If somebody asked you what is the most crucial aspect of business to focus on to ensure success, what would you say?

Some would choose Sales. Some would say Marketing. Many would claim it’s Leadership. Others believe it’s Systems. More than a few would be adamant that the most important element is financial acumen.

I don’t disagree that these areas are all vital to the creation of any outstanding commercial enterprise. But in my experience there’s one element rarely talked about that trumps all the others in importance.

That element? Urgency.

Think about it. What’s the number one gripe of executives and entrepreneurs today?

They can’t get enough done.

Sure they’ve got great ideas, plenty of them, but actually making those ideas happen is the hard part.

It’s not just a matter of spending more time working. The reason so many are not achieving enough is not actually a shortage of time (who isn’t working at least 50 to 60 hours a week?).

It’s that other people get in the way.

In so many different ways.

They take ages to decide. Or make it difficult to get your job done. Or sit in endless meetings pontificating on the pros and cons. Or put off allocating the right resources. Or just don’t make a decision. Or forget they agreed to do something. Or don’t follow up.

The plain truth is that getting anything done in the business world is damn hard, because the inertia, complexity and resistance to action is so strong.

The only way to cut through it all is to act with a real sense of urgency. To behave with an almost desperate urge to get the job done, no matter what and as soon as humanly possible.

Only when you have a spirit or urgency can you push your way through the admin and red tape. Only by acting with urgency can you get others to deliver on time. Only being truly urgent in your dealings can you achieve anything significant in a year.

The more you think about it, the more it rings true. Urgency is the one thing that drives projects forward quickly.

If you’re not urgent, people sense it and relax and move slowly. Things take ages to bear fruit. Mediocrity abounds.

The big question you may be asking is of course is, are you performing with enough urgency?

Are you demanding enough? On others, or indeed yourself?

Urgency is not an easy character trait to develop. The world doesn’t particularly like urgent people. They can seem rude. Pushy. Unreasonable. Yet being that way is often the only way to get stuff of consequence done.

As George Bernard Shaw so aptly put it, ” The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

There are several different types of urgency we should focus on if we want to achieve great things.

1. Urgency with strategic planning.

I know so many business owners who have taken over a year to make a decision. As a result of their strategic cowardice and complacency they often get left behind in their industry. (What have you been thinking about for too long? How about making a decision in the next 60 minutes on it?)

2. Urgency with other people.

Who owes you a report, product or idea? Why haven’t they sent it to you already? Do they really need that much time, or are they taking advantage of your leniency? When you ask for a result with genuine urgency you usually move straight to the front of the other person’s line of important tasks. That’s where you deserve to be, must be, to get things done quickly.

3. Urgency in your own mind.

To achieve greatly, we must cultivate great urgency in the way that we think. We need to see ourselves as highly time sensitive, fast achieving people. Only when we view ourselves this way are likely to muster the energy and drive to make things happen at warp speed. As the great American psychologist, William James, so often reminded us, we become what we consistently think about. If daily we have a self image as somebody who has a real spirit of urgency, then soon we are likely to become that type of person.

So in conclusion, if you are not happy with the speed at which you are achieving in business, don’t just look at tactics, like sales, marketing, systems and the like. Spend at least as much time focusing on the one mindset that makes all the other stuff happen.

A real, deep, all encompassing, powerful sense of urgency.

Most CEO's are well aware of the profit killers in their business: price wars, staff bloat, manufacturing cost blow outs and inefficient sales processes.

But few address a more subtle but often more dangerous profit attacker.

Complexity.

Complexity erodes profit margins by gradually increasing costs and slowing down day to day business efficiency. Eradicate it and you are far more likely to build a more successful business. In fact Bain & Company found that simply structured companies grew 30-50% faster.

So how do you reduce the creeping weeds of complexity in your business?

Here are some good places to start:

FIND OUT WHAT YOUR CUSTOMERS TRULY VALUE.

Get clear about the 2-3 central needs of your customers - not the nice to haves, their intense product demands. Then deliver those superbly rather than catering to their every whim or mild interest. Too many business operators have only a general idea of what their customers are seeking, their priorities and hierarchies of pain. Ask them often and adapt your company quickly to reflect what they truly find important.

