Posing a question like “what makes a successful business” can be like the parable of the four blind men describing the elephant – all the perceptions are accurate, but they aren’t the full picture, and none really stands up on its own. The fact is that the elements that go into making a successful business are many, varied, and often industry/niche specific. Therefore, in order to deliver a small treatise on what it is that makes for a successful business, it is crucial to focus on the underlying structures rather than the detailed specifics. Whether or not to use a particular accounting method is not what this paper will cover, but whether or not to actually have an accounting method is within the scope of this paper. What follows is a structural guideline for helping to make a business successful.