The potential for success lies within you. Granted you must be brave, committed and flexible; you also must remain clearly focused on your goal. Whether that goal is to build a small customer base or you intend to capture a large market share, your commitment to excellence in relation to your customers and your product or service can be the key ingredient to your success.

Remaining compassionate while staying on track can be a bit of a trick. While at times a valued customer may have special needs and you might want to go that extra mile for them, you must clearly distinguish when and where to draw the line. Yes, be flexible but don't get taken advantage of. Give them anything you can while remaining true to yourself.

If a customer needs to be a little late for an appointment or requires an extension on the pay-by date and you can accommodate them do so with stipulation. Help them to recognize there is a limit to your understanding and generosity. Don't just blindly let them slide into a bad habit.

Sometimes the hardest thing to do is fire a customer or client. You may consider that impertinent, or even unrealistic, however if a customer or client is overly demanding, constantly late, or in any manner inconsiderate, you don't have to continue to service them. They may ultimately wind up costing you more than they are worth.

Recently, I read about a young woman who had built a thriving company. She permitted her biggest client to constantly stretch their pay-by date and when her client suddenly filed bankruptcy she was faced with down-sizing her business. The end result of the loss of this business client forced her to impose a pay-cut on her employees and herself. Thankfully, her company survived; could yours? Let us recognize the lesson revealed by her setback. Don't be afraid to say no when you are uncomfortable with a situation.

To be truly successful in business today, competitiveness, compassion and clarity of vision are entrepreneurial musts.