KEEP STAFF LEVELS TEN PERCENT LOWER THAN IS TYPICAL.

Few companies lose business because they are short staffed. Usually they run too fat. When times are good, staff numbers tend to expand in the name of 'preparing for growth', but in most cases companies run better when employees are pushed and stretched beyond what they believe is comfortable. Curiously, I have found that when the team is lean morale is often better not worse.

STRIP YOUR PRODUCT LINE DOWN.

The 80/20 rule is alive and well when it comes to product offerings. What are the products/services that bring home most of the bacon? How can you delete, diminish or outsource the others? And importantly, if you must keep them, how can you charge much more for them so they become valuable? The less products you sell, the more focus you will give them. Improvements are a virtual certainty.

CUT OUT ALL MARKETING THAT DOESN'T LEAD TO CLEAR SALES.

Don't be soft on your marketing. Take the time to create simple systems that record results (asking new customers "How did you hear about us?" is a good place to start). If you can't see a direct financial return from your marketing then in most cases you should either kill it or redesign the offer so that it's easier to track results. If your marketing is producing a profit the next question to ask is 'Can I finesse any part of it to increase its effectiveness?'.

These are four highly effective strategies that will go a long way to reducing complexity, making your company healthier and much more profitable. 

All you need to do is put a note in your diary to review them every six months and watch how your company improves. Ironically, fixing complexity can be that simple.

Any business person aiming high is going to be stressed at times.

But surprisingly few have learnt smart ways to reduce their stress.

Below are 6 highly effective ways to keep your stress under control, no matter what is happening in your business and personal life.

1. REMIND YOURSELF OF WHAT'S GOING RIGHT.
Usually people are stressed about just one or two areas of their life. If they only took a moment to look at the big picture, they would see that the vast majority of their life is going well. Grab a pen and some paper and write a list of all the stuff that's going well in your life. (You'll be pleasantly surprised at how long the list becomes.). Now stick that list next to your computer, so that you see it all day long. Watch how quickly your perspective changes and your mood lifts.

2. GET ULTRA CLEAR ON YOUR TO DO LIST.
Clarity enhances serenity. If you're stressed by how much you have to do, get precise about exactly what tasks must be done (You'll often realize it's less than you thought). Once you've created your list put a circle around the truly crucial tasks. Most of the time stressed executives have exaggerated just how much they have to do. Getting it down on paper helps you see that mountain of work may be smaller than you thought.

3. TIDY YOUR ENVIRONMENT.
The renowned personal development guru, Wayne Dwyer, says you can tell the state of a person's mind by the state of their car. I agree. if you're feeling overwhelmed one of the most effective strategies is to create order in your immediate environment - car, office, home. As you take charge of your surroundings your feelings of control will increase. And as the esteemed behavioural psychologist Martin Seligman has shown, there's a strong correlation between feelings of control and well being.

4. TRY THE 3 BREATH RELEASE.
I mentor executives and entrepreneurs from all over the world. Whenever they come to me complaining about stress I get them to do this simple exercise:
Take a deep breath. Then as you exhale imagine all your problems and stress leaving you. Do this just 3 times and I bet your feeling of stressed has dissipated significantly.

5. FOCUS ON HELPING OTHER PEOPLE.
One of the most effective techniques for reducing your stress is to take the focus off yourself. When you start devoting time to helping others around you inevitably spend less time thinking about your own problems. There are several studies from the University of Pennsylvania linking happiness with service to others. It may seem strange to connect the two, but the truth is many people who are stressed in the corporate world are so partly because they are incessantly thinking about their own issues and situation, rather than others. We need to balance the two.

6. TAKE MASSIVE ACTION.
There is a concept in psychology known as Learned Helplessness - failing to respond or act to improve our circumstances. Originally discovered in rats, learned helplessness is also evident in some humans who feel overwhelmed by their roles and responsibilities. They feel that things are so bad there is little that they can do to change things. We have all felt this at some point in our business lives and it is a depressing feeling to say the least.

