Defining Success as a Business Owner

What does success mean to you? There are universal aspects that we naturally associate with success. Just as a basic term we think of – money, growth, a well-known brand or franchise location. Then there are levels of success within your brand, like becoming profitable, opening up a second location, and more. But when you stop to look at things a little more in depth – what is success on an individual level – you have more play in what it means.

You’re able to get REALLY specific. Success doesn’t mean the same thing to all business owners. What’s worth celebrating is different to each brand, and each individual.

You might even change the terms of what most define as “success.”

As an entrepreneur, that’s your right. You get to take your business and grow it into whatever you want it to be. If you want to own 10 franchise locations with 10 different companies, that’s your prerogative. Write it down with “success” in your notes. If you want to earn a comfortable income while having the freedom as a business owner, awesome. Make it happen! If you want to coach others into trusted employees and become a better boss, then that’s what you should do. Go for it!

Whatever your goals might be, they equal your personal success. Go out and achieve them, and make it happen.

Of course, your success is always growing, but it’s important to have a starting point from which you can measure.

As you’re setting up your plans to buy or start a franchise, you should talk you’re your company about expectations. (If you’re chatting with a few brands, ask them all: what is success for your corporation?) How much can you realistically expect to grow? What will your income likely be? What steps do you need to take in order to reach said goals? What’s your timeline? And so on. First asking these questions can give you a better idea of where you need to be, and when you can get there.

Next, ask yourself where you’d like to end up. Whether you want to take over a region with your franchise, or simply enjoy your job while making a paycheck, that’s your goal.

Meeting those individual goals means achieving success.

Now, combine the two. Look at your personal aspirations and pair them against data from your franchising brand. How do the two match up? Are there any inconsistencies? Now is the time to work out those kinks – your franchising brand will be an excellent resource in doing so – so that you don’t have unrealistic expectations later on.

Write these down as you go. Keep a folder of data so you can easily reference. Without frequent check-ins, you’ll never have a real idea as to where you stand.

You’re now left with a starting point and a goal line – what’s next is backtracking with intervals. Create clear increments of financial growth with timelines. It’s easier to reach these small goals, but once you add them up, the growth will be huge.

However, if you’re not reaching said tiers, you still have time to go back and fix the problem early on, rather than hitting a five-year mark and realizing you’re no where near where you intended.

Start small, grow small, and keep steady track of how you’re doing and how quickly you find growth. Though these numbers might feel small at first, they are attainable. That is, after all, the most important part of a goal – that they be attainable. If not, your success will never be reached.

Keep steady track of your success rates as they happen and as time goes on, suddenly your numbers will be huge.

Celebrate the small wins but reach toward the long-term goals – this is a proven way to measure your success, whatever that might be.