It is unmistakable. It is something you will never forget. Once you are around a man or woman who has traveled far down the path of personal mastery, you will not soon forget the palpable energy and gravity you felt in their presence. It isn’t what they have (though they typically are quite comfortable in life), and it isn’t what they are doing (although they are typically doing things that are extraordinary), but it is in who they are…on the inside…that creates a quite sense of confidence and mastery.

It is not without effort that they have arrived at this place. It is by harnessing the incredible power of the human will that they have set in motion the ancient practices and beliefs that have helped them travel far down their own path to personal mastery. And it is this daily ‘being’ and practical ‘doing’ that precedes their ‘having’.

Indeed, if we want to fully express our gratitude to the universe, to God, to the higher power…then we will be drawn to fully express the potential within us, turning it from latent potentiality into an active reality in our shared world.

This is a courageous act of our will.

This is a creative act in the truest sense of the word.

This is about living fully.

I especially like what Michael Gerber, author of the E-Myth Revisited, said about this idea;

“The difference between great people and everyone else is that great people create their lives actively, while everyone else is created by their lives, passively waiting to see where life takes them next. The difference between the two is the difference between living fully and just existing.”  - Michael Gerber

Now, the trick is to bring the practice of mastery into all facets of your life…including your business. That is when magic happens.

The overarching goal of an ULTIMATE business is to maximize profit, but before you can get to that point you will have had to determine what in fact it is that you are going to sell. A crucial question to ask yourself is “Do they want what I am planning to sell?”

The enlightened marketer knows that this decision is perhaps the most important one they will make, because choosing badly at this stage of the game can spell certain doom no matter now clever your marketing efforts are.

Instead of jumping in with our own opinions. They like to poke around. And they like to learn..and all the while doing so with their ultimate motive in mind…to find a niche with unmet demand…and one that also meets the other seven criteria that are indicators of potential profitability.

As it turns out the famous quote from Field of Dreams, “build it and they will come”, is just about the worst thing you could possibly do when it comes to picking the niche you are going to attempt to market a product or service to.

Instead, follow the data and let the market tell you what it wants. Then, apply your brilliance in meeting that unmet demand with creativity and passion.

2. Velocity
Velocity, or the speed of action in this case, forces you to deal with reality. By this I mean that you will move beyond the world of assumption and theory and begin to get valuable real world feedback. This feedback is priceless and should be considered worth its weight in gold…as long as it is listened to and then acted upon.

3. Simplicity
The ability to remove complexity, thereby revealing the core of a thing…the simplest incarnation that it can take while still meeting the requirements of its purpose…is the very definition of simplicity. Simple, yet effective, systems are elegant. We see this in architecture, the design of software, and even in the design of marketing systems. Less is more.

4. Integrity
Integrity in this case is meant in the purely structural sense, as in “the building has integrity”.  If a business has a clear purpose, and all its actions are aligned with this purpose, then the business is said to have integrity. Integrity allows for massive synergy, leverage, and ultimately power to flow through the business as it accomplishes its purpose.

5. Undeniability
An elegant business will infuse its culture with a sense of a higher purpose. This shared ‘reason why’ empowers its culture with a sense of undeniabilty and purpose.

6. Visibility
An elegant business is internally transparent. Key performance metrics are routinely identified, captured, and made visible to all.

7. Repeatability
An elegant business has designed its processes and systems to be repeatable, which leads to automation and efficiency.