It takes more than hard work to be successful. 
It takes:
TALENT or EXPERIENCE: You need to be very good at something to make it tradable.
Regardless if it’s a service or a product, it needs to be top notch for people to get value from it, so develop your talent or expertise to the point that it’s tradable before you bring it to the market.
FOCUS ON THE CLIENT/CUSTOMER: People value a good customer service and the fact that they’re being heard by businesses they work with.
How you see your offer is one thing, but what really counts is the perception of your clients, so put all your focus on their needs and you’ll reap the benefits greatly.
MESSAGE: You need to spread your message in accordance to the solution your clients are looking for, not how you think it sounds good or how you want it to be.
Take out the time to research your target audience and talk about your offer so it resonates directly with the problems or needs they experience.
It might need some modifying of your original idea, but it’ll be worth listening to your potential clients.
NETWORK: Find your platform, build your audience around you and create trust with them.
Building a network doesn’t happen quickly, but it is an incredible asset for your business. Develop it from the moment you start and you’ll see that, as it grows, you will attract the right people who’ll become part of your client base over time…
… that is, if you have the right message and create the right content around it 
Client attraction is not something that happens from one day to another, but it grows as you perfect your message and grow your network.
SALES: No matter what you sell, no matter what you have to offer, you will have to sell it.
Unless you’re a ‘Furby’… 
Nothing flies off the shelves on its own, there’s always a process involved. Once you work that out and have a proper strategy, that’s when you can scale your business and become successful.
This means from the point that you reach out to someone, till the moment that you close the deal. It’s all part of the process.
Winging it might work for a while, but you’ll hit a plateau very quickly and burn out your resources if you don’t have a proper sales strategy in place.
No one has become successful overnight, it takes hard work, for sure, but having the right processes in place makes it a hell of a lot easier.
You can work more efficiently, you can cut down the amount of time and money you spend re-inventing the wheel and figuring out everything by yourself.
Tasks that take you days can be cut down to hours with the right strategies in place.
In the end you want to do two things, that’s focusing on growing your business and serving more clients.
That’s why you started your own business, right? Then make sure you can focus on it too.
So go over your business processes and optimize them, make your work lighter, more efficient and become (even more) successful…
… just like you set out to be. 