4 Quick Ways to Measure Small Business Success

Are you struggling to find a yardstick to measure your small business success?

It can be hard to assess, particularly now, when trade shows, conventions, and any face-to-face interactions are limited to virtual experiences. Your customers can’t stop to chat and give you feedback.

How does your performance compare to your competition? Is your service fulfilling a need? Is your product engaging? Is it profitable?

There are ways to assess your performance…and there are people who can help you with that assessment if you’re willing to delegate. But that doesn’t come naturally to entrepreneurs…

Here are four ways you can measure your success.

4 ways to measure small business success

There are ways to measure the success of your small business. If you’re an entrepreneur, you’re used to managing everything single-handedly, but it’s a good idea to bring in outside expertise. They can help you navigate these four ways to measure your success or failure, and make recommendations as a neutral observer.

1. By the numbers

Do you know how to read your financial statements? If not, do you have someone who can interpret them for you?

These will include your:

Income statement

This measures the profitability of your business during a specific time period. It shows your company’s profits and losses.

Balance sheet

This shows your business’s financial health. You’ll see how much you owe and how much you own.

Cash flow statement

This is a record of how much liquidity you have in your company and how much cash you can extract at any given time.

2. By the customer feedback

Most companies have a survey – especially now – that requests customer feedback. But do you follow up? It’s helpful to collate data on individual customer experiences, whether they’re online or in person. Still, small business success hinges on having someone who interprets the data and finds ways to improve the customer experience. 

There are several ways to follow up on customer feedback, good or bad.

• Send an email thanking a customer who was happy with their service and ask if they’re willing to recommend your company to other people.
• Send an email thanking a customer for their critical review and ask what can be done to repair your relationship,
• Send an email inviting customers to suggest improvements to your service or added features.

3. By the watercooler

Do you have employees whose job descriptions limit them? A good leader will take time to explore the capacity of his or her entire team. 

Avoid the mentality of thinking your employees should be happy to have a job. Make sure to survey your team and ask them about potential opportunities and deficits. If they’re on the ground working with your customers or suppliers, be sure to ask them about their day-to-day experiences. Is there room for improvement? 

Are there services you should be providing that aren’t part of your operational culture now?

4. By the reflection in the mirror

Don’t be afraid to reflect on your business model. 

It’s common for entrepreneurs to develop tunnel vision. It’s what helps them pursue their goals, but it can also limit them.

Once your enterprise is up and running, you can become mired in the day-to-day operations and stop exploring your options for growth or improvement. This is a time when an outside observer can be particularly helpful: they’ll get you out of the trenches and back up in the air, so you see the whole picture from 20,000 feet.

Do you have time to assess your small business success?

I hear it all the time. “I’m just too busy to analyze my business, and besides, we’re busy enough!”

If you’re busy, congratulations. 

But will you stay busy? Will your business continue to flourish? Will you grow? Will you add staff that can free up some of your time so you can pursue a life outside of your business?

As an entrepreneur, you’re a visionary. You imagine possibilities for your company, and then your team brings them to life. So, why get bogged down in the mechanics of running your company day-to-day when you can hand that task over to someone neutral…someone who isn’t involved in the delivery of your product or service?

Our team can help your team. 

Give us the nitty-gritty, and get out of the trenches. Get back in the air. Whether it’s auditing a customer service survey or planning an online product launch, we can take care of the details.

It can be hard to hand the reins over to an outsider, but we have the tools and the expertise to let you focus on the big picture. Leave the details to us.