The cure though is simple. Take action to fix things. By proactively acting to improve our circumstances we regain a feeling of control and possibility. If we continue acting we soon get a change in our situation. Soon our situation improves, which encourages us to act further. A virtuous cycle develops which usually quickly improves our predicament.

The key is to act greatly, taking multiple steps to change things, even if we're not sure if they'll work. If we act enough, we will usually see vast improvements in almost any area we focus on.

So next time you're feeling stressed at work, try one or two of these techniques. You'll find every one of them is highly effective in both reducing your stress and improving your performance.

CEO Ron Johnson has been hammered in recent weeks by both the financial press and public markets pundits.

Sales down, share price down, low cash reserves. A common view is that time is running out.

But I'd like to present a different view. Ron Johnson is doing exactly what a CEO should be doing when put in charge of a moribund company.

Taking regular, calculated risks.

A case in point is a new JC Penney concept store that is within days of opening in West Hollywood, just near my home.

This is the latest in a fast growing group of cool, modern, vibrant, relatively small stores co- branded JCP and Joe Fresh, the successful Canadian retailer.

Take a look at the DJ booth in the centre of the store - this is not your usual retail outlet.

On huge orange walls the store's manifesto is declared. The store exudes energy and youthful panache - and it hasn't even opened yet.

What's brilliant about Ron Johnson taking his joint venture with Joe Fresh out of JC Penney and onto the streets is twofold:

1. If it works he will be able to create a huge nationwide chain of boutiques, separate from the traditional department stores.

2. He is creating massive advertisements for the new JC Penney, altering perceptions of the previously staid department store group. Johnson figures if we won't come to his stores, he'll bring the stores to us.

Will it work? Who knows. But it's yet another example of a gutsy CEO doing whatever he can to change the game, break the rules, move things forward.

Small, incremental change will not save department stores from an aging clientele and the ever mounting online retail attacks. Dramatic action is necessary.

Many things Johnson has tried may not have worked as well as he hoped (getting rid of sales, radical pricing policies to name but two). But plenty, like his new department store revamps are substantially lifting revenues. (Last quarter's figures show the new store layout brings in $269 per square foot versus $134 for the old design.)

Rather than whine on the sidelines that the JC Penney turnaround is too slow or strategically unsound, we should all be cheering this guy for having the gumption to attempt to re-invent an entire business model.

We should also look at our own businesses and ask ourselves whether we should be doing a Ron Johnson on our company, rather than continuing with business as usual as the world changes rapidly around us.

As Britain's special forces commandos, the Special Air Service, like to say, 'Who Dares Wins'. Many of the world's companies would do a lot better if they had CEO's like Ron Johnson at the helm, shaking things up.

Any smart entrepreneur understands a strong brand is vital.

(It separates you from your competitors. It enables you to charge more. It allows you to add new products easily. It makes people feel proud to buy from you. It increases loyalty).

But many people are not sure how to create an outstanding brand.

I've spent over 30 years creating and enhancing company brands, for some of the largest and most successful companies in the world, from Apple to Coca Cola.

So today I'd like to give you a quick brand building checklist, to help you make the most of your brand.

Have a read and see how your brand measures up.

Great brands have the following characteristics:

1. THEY OWN A CLEAR SPACE IN THE CONSUMER'S MIND.

That could be a logical space - your product is cheaper or better made for instance. Or it could be an emotional space; your offering may make your customer feel safe, sexy, or smart, for example. Whichever way you go, you must make sure your space is clearly defined in the customer's mind. When they think of your product, service or company, they should never have a muddled vision. 

2. THEY ARE DIFFERENTIATED FROM THEIR COMPETITION.

If you can think of numerous brands that make the same promise as you, in a similar way, then you will find it hard to build a potent brand. (It can be done, usually through brilliant advertising, major PR or just by being the first in a category, but it's difficult to pull off).

Enduring brands are distinct from their competitors. Club Med is vastly distinct from Thomas Cook Holidays. Red Bull is far away from Coke. Ferrari differs greatly from Mercedes. Each of these brands are strong because they don't try to be all things to all people. Stake your position and make sure it's always differentiated from the pack.

