{"id":54449,"date":"2021-11-03T14:25:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-03T18:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=54449"},"modified":"2021-11-17T11:28:02","modified_gmt":"2021-11-17T15:28:02","slug":"characteristics-of-a-good-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/characteristics-of-a-good-business\/","title":{"rendered":"The 3 Common Characteristics of a Good Business"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What are the major characteristics of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/qualities-of-a-good-business\/\">good business<\/a>? Why is Toyota an excellent example of a good business?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A decisive <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/business-competitive-advantage\/\">competitive advantage<\/a>, well-designed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-incentive-meaning-and-definition-economics\/\">incentive<\/a> systems for employees, and a reputable brand backed by product quality are all key characteristics of a good business. Toyota is an excellent example of a good business because its efficient manufacturing processes give it a competitive advantage in the market, its well-designed incentive systems reward employees that contribute to improvements in the company\u2019s processes, and it has established and preserved a brand reputation for reliability and quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read on to understand more about the characteristics of a good business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What Makes Companies Successful?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Munger, outlier business success often results from the combination of some of these factors:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Extreme focus on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/why-more-is-less\/\">maximizing<\/a> or minimizing one or two variables. For example, Costco focuses on driving volume and lowering prices, to the exclusion of many other factors obsessed over by typical retailers.<\/li><li>Positive <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/feedback-loop-meaning\/\">feedback loops<\/a>, so that success begets further success. These often produce nonlinear results as the combination of multiple multiplicative factors.<\/li><li>Strong, consistent execution over many factors. For example, Toyota executes well on many aspects of manufacturing, marketing, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/capital-allocation-best-ceos\/\">capital allocation<\/a>.<\/li><li>Riding a rising wave that adds tailwinds even to an otherwise strong company. For example, Oracle rode a wave of improving technology and adoption of technology by businesses.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>He went further by explaining the three core characteristics of a good business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Moats and Competitive Advantage<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Munger and Buffett consider <strong>one of the major characteristics of a good business to be an enduring competitive advantage<\/strong>\u2014what they call a \u201cmoat.\u201d Like a moat protecting a castle, the competitive advantage allows a business to resist being made obsolete by competitors or changing markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To highlight the frenzy of competition, Munger points out that of the 50 most actively traded stocks in 1911, only one company\u2014General Electric\u2014survived as an independent, meaningful company. The forces of new technology, fierce new competitors, and shifting management are formidable and can drive companies out of business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Berkshire Hathaway thus counsels its companies to widen their moats every year. This doesn\u2019t necessarily mean earning more profits each year, but rather growing a company\u2019s strategic position to weather the long term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Under certain conditions, businesses with large moats can increase prices dramatically without cutting volume, and thus increase earnings dramatically. This happened with Disney in the 20th century. For decades Disneyland priced its tickets very affordably. Then the managers realized it was underpriced\u2014it was a unique experience unlike any on Earth; people don\u2019t consume it that frequently, so they\u2019re not as worried about racking up high costs. So Disneyland raised its prices, and attendance maintained steady levels, leading to sudden profits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: The recognition of competitive advantage as one of the major characteristics of a good business was formalized by Harvard Business School professor Michael Porter. For more details, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/app\/book\/understanding-michael-porter\">read our guide to <em>Understanding Michael Porter<\/em><\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Good Incentive Systems<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Having a well-designed and fair incentives system is another of the key characteristics of a good business. The incentives in business operations make a big difference in how people behave.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>People are prone to getting whatever they can out of a situation. With poorly-designed incentives, people will behave in ways that run counter to your intentions. People get used to sloppy conditions quickly, so it\u2019s important to stop them quickly when you recognize the problem.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Munger cites a friend with a manufacturing business that suffered from extensive fraud in workers\u2019 compensation, which raised the cost of premiums to unsustainable levels. He asked the unions to ask the staff to stop, but they resisted\u2014by then, everyone was doing it and benefiting from it, and it was seen as free money. The friend closed down the plant and moved to Utah, where the Mormon population seemed to be much more honest, and the workers\u2019 compensation costs dropped precipitously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At times, <strong>the right incentive scheme can seem unfair<\/strong>. Munger shares a rule in the Navy\u2014if you\u2019re in charge of a ship and you run it aground, your naval career is basically over. It doesn\u2019t matter what the reason was. This isn\u2019t fair because it punishes officers whose ships run aground through no fault of their own, but the benefits outweigh these costs\u2014officers are more careful than they otherwise would be if the rule weren\u2019t this way. Munger feels the same way about compensation for stress in workers\u2019 comp\u2014while there are legitimate stress injuries, the current system invites so much abuse that society would be better off if compensation for stress were removed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Trademarks and Branding<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The value of trademarks and branding to society is that it gives a strong incentive to preserve the reputation of the brand. Trust in a brand can be lost instantaneously after a scandal or a massive product recall. Therefore, brand owners are likely to invest in product quality, which then means consumers can trust that when they buy a brand name, they\u2019re likely to get quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Munger tells an example of how the Carnation food company was attempting to buy the trademark of unrelated company Carnation Fish. The owner of the trademark refused to sell, and ultimately the larger Carnation company capitulated and gave a surprising offer\u2014they would donate time from their food inspectors to make sure Carnation Fish had spotless operations. The value of protecting the Carnation name was so important that the company was willing to invest in similarly named companies it didn\u2019t even own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: Read more about the value of brand names in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/app\/book\/basic-economics\/chapters-24-25\">our guide to <em>Basic Economics<\/em><\/a> by Thomas Sowell.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What are the major characteristics of a good business? Why is Toyota an excellent example of a good business? A decisive competitive advantage, well-designed incentive systems for employees, and a reputable brand backed by product quality are all key characteristics of a good business. Toyota is an excellent example of a good business because its efficient manufacturing processes give it a competitive advantage in the market, its well-designed incentive systems reward employees that contribute to improvements in the company\u2019s processes, and it has established and preserved a brand reputation for reliability and quality. Read on to understand more about the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":49146,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,104,30],"tags":[533],"class_list":["post-54449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-marketing","category-work","tag-poor-charlies-almanack","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The 3 Common Characteristics of a Good Business - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What are the characteristics of a good business? 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