If you Google “habits of successful business owners,” a strange thing happens – nearly every article that pops up on the search feed is a list. “Seven Things Insanely Successful People Do every Morning Before Work,” or “12 Things to Eat to Make You a Better Business Owner,” or “45 Things Successful People Do Differently Than You” – the lists go on and on.

Though some of the lists get quite obscure – lists are easy to compile, easier to read and they make it seem like success is just a checklist away. Despite the popularity of these “how to” articles, there is no foolproof way to become a successful business owner.

Success isn't some three step process.. Though in this case I've made it work in five. First, let's be clear - your company won’t magically take off if you take a special kind of shower each morning.

Everyone is looking for a deal, something that allows consumers to experience the illusion of savings when still spending money. From my many years of experience, if you are looking to attract more business, it is paramount that every restaurant have specialty food and beverage offerings. This can be done on a weekly or monthly basis with rotating items, but at the very least should be done for all major holidays. These offers resonate well with customers and help attract more guests, both new and old.

Whipple Auto Body has been a member of BizX since 2007 doing almost $100,000 in business since then. This family run business operates out of their Hayward location in the Bay Area.

The auto body shop, known for their brilliant work restoring or fixing cars, has been a fixture in the local community for decades. It’s more than just the business that has shaped their direction – it’s the love of cars.

The Seattle Chamber of Commerce knows how to host an epic event. On May 20^th, the Seattle Chamber held their annual Business Tradeshow. It was 4-hours of action-packed fun! There were 165+ exhibitors including awesome companies such as Titan360, Improv-Alive, Creative House Branding, Homegrown, Sun Press Printing, Talking Rain and many more!

The current federal minimum wage is $7.25. Lawmakers however are working to change that – pushing for a wage increase to $12. In some states, minimum wage has already increased – with Seattle increasing its minimum wage to $11 last month, with plans to increase to $15 by 2021. In California, minimum wage is currently $9, with plans to increase to $10 in 2016, but lawmakers are pushing to raise that to upwards of $15 over the next few years.

This is great news for everyone that will be seeing a raise. Business owners on the other hand need to figure out how they are going to manage these increased labor costs.