Many successful businesses generate enough profits to enable owners—possibly shareholders or investors, depending on the type of business—to grow their businesses and live with a sense of financial security. However, while small business owners value profits, some are willing to sacrifice a portion to have a healthier work-life balance, create a product that’s eco-friendly, or provide a service with a social mission. Each entrepreneur has a slightly different definition of what it means to achieve business success.

Successful companies prioritize customers. They design products that meet customer needs, provide exceptional customer service, and build marketing campaigns around customer behaviors.

All businesses strive for growth. Growth means you can expand your team, pay better wages, and share stronger profits with owners and shareholders. How can businesses achieve growth? One of the most important ways is through higher productivity.

User experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design date back to the very first inventions—when a prehistoric human first attached a rock to a stick, they made the stone easier to swing (and hopefully got a promotion in the process). As a coherent discipline, though, UI was codified in the 1970s at companies like Xerox and popularized in the 1990s with the wider adoption of the home computer.

The best way to keep your cash flowing and maintain financial stability is to effectively manage accounts receivable. A company's accounts receivable (AR) are its outstanding invoices and money owed to its clients. Essentially, it’s a claim for payment held by a business for products or services provided on credit.

Tax season can be a stressful time for both individuals and businesses. One of the critical forms you may encounter is the IRS 1099 form. Payments made to nonemployees don’t show up on a W2. Instead, the IRS requires payers to report payments (over $600) on a tax form known as a 1099.