3. THEY LIVE THEIR MESSAGE.

Most brands are merely skin deep. Once you get involved with the company you see that they don't really live the brand positioning, it's little more than a slogan.

Stellar brands make sure that every touch point is in keeping with their brand positioning. For example, at FedEx they pick up the phone in one ring. When I bought a Porsche I was soon invited to an advanced driving school. At The Como Hotel in Melbourne they don't just say they treat you well, they offer you a menu of different bath experiences you can have in your room (and your own rubber duck).

These brands are alive. They are congruent. They are real. They can be experienced daily, not just in their marketing.

4. THEY DEEPLY UNDERSTAND THEIR CUSTOMERS.

Most companies are not really sure what their customers really want. Oh sure, they know the basics - for example if they run a car company they know their customers want it well made, to look nice and to be good value. But rarely have their interrogated their customers to the point where they really, really understand what they seek from their product, practically and emotionally. 

How do you find that out? You ask them - via surveys and regular in depth interviews. And observe what they do, not just what they say.

Look behind the obvious for the real motive. For example, people who buy drills don't want drills. They want holes.

So these are the crucial four elements for creating a mighty brand. How many do you score highly on?

Get all these elements right and you won't just have a strong brand.

You'll have a highly profitable enterprise.

As you probably know, I am constantly studying time saving, organisation and productivity.

The reason is simple.

If we can find just one technique that can make us more productive in business, over 5 or 10 years the impact can be extraordinary.

Today I'd like to talk about a ridiculously simple technique that can make a phenomenal improvement to how much you achieve.

I learnt it from David Allen, a celebrated productivity expert, and it's called The 2 Minute Rule.

Here's how it works.

Whenever a new task comes up (an email, a phone call, or a new To Do) you ask yourself one simple question.

Can I handle this in 2 minutes or less?

If you can, you do it immediately. If you can't you write it on your list of things to do later.

Is that all there is to it? Yep, that's all there is.

But you'll be amazed at how following this one rule improves your business performance and your life.

For a start, you will no longer have huge lists of things you need to get done. By doing tasks as they come up your To Do list will be halved.

You also will rarely forget to do tasks, as you'll either have done them immediately (if you can do them in under 2 minutes) or you'll have them written down on a list.

You'll accomplish much more, much faster.

You're reputation at work will improve as you'll become known for getting things handled quickly.

And your feelings of control will increase - a well known cause of life satisfaction (see control/happiness research by either Martin Seligman or William Glasser).

The 2 Minute Rule is potentially life changing. And certainly business changing.

So try this exercise. Rank your current productivity with a mark out of 10. Then try The 2 Minute Rule for 5 business days, then re-rank your productivity.

If you usually give yourself a 6 out of 10 for efficiency I'll wager you will lift that to an 8 out of 10.

The 2 Minute Rule is that powerful.

Bookstores these days are swamped with books about getting more stuff done. 

Goal setting, time management and productivity texts are everywhere.

But with all this emphasis on doing more, the advantages of doing less are being forgotten.

Yet research increasingly shows that anyone serious about high performance should pay as much attention to resting as doing.

According to the Human Performance Institute in Florida, improving the quantity and quality of rest is one of the most effective ways to work more efficiently.

Basically, when we are rested we think better, can work longer, can concentrate more, are more creative and achieve more.

Yet how many executives or business owners do you know who treat rest seriously? 

Most do the opposite. They think nothing of working late nights and weekends - some wear this endless busyness like a badge of honor - the longer I work, the more I will be respected.

Well although our culture currently applauds these work-horses, productivity experts say it's not a smart way to live. Or achieve.

For example Tony Schwartz from The Energy Project has shown that when we take rest seriously we will almost certainly get much more done, our work will be of a higher standard, our thinking will be more accurate, and as a result our incomes are likely to rise.

What are the secrets to using the power of rest?

1. Work in 90 minute bursts. That's about the most humans can function before their effectiveness starts to slip.

2. Take a ten minute break at least 3 times during your work day - this will reduce stress and greatly clarify thinking.

3. Treat your appointment with sleep as being as important as any other in your diary. Have a clear time to go to bed and try to get up at the same time daily (the body craves order).

