There’s no way to guarantee that a business will be successful. All you can do is increase the odds. One way to do this is to look at the characteristics of other successful businesses and try to follow their lead. While successful businesses come in all shapes and sizes, when you take a close look at each, you’ll find that many of them share the same traits. Even if the goods/services they offer are wildly different, the foundations more or less remain the same from company to company. And if you can adopt them for your own business, you’ll be putting yourself on the right path.

Below, we’ll guide you through some of the essential aspects that make up the framework of a successful venture.

Clear Vision

You’ll get somewhere even if you don’t have a clear vision and direction. But are you likely to get to where you want to be? That’s unlikely. Having a vision for your business can have a huge impact on the overall success of your enterprise because it gives you something to aim for. It doesn’t necessarily even have to be anything grand or overly specific; Amazon’s principle, for example, is to deliver the most efficient eCommerce system for customers.

Outstanding Employees

The skills and experience of the founder will have the biggest impact on the future of a business. But the talent of the team that does the bulk of the work will have a huge impact, too — in fact, if you group all of the employees together, collectively they’ll probably be just as influential as the boss. You can’t expect to have a brilliant business if you have underwhelming employees. Also, remember that it’s not just the skills of the employees that matter, but how well the business is able to nurture their talents, too. In other words: make sure you’re hiring the best people and then invest in their training and career development.

Efficient Systems

Even the best employees in the world would struggle to do great work without the right system in place. These days, it’s all about technology. The goal should be to have the digital infrastructure that allows everyone at the company to work at their highest level. Whatever industry you’re in, there’ll be tools to help you. Investment firms can use private equity deal flow software; marketing agencies can use SEMrush; healthcare companies can use patient CRM software. It can take some time to find the right software for your needs, but once you have it, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.

Solid Marketing

It’s not easy winning customers. Regardless of what industry you’re in, you’ll face stiff competition for consumer dollars. Even if you believe you’re offering the best products or services on the market, it’ll count for little if no one knows that you exist. Firms invest heavily in their marketing campaigns, which they view as a necessary component of their success. How you market your business will depend on the type of consumer you’re looking for (B2B, B2C), but in any case, the approach will likely be the same — unless you have extensive experience in marketing or an in-house marketing team, it’ll be best to outsource the task to a marketing agency.

Continued Innovation

The goal is to be successful right now. But it’s also to be successful several years down the line. When that moment arrives, the world could look very different to what it is today. Consumer trends may have changed, new competitors may have popped up, and so forth. Take a look at the world’s biggest brands, and you’ll see that many of them invest heavily in innovation in order to keep themselves at the top. While the underlying ethos of the business may stay the same, the actual goods and services that it offers may change. As well as investing in innovation, it’s important to have an agile approach to your working strategies. This will allow you to pivot the business in new directions as and when it’s necessary.

Strong Relationships

Finally, there’s the matter of the relationships that exist outside of your internal business operations. For instance, with your suppliers or other partnerships that you have. Managed correctly, those relationships can last for decades and can provide a solid base of support that allows you to deliver your best. Don’t take those connections and relationships for granted — in many cases, they can be the difference between a business staying on Earth and going to the moon.