Everyone dreams of achieving success overnight. But as the late Steve Jobs once noted, “Most overnight successes took a long time.”

Running your own business takes determination, and it takes guts. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, most businesses fail within their first five years. Only one in four businesses make it to the 15-year mark.

So how do you achieve success? There’s no one answer, of course, but there are some habits that you can adapt to make your company more fruitful. Here are 5 keys to success in business that can help your company grow and help you reach your potential.

1. Successful business starts with a plan

One of the most important keys to success is a well-researched business plan. A proper plan will set the tone for everything you do in business and be the yardstick by which you measure success.

Additionally, if you ever need funding for a new business project, your lender will likely ask to see your plan before approving a loan.

What should my business plan include?

Business plans generally include the following features:

• Executive summary (highlights key points of the plan)
• Business description and structure 
• Market research and strategies 
• Management structure and personnel 
• Financial documents 
• Appendix (optional, used to highlight additional data about your company)

Writing down your plan makes your business idea concrete and will help you determine the course of the rest of your business activities.

Tips for a successful business plan

A business plan is one of the most important keys to business success. Here are some tips to get the most from your plan:

• Plan for five years into the future
• Be specific but also concise 
• Back up your plan with careful, up-to-date research
• Get input from friends or another business owner

Don’t be afraid to refine your plan as you go. New businesses especially will need room to adapt and evolve as the company grows, so your plan should be flexible enough to make these types of adjustments.

2. Stay organized

Being a business owner demands a certain collection of organizational skills. For most business owners, this includes creating a daily to-do list to help them stay focused. There are many project management apps and services that can help you with this, though some business owners prefer the satisfying feel of marking something off on a piece of paper.

Staying organized also means thinking beyond the day-to-day. Organization means that you have a clear system for keeping business records, maintaining your books, and keeping track of your cash flow. Staying on top of everything is a large part of business success.

It’s also helpful to distinguish between your short-term goals and long-range plans. By staying organized, you’ll be better equipped to divide and conquer, meaning you can break up larger projects into smaller, more manageable tasks that can be completed over time.

This segmentation will help you stay focused and keep you from feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of tasks that accompany small business ownership.

3. Keep detailed records

Your accounting and bookkeeping practices won’t help you achieve success on their own, but they can save you from a major business failure.

Maintaining detailed records of your company’s finances will ensure that you always understand exactly where you stand, financially speaking, and these records will also help you when it comes time to pay your taxes.

Having the records to back up your income and expenses will make it much easier to report your earnings, receive deductions, and comply with all existing tax codes.

Records that every business owner should keep

What kinds of records should business owners be saving? Here are a few of the top accounting and business records that you should hang onto:

1. Bank statements
2. Invoices
3. Office supply expenses
4. Vehicle/mileage expenses
5. Marketing expenses
6. Receipts for other business-related expenses (meals, travel, etc.)
7. Past tax returns

The good news is that having electronic copies of many of these records (such as electronic invoices) can help you maintain good records without cluttering up your workspace.

4. Know your audience

Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of going right to the stage of developing a final product or service. Sure, it’s great to be able to showcase your business idea through a final, fully-realized product, but it’s only a valuable idea if it connects with the needs of your target market.

Successful business people spend time learning as much as they can about the needs, habits, and desires of their potential customers. Instead of asking “How can I sell this product?” start by asking “What do people need?”

Asking this question will help you focus on the needs of your customers and not just the features of your product. This approach might require you to do some preliminary research before moving forward with your idea, but it can help you refine your strategy so that you’ll have a greater shot at business success.

Identifying your customers’ needs will also help you develop a clear marketing strategy. First, it will help you highlight product features that your customers are likely to find desirable. Second, it will help you determine what marketing methods work best for your target audience (social media, email, direct mail, etc.).

5. Stay flexible and creative

With luck, your first business venture will be a roaring success. But if you’re like most entrepreneurs, you won’t succeed right away.

One of the most important keys to business success is also the most painful: rejection. But the most successful people experience rejection, learn from it, and use it as an opportunity to grow.

For example, when you debut your initial product to your friends or family, you might receive a lukewarm reception. Try to listen to them and invite constructive criticism that you can use to refine your process.