by Jon Pryse-Jones

An "extraordinary" business must, by its very nature, be considered to be successful, but a "successful" business may well be anything other than "extraordinary".

If we accept the definition of a "successful" business as being derived only from the requirement that it should exist to create a good profit for its owners, be they shareholders or proprietors, then few would dispute the fact that the world is littered with "successful" businesses.

But is it enough that a business should be considered "successful" or should we be aiming for something higher?

You see, I would argue that it is, in fact, not that hard to create a ''successful'' business.

Many people manage to create ''successful'' businesses almost by default, by being in the right place or market at the right time. These organisations have often not been built up on the basis of the leadership skills of those at the helm, because the people involved have never taken the time to consider acquiring them. And I believe that the skills required to create an "extraordinary" business are completely different, and often diametrically opposed to, those required to create a "successful" one. As a result, many businesses today are still being run by people who do not take sufficient time to study the needs of their customers or employees and whose primary motivation is greed and the acquisition of personal wealth.

If this culture is fostered and encouraged, our society can only become more and more materialistic, and this can surely be neither healthy nor good for anyone.

So what, exactly, is it that makes a business "extraordinary"?

I believe that the primary goal of an "extraordinary" business should not revolve around the creation of wealth for its owners. This will usually be one of the products, but should never be its primary aim. The mission statement of an extraordinary business will reflect the desire of those within it to make some contribution to society. This contribution will take the form of increased happiness and satisfaction of all those that come into contact with it, be they employees, customers or suppliers.

"Extraordinary" businesses are created by ordinary people who have taken the time to learn how to lead, and leadership is a skill that does not come naturally to most.

It is much easier to create an "extraordinary" business if you start it with the "intention" to do so firmly in mind. People can then be chosen to join the team according to their attitude from the outset and trained not only to do the job right, but also to teach others in the most effective way.

Those who discover this "truth" too late and who try to change the culture of an existing organisation will meet with limited success - similar to attempting to effect a high-speed turn in a super tanker!

At MovingAhead we work really hard on this and I genuinely believe that we have one of the closest and happiest teams one could wish for. The saying goes that you can "choose your friends but not your family." Those starting their own businesses have the opportunity to choose their own family of friends. Once one has a happy team on board it becomes so much easier to train them to provide outstanding levels of customer service.

Although we may never succeed in joining the ranks of those who can genuinely be regarded as having created "extraordinary" businesses, you can be sure that we will never stop trying!