What is required to create a successful business? The answer to this question varies greatly depending on experience, industry and many other factors. Achieving business success seems highly complex at face value. However, the principles that lead to success are not necessarily complex or difficult. When you focus on the right areas and create a culture to support them, success comes naturally. Lee Iacocca, a business executive best known for his revival of Chrysler Corp. in the 1980s, put it this way: “In the end, all business operations can be reduced to three words: people, product and profits. People come first.” With the right ‘business operations’ in place, your company will achieve success:

• People: In any company or organization, the real assets are the people. Their intellect—along with personality, skills, knowledge, character, integrity, and other things collectively referred to as “human life value”—create the true value in any organization. When you regard the people as the true assets of the company, and treat them accordingly, they will respond in ways that will surprise and delight you. As the leader of your company, put the people first and you will reap great benefits.
• Products: Compelling products (or services) create success. To the extent you create great products, that people want to buy, you will achieve success. Creating compelling products comes back to the people. You need people who focus on getting the right products to the right market at the right time. Successful companies establish a product management/marketing role (or group), empower them with the ability to make decisions, and hold them accountable for their actions. This role is critical to the success of any company and according to Steve Johnson should have a seat at the executive table.
• Profits: Without profits, nothing else (in your business) really matters. The efforts to hire the right people and create convincing products and services lead to profits.

Whether you are starting a new business or working to improve your current company, focusing on people, products and profits will lead you to success.

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The Product Management Perspective: As a product manager, do you feel responsible for the success of your company? You no-doubt spend a lot of your time focusing on your products. You work with different people every day and have found some easier to work with than others. How much effort do you exert in building relationships of trust with the people on your team? These relationships are key to your success.

Of the three P’s listed above, the one that typically receives the least focus by product managers is profits (or perhaps more clearly stated, revenue). Too often we leave the worries and cares about money to the CFO’s office. We worry about getting requirements in place and making sure products releases meet their schedules, but we neglect the most important reason we create products…to gain profits.

Do revenue and profits factor in to your decisions as a product manager? How would your product requirements change if you focused more on profits? Please leave a comment and share your experiences.