Recently, Roslyn and I watched a movie called “The Founder,” starring Michael Keaton. If you haven’t seen this film yet, I highly recommend it, especially to our members who are looking to learn the grittier details of business. The movie follows Ray Kroc (Keaton), a traveling salesman who, in the 1950s, turned a single walk-up restaurant into the global empire that is McDonald’s.

“The Founder” is an excellent movie that really captures the trials of building your own business in an interesting story. When Kroc met Mac and Dick McDonald, the two brothers who opened the first McDonald’s restaurant, their establishment was clearly providing the best food and service. However, the brothers weren’t able to turn their single moment of quality service into overarching success. Long story short, they needed someone to help them franchise, and Ray Kroc became that person.

The persistence and tenacity Kroc displayed as he struggled to create his business felt very familiar to me. As Roslyn and I built our businesses, we ran into countless roadblocks, but we were determined to persevere and do whatever we needed to succeed. Throughout our journey, we learned there’s no one secret to success. It takes more than a meat patty to make a good burger, and likewise, you need more than just a good idea to find success. You need to have what I call the Seven Ingredients of Success:

1. Unrelenting persistence
2. Tenacity
3. Resilience and the ability to handle having the door slammed in your face
4. A product of value
5. Investment in your education, through conferences, coaching programs, or by joining a mastermind group
6. Belief in yourself and your ability to figure things out
7. An ability to rely on the other people on your team, but still be the alpha and make the final decisions

No matter what business you’re in, struggle is universal. There’s no such thing as an overnight success, and it’s how you respond to struggle that will determine if you triumph. If a prospect says no, do you pack up and go, or do you hear, “Maybe?” When you hit a brick wall or your marketing strategy isn’t doing as well as you’d like, do you just give up, or will you tweak it and persevere until you find a strategy that works? Do you focus only on what you can deliver, or are you spending the time to get your marketing out there and reach people?

As Kroc showed, it’s not enough to be good at what you do. You could be the best CPA, EA, or the best attorney in the world, but that doesn’t guarantee you success. If you want to rise to the top of the pyramid, you need to be convincing your prospects you’re the best.

I already know our members have the best ethics, the best client care, and the best services. What I recommend my members do is take their own perseverance and tenacity and turn it outwards into their marketing.

And, watch “The Founder”!