4. Sleep in a very dark, very quiet room. This increases your frequency and depth of REM sleep, viewed by experts as the most rejuvenating level of slumber.

5. Don't work weekends unless you have to. And if you do, try to get all your work done in a single concentrated block - rather than doing an hour or two several times throughout Saturday and Sunday.

6. Book your holidays (or at least diarise them) at the beginning of the year. That will double your chances of taking them and knowing you have a vacation coming will reduce your overall stress.

7. Use sleep aids like Melatonin, SAMe, or LTryptophan. They help you make the most of the hours you do sleep.

Rest is important for peak performance in business. But it's one area that executives consistently fail to maximize.

Try this test: Focus on rest for just one month. I bet that you'll not only feel much better, you'll work much better. And the better you work, the more you'll outperform your competition.

Rest will make you better than the rest.

Throwing a football around wearing tight pants and eye black may seem the opposite of the world of business, but I think the two share important similarities.

In fact I believe if we don't develop 3 of the same character traits of the top NFL players we will never reach the top of the corporate world.

The best players and the best business execs each have these personality aspects to an extreme degree:

1. Ultra focus.
You don't see linemen trying to be quarterbacks, or the team kicker trying his hand at playing wide receiver.
The NFL world understands that you can only be superb if you specialize. The same is true in business. Great entrepreneurs understand that they must focus on an industry or niche - really get to know it and delve down into its intricacies if they ever hope to master it. In the same manner superb corporate executives appreciate that they need to be brilliant at just a small number of skills, the critical few that they are both suited to and are the most valuable to their company. Whether in football or business, generalists are less likely to reach the top.

2.Devotion to practice.
The Superbowl wasn't won by the Ravens on February 3. It was won far earlier, during the thousands of hours the players and coaching staff practiced and refined their craft. Business is no different. Skills practice is vital - whether it's sales skills, marketing expertise, financial acumen or strategy prowess. Both footballers and business people are made not born; through endless finessing of their key skill sets.

3. Deep passion.
The wild, chest beating machismo of many of the 49ers and Ravens players is certainly not evident in the corporate world, but make no mistake, deep down in every great business person is similar passion- though it will express itself in more sedate ways.

Nobody ever got to the top in business by being nonchalant. No matter how talented, those who are ambivalent about their careers tend to get steam rolled by those that are passionate. The complexities and shifting sands of business life demand total immersion and commitment- anything less leads to mediocre performance.

So as you can see, Superbowl players actually have quite a lot in common with people in business. Which begs the question, how do you score on the three key attributes of both professions - ultra focus, devotion to practice and deep passion?  Are you too a world champion?

Right now every business is sending Christmas or holiday cards.
I'd like to suggest you do something different.
I call it the New Year's Card.
It's really easy to do and it will make a major impact on your customers and prospective clients.
All you do is buy a bunch of a nice looking, plain gift cards and get a pen.
Instead of the usual Christmas greetings I want you to write something inspiring about the year ahead.
Here's a few examples of the kind of stuff you could write, to get you started:
'Everyone sends Christmas cards, here's our New Year's card. We hope your next year will be fantastic both business wise and personally, and we want you to know that we'll be there for you all year long. Let us know if we can help you in any way. Have a fabulous year'.
Or you could write something like this: 'You get a million Christmas cards, we thought we'd send you a New Year's card. No matter what your last year was like, remember that on January 1 you have a chance to start again and make the next year simply the best of your life. We'll be supporting you any way we can. Have a great one.'
Can you see how much more impactful a card like this is, versus sending the same stuff everybody else does?
It sets you apart. It's more personal. More meaningful. And far, far more memorable.
Consider sending a load of these New Year Cards in the first few days of January.
Yes it's only a small thing, but it's little moments like these that over time make a real impression on clients.
People like dealing with companies that think differently, that surprise and occasionally delight.
The New Year's card is an easy way to show that your company does all of these things.
Try it and see some good things happen.

I recently wrote a book called Why People Fail.

