Business tips: Have you achieved your goal for the business?
- OneTeam
- Aug 7
- 4 min read
Starting, running, and growing a business is no small feat. For most entrepreneurs, it’s a long-term commitment that can take years of hard work to build a loyal customer base, generate consistent profits, and create a business that’s truly scalable. The journey is often filled with pressure, uncertainty, and risk -- but when everything clicks into place, the rewards can be extraordinary: real success, a lasting legacy, and a business that fulfills your original vision.
So, how do you know when you've truly achieved your goals for the business?
Has the business met its growth targets and scaled up as intended?
You have witnessed your business idea evolve from a budding startup into a well-established company, and further into a scaled-up, ambitious enterprise with a strong customer base.
If you have achieved these growth milestones, you can be confident that your business is on stable footing. Your idea is evidently viable, and you are providing a product and/or service that customers find valuable and are willing to spend their hard-earned money on.
Is your business profitable and financially stable?
Running a tight financial ship is crucial. You need solid revenues, positive cashflow and good liquidity to keep your business ticking over.
In the initial stages of a startup, finances are often limited, and as a founder and director, your personal income is likely to have been minimal. However, as the business becomes more established, you should notice that the company's revenue becomes more stable and predictable, with your personal wealth following a similar steady trend. If the business maintains a strong balance sheet, healthy cash flow, and achieves your desired profit targets, you’re on the right track and can be confident that your financial situation is solid.
Do you have a stable customer base who say good things about you?
Without customers, you don’t have a viable business. Finding your first customers as a startup was probably a significant turning point in your journey. A good customer base brings with it the bonus of new sales, fresh revenues and a business that can actually turn a profit.
When customers engage with you and buy your goods and services, that comfirms your original faith in your business idea. You’re providing something they value and want to purchase, and you’re also building a community of like-minded people who all think your brand is great.
Do you have a team who can operate the business without you?
In the beginning, you likely took on a variety of roles, handling sales and marketing efforts, managing key operational duties, and overseeing invoicing, accounting, and bookkeeping tasks. Fast forward to the present, and you probably have a team to manage these responsibilities -- but could they operate effectively without you?
This is really the acid test of whether you’ve scaled and succeeded. If the business is still reliant on you, personally, you have a problem. To be a saleable proposition, a business needs to function effectively without the founder. If not, you’ll never be in a position to sell up. To make this possible, you need a team of engaged and talented people around you – people who share your vision and talents and who can keep the ship on an even course, even once the original captain has set sail on fresh, new adventures.
Do you feel you've achieved what you wanted to achieve?
During your early days as a founder, you likely took the time to create a startup plan. In that plan you’ll have outlined a clear vision for what this business was going to achieve.
This vision might have been:
To scale up over five years, sell-up and retire
To deliver a new kind of technical widget and make it the global standard
To help your target audience improve their lives, helped by your product/service
To provide the income needed for you to live your desired lifestyle
To plough your profits back into the local community and be a force for good.
We each have distinct goals, whether they are financial, personal, or moral, and these depend on the individual. At this stage, it's crucial to evaluate whether you've achieved the vision you intended. If your objective was to sell for a profit and then retire, are you prepared to do so? If your aim was to become a well-known name and advance your industry, do your customer engagement numbers and market share statistics indicate this?
Deep down, only you and your fellow founders know whether you’ve truly met your intended goal. But if the general consensus is that you aced it, then it’s time to think about the future.
What’s the next chapter in your business story?
If you’ can answer ‘yes’ to all five of these questions, then congratulations! You've built a successful, stable and profitable business.
But what do you do now? Do you continue to plough this fertile furrow and live off the profits? Do you find a buyer for the existing business and start on your next business idea? Or do you sell up and look at retirement and enjoying the benefits of your money and lifestyle?
It's advisable to consult with us before making what is essentially a life-altering decision. If you'd like to discuss your options, please reach out.
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