Running a business can be pretty daunting. There’s so much risk involved. You have to think about marketing your product, making it visible to the right audience, managing and engaging employees, and monitoring your finances. With all these things to handle, you may not even notice when you’re making progress. However, during your monthly or yearly appraisal sessions, it’s best to look for certain things so you can determine if you’re running at a loss or if your business is thriving. If you’re a budding entrepreneur and you aren’t sure what puts your business in the “successful” category, below are a few signs you can consider.
1. Your profits are more than your losses.
Your business may experience some hiccups here and there, but as long as your financial statements show more profits than losses, then your business is booming. At the start-up level, it’s normal for your spreadsheets to be a bit irregular because of so many start-up expenses. So, suppose your CFO reports a rise in annual profits, especially if it exceeded your performance expectations. In that case, you don’t need to worry too much about the well-being of your business.
One way to manage and monitor your financial reports is to use a financial close automation (FCA) application. It makes the financial close process easier for your finance team. Once you’ve got an FCA app, you can create and manage tasks and plan the month-end closing process in advance or in real-time. You can also post journal entries in your ERP system for accountability purposes. In summary, this app helps you manage your finance function while eliminating accounting errors instead of manual processes.
2. You and your employees have job satisfaction.
You know you’re doing something right when your employees love their jobs. They may not feel ecstatic about every single workday, but if they find fulfillment in their daily tasks, this shows that you’re doing great. Employee performance improves when workers like their jobs: There’s greater productivity in the company, and you can be sure of the wellbeing of your clients. When your employees have competitive salaries, job security, and comfort in the workplace, they’ll have little to complain about. One way you can help with this is to provide frequent coaching opportunities for them.
Lots of businesses aren’t aware of the importance of coaching and end up creating a hostile work environment for their employees. If you aren’t sure you have effective coaching skills, here are some coaching in the workplace examples to consider: professional communication, work-life balance, diversity sensitivity, and career tracks.
3. Your brand name is well known to customers.
When your brand becomes a household name, you know your business has moved to the next level of success. Having a brand that is well known shows that you have achieved visibility within your target demographic. Companies like Coca-Cola, who have achieved the “household name” status, were smart enough to know that selling a product involves more than just good marketing skills. It also involves emotional intelligence. By carrying out strategic activities, they were able to build the strength and reliability of their company. When your company’s name is well known, your product becomes number one on a customer’s list of preferences, and your profits will skyrocket.
4. You aren’t too bothered about mistakes anymore.
Making a costly mistake is every small business owner’s nightmare. However, if your company has grown to a point where mistakes don’t really affect your monthly or yearly budgets, then you can consider it a success. For you to thrive in the business world, you need to pay attention to competency and frequent innovation. However, it’s easier said than done. Making changes that can affect your entire organization can go wrong sometimes. Sometimes, you end up making multiple mistakes, but you can’t let that stop you from taking the next step in the direction of growth. Running a successful business also means that you’ve mastered the art of making better decisions even in stressful situations.
