Welcome to this post about the 5 most successful businesses in the U.S. in 2022!
Today I want to analyze some of the most successful businesses in the U.S. to learn more about why they were successful. I will be using the CENTS acronym as the main analyzing method.
CENTS is from The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMarco which happens to by my favorite book. I’ve talked about this book and CENTS several times on this blog, but I’ll recap again for those who are unaware.
The Millionaire Fastlane is all about accumulating wealth FAST. DeMarco believes that traditional financial advice (get a job, save 10-15%, invest, retire) is the slowlane and requires several decades. The fastlane is one in which an indivual uses a business to create their wealth, which is way faster than any other investment if done properly. The key to the fastlane is owning a business that meets the CENTS requirements.
What are the CENTS requirements?
Control – The first key to CENTS is control. You have to be able to control every aspect of your business. If someone can flip a switch and close your business, you have a problem. Ex. If you are an affiliate with a company and that company shuts down, part of your business just shut down too.
Entry – Your business also needs to have a high barrier to entry. If a business has a low barrier to entry, it means that everyone can do it. If everyone can do it, you’ll get a lot more competition which will make it harder to succeed and stand out.
Need – Perhaps the most important part of your business is that there’s a need. If there’s no need for your business than you won’t have any customers. The key to business is solving a need or a problem.
Time – Your business also needs to be detached from your time. Meaning that you need to be able to make money while you sleep. Your time is limited, so if your income is attached to your time, than your income will be limited as well.
Scalable – Finally, your business needs to be scalable. This means that you either need to find a way to increase your prices consistently or sell more products/services.
Most Successful Businesses in the U.S.
Now that we’ve covered what CENTS is and how we will be analyzing these businesses, it’s time we jump into the list of the most successful businesses.
First of all, these companies will all be companies that are based in the U.S. because that’s what we are all most familiar with. I tried to pick one from each major category/industry. The companies on this list are all within the top 50 companies based on revenue. Finally, they are companies that I am somewhat knowledgeable about, because I can’t write about businesses that I don’t know about.
That being said, let’s jump into this list of the most successful companies in the U.S.
1. Walmart (Need)
Control – Walmart is very much in control of there store. If one product is discontinued, they can just find another one! It would be very hard for one product or industry to shut down Walmart.
Entry – The barrier to start a grocery store is extremely high! It’s very costly to be able to afford the building, employees, and products. Not just anyone can start a grocery store.
Need – Walmart has almost everything you could imagine, therefore it’s really hard for someone to not need something that’s at Walmart. I bet there are very few people in the United States who have not shopped at Walmart at least once.
Time – What do you think Doug McMillion (CEO of Walmart) is doing right now? Do you think he is inside a Walmart somewhere stocking shelves? No, definitely not! He makes money without ever having to step into a Walmart. How cool is that?
Scalable – Walmart has been scaled to an unbelievable level. There are almost 5,000 stores in the U.S. and over 10,000 worldwide. It’s relatively simple to scale this business too! Once one store is profitable, start another one!
2. Amazon (Scalable)
Control – It’s not a matter of who controls Amazon, it’s a matter of who Amazon controls. No one business, product, or industry could shut down Amazon. Right now, they seem unstoppable, but only time will tell.
Entry – I think Amazon’s weakest category is entry. Almost anyone could start a store like Amazon. The trick is that not anyone could scale it to the level that Amazon has.
Need – Like Walmart, there is an incredible need for Amazon. They have almost every product you can think of, and they can deliver it to you very quickly. The level of convenience of Amazon has been what has brought it it’s success.
Time – Once again, Jeff Bezos isn’t shipping Amazon orders right now. He’ll get paid whether he’s working or taking a nap on the beach in the Bahamas.
Scalable – The best category for Amazon is easily the ability to scale. Amazon isn’t restricted by physical locations like Walmart is. Anyone can order something from Amazon from anywhere. They also can add products very easily without having to handle manufacturing and handling inventory in some cases.
3. Alphabet (Time)
Control – For the most part, Google controls everything about their business. The only thing that might cause a problem is if Apple or another company decided not to support Google apps on their devices. That would be a big problem for Google.
Entry – Starting a business like Google is next to impossible. Only the most advanced computer-programmers could even dream of doing this. It’s not a skill that very many people have which means that they don’t have to worry much about competition.
Need – There’s a big need for Google products (Google Drive, Google Search, YouTube). People rely on these apps everyday on their devices for their work and entertainment. This need is not going away any time soon.
