sizing [consistent with leading-edge process technology] and the right people on the bus [which seems to be a combination of Jim Collins' Good-to-Great thinking and a conscious balancing of people & technology]
• generally happy employees throughout the hierarchy and all departments and roles