It examines the 16 biggest obstacles to success and how we can overcome them.

Many readers asked me whether I had similar theories about why businesses fail.

Of course, there are a myriad of reasons that cause corporate failure, but here are six of the biggest:

NO CLEAR MARKETING FUNNEL.

People usually don't just discover great products. Contrary to the famous saying, if you build a better mouse trap the world will not beat a path to your door.

You need to develop a way to cost efficiently attracts leads, then convert some of them. This seems so basic, but hundreds of thousands of businesses start with no clear marketing funnel and then have to rely on luck or referrals to get customers in through the door.

What's your marketing funnel? Will you start with print ads? Google ads? A free offer? Direct mail? Unless you develop a system for marketing, your chances of making money consistently are minuscule.

NO FOLLOW UP OF CUSTOMERS.

Once you've got an enquiry from a potential customer, you have to stay in contact with them.

 For how long? Well as the great marketer Dan Kennedy likes to say, "Until they buy or die."

So many business owners are unaware of the importance of this. They get hundreds of phone enquiries or street walk ins, then let them leave without leaving any follow up details. Crazy.

Give them a reason to leave you their email address (a free report, a discount, a newsletter) then keep reminding them that you exist and that you sell some good stuff. You'd be amazed how well this works.

This doesn't just work for potential customers it works just as nicely for people who've already bought from you. Just stay in touch and many will buy from you again.

NO BUSINESS SYSTEM.

There are two types of businesses you can run. A talent based business and a systems based business.

A talent based business relies on the talents of a few key people. It can make money, but it's precarious, because that talent may decide to leave. Or ask for too much money. Or get sick for a few months.

Far better is a systems based biz. It doesn't just rely on talented people, it's also got clear, organised systems and rules that staff have to follow. Creating a systems based business can be a bit of a hassle initially. But when you do the place will run much more smoothly and definitely more profitably.

NO PERSISTENCE.

Some people just give up too easily. They encounter a year of obstacles and just lose hope that things can change. Believe me, the corporate world is full of examples of companies doing it tough, then emerging triumphant.

In the early days Boeing was so strapped for cash they started producing furniture! True story.

The Marriott Hotel chain started as a root beer stand.

Good companies take time. Sometimes lots of time. But so many entrepreneurs get depressed that they haven't made a hundred million in their first three years. And give up soon after.

Don't make this mistake. Extend your timelines, commit yourself to your company for the long term. It makes a world of difference to your results.

NO SELF BELIEF.

Closely allied to persistence, self belief is vitally important to the success of a business. When you have strong self belief you think better, sell better and lead better.

Potential clients sense it, are attracted to people who possess it.

Almost every area of a Chief Executive's performance lifts when they believe in themselves. Yet so few corporate leaders work on their beliefs. It seems a bit too touchy feely, too intangible , compared to say working on next quarter's figures.

Yet focusing daily on yourself talk, choosing empowering beliefs, refusing to give negativity substantial time in your head, will help you make more progress than working on almost any traditional business skill.

You tend to become what you think, so for goodness sake be careful what you think. As Henry Ford put it, "Whether you think you can or can't, you're right."

NO MARGIN FOR ERROR.

The final reason businesses fail is simply that they sail too close to the wind. All they need is a little bit of bad luck- a tough six months, a key client who pulls their account, a senior staff member who leaves for a rival firm, and they find that they simply don't have enough cash to survive.

This year alone I've mentored two CEO's of online businesses who had fabulous sales, but just didn't have enough cash in reserve. The result? They went under.

Warren Buffett likes to call this 'Margin Of Safety'. When he invests in a business he makes sure the deal makes sense even if the company performs well below expectations. he doesn't just depend on things going right, he builds in the chance that things will go very wrong.

We all need to do the same.

A guy I know said that the most common phrase Richard Branson used when they were talking was 'protect the downside'.

So take a look at these six causes of business failure. Ask yourself whether any of them apply to you. If you're weak in even one of these areas your entire business could be in peril.

Make a plan today to fix that weakness and set a deadline by which you'll do it. None are hard to fix, but all could become a nightmare if they are allowed to grow.