Time – I think Google’s best category is being from time. People use their products 24/7. They don’t have to do anything to have them use their products.
Scalable – Google is also very scalaable. All they have to do is create their products and put them out there on the internt. People are then able to use them as they wish. Google doesn’t have to sell anything or even convince someone to use their products, most people just use them without even thinking about it.
4. Microsoft (Entry)
Control – Microsoft controls every aspect of their business, from creating softwares to actual computers. Microsoft is in control of what they produce, and no one could shut them down.
Entry – I think their best category though is their high barrier to entry. Once again, hardly anyone could create the software and products that Mirosoft creates. Therefore, there’s very little competition out their for Microsoft.
Need – There’s also a big need for Microsoft. 80% of computers in the world use Windows for their operating system. This means that for every 10 computers produced, 8 will use Microsoft’s windows. They aren’t going away any time soon either.
Time – Once again, Microsoft only has to create these products once. Once they are setup, they can be used by anyone in the world. Of course there are regular updates, but they don’t have to sell a custom product to every customer, they only need to design one universal product.
Scalable – As you can probably guess, since they only need to design one universal product for all of their customers, it’s very easy to scale this business.
5. Boeing (Control)
Control – Boeing gets to control every part of their business. They are choosing what they design and manufacture. If NASA or SpaceX chose not to use Boeing, it wouldn’t be the end of the world because they could shift their business to someone else.
Entry – They also have a very high barrier to entry. Not just anyone can design and manufacture airplane and spaceship parts. Once again, this leads to lower competition.
Need – There’s a huge need for Boeing as NASA, SpaceX, and other agencies look to explore our universe. While some of these agencies create their own products, most just contract it out to Boeing so that they can focus their attention elsewhere.
Time – Time is probably one of the weaker categories for Boeing. Unlike the other companies on this list, Boeing often has to create custom products for every new customer. This is very time extensive. However, it’s not like the CEO is forced to do the designing and manufacturing.
Scalable – This business is very scalable as well. Boeing can easily increase their prices or increase their production to increase their revenue.
Most Successful Business Patterns
As you read through that list, I’m guessing it started to get a little repetitive. That’s because there were some patterns that existed with almost every business on that list. Here are some of the patterns if you’re interested in finding out what the keys are to starting a successful business.
First of all, all 5 of those companies has some aspect of each of the 5 CENTS categories. I think it’s important to notice that when you’re choosing to start a business, you need to be able to achieve the same thing.
That being said, you don’t necessarily have to start out by meeting all 5 requirements. Many businesses start with the first 3, control, entry, and need, yet lack the last 2, time, and scalable. This is because in the beginning you might not have enough employees to help you run and scale the business. You’ll have to do everything yourself. But, just because it’s that way in the beginning does not mean that you can’t change it down the road.
I also noticed that entry and need are connected. Generally, the higher the need, the higher the barrier to entry. Vice versa, the lower the need, then the lower the barrier to entry.
Take for example, blogging. There are over 600 million blogs. Which means that you have a TON of competition if you’re looking to start a blog. The reason why there are so many blogs is because the barrier to entry to start one is so low. But, because there so many blogs there also isn’t a big need for more of them. These two categories are indirectly connected, so if you notice one is low, the other one probably is too.
Another thing I noticed was that time and scale are very connected. In order to scale a business, you need to make sure that your time is no longer attached to your business. Once your time is free, you’ll be able to scale.
Check out this post on 8 Businesses That Make Money While You Sleep!
Did you also notice that several of the companies sold only a few universal products? This way they only have to create the product once. There’s no need to create a custom product for every customer.
Finally, I think it’s interesting to note that all of those companies have some aspect of technology incorporated in them. Even Walmart now has a click list feature online. It’s the direction that the world is going, so you should make sure to follow the trend.
Businesses To Avoid
If you read this post because you’re trying to create one of the most successful businesses in the world, here are some businesses to avoid from CENTS analysis.
Control – Affiliate programs
Entry – Blogging
Need – Clothing stores
Time – Manual labor businesses
Scalable – Brick and mortar businesses
The Takeaway
That’s it! I hoped you enjoyed this post. My goal when writing this was to analyze some of the most successful businesses in the world to determine what made them successful. I think it’s pretty clear now that you need to follow CENTS and the other tips laid out in this post in order to create one of the most successful businesses in the world. That being said, you should now have everything to start of the most successful businesses, so get to it! Best of luck to you!