The successful business has three foundations, which we call "The Holy Trinity." If your business lacks any of these foundations, you are going to have trouble succeeding and achieving your aspirations.

Foundation One: Opportunity. If you have high aspirations to grow your business, you need to assess the overall market opportunity and ask yourself, "How big can our business get?" Successful businesses focus on a growing market that can become huge or a huge market with room for new competition. What is the opportunity for your business to grow? How many people have the problem that your business solves? What are these prospective customers willing to pay for a solution to their problem? How many of these people could potentially become your customers?

Foundation Two: A Platform to Deliver. The successful business needs a platform to deliver on the potential opportunity. This platform begins with a lucrative profit model and a way to generate positive cash flow. It also includes some sort of "edge" or unique advantage that your products/services have and that will compel people to buy. Then you need the systems and processes in place to get visible and deliver the promised products/services to customers with consistent quality and results. Too many businesses -- even those funded by professional investment teams -- lack a solid platform to deliver on the opportunity in the market.

Foundation Three: A Management Team to Deliver. Finally, the successful business has a management team in place that knows the market, knows the product, knows operations, and knows how to attract customers/clients. Too many people go into business seeing a huge opportunity, but without any experience in the market or in key aspects of the business.

How does your business stack up on the "Holy Trinity" required for business success?