What annual revenue does your business need to earn for you to feel like you're a successful entrepreneur?

CPT Christopher Coker — Mon, 13 Nov 2017 10:58:00 -0500

Response by CPT Chris Loomis made Nov 13 at 2017 11:01 AM

CPT Chris Loomis — Mon, 13 Nov 2017 11:01:21 -0500

$110K.... Sounds like a lot, but in the Los Angeles area, with it’s horribly high cost of living, it’s unfortunately not.

Response by SPC Erich Guenther made Nov 13 at 2017 11:40 AM

SPC Erich Guenther — Mon, 13 Nov 2017 11:40:19 -0500

$5-10 million.

Response by SGT Dave Tracy made Nov 13 at 2017 12:09 PM

SGT Dave Tracy — Mon, 13 Nov 2017 12:09:26 -0500

You are right to imply that success is relative, personally and financially.

I think I get where you're going with it, but for clarity's sake though, Revenue does not equal Net Income, so it may depend on what measure of success you are looking at.

So, first question, how does one define "success"? Depends. Revenue can be a fine measure of business growth period over period. However if we're defining success as "profitability", revenue of $1,000,000 sounds great...unless your cost of goods sold (for example) is $1,100,000, and your bottom line is negative.

I don't bring that up to merely barf up Business School 101 crap, its just some entrepreneurs/small business owners, may have their sights set on the one, and miss the impact of the other. I have a friend of mine who owns a small business, and he was wrapped up in the fact his sales were so much better than the year prior, but he wasn't really any better off. He was tracking his revenue, but wasn't tracking his expenses, which had gone up commensurate with sales. So while he added up his sales religiously, he would absentmindedly pay expanses when they came, but wasn't putting it all together...at first.

Response by MAJ David Brand made Nov 13 at 2017 2:35 PM

MAJ David Brand — Mon, 13 Nov 2017 14:35:49 -0500

Thanks for sharing!