I’ve been thinking a lot this week about how we measure success and what it makes sense to measure.
We love talking about revenue, don’t we?
The million-dollar agency.
The five-million-dollar agency.
The next big growth target.
But revenue only tells you how much money passes through your business.
It doesn’t tell you whether you’ve achieved the things that are important to you. And if your expenses are rising just as quickly, it doesn’t tell you much at all.
The first thing I ask anybody looking to work with me is “What do you want your business to create for you and your life”?
The answer is almost never simply “more revenue.”
Most founders tell me they started their business to have more freedom, control, to have more time with their friends and family and not have to worry about money.
When I say that, you probably resonate. It kicks in the happy hormones and makes you feel good.
A $3 million agency with thin margins, a stressed founder and a team that cannot operate independently may be far less successful than a $1 million agency producing healthy profit, predictable income and genuine freedom.
Revenue doesn’t tell you:
- How much profit you keep
- How many hours you work
- Whether you can take a proper holiday
- How dependent the business is on you
- Whether you enjoy the clients you serve
- Whether growth is making your life better
That’s why chasing revenue without defining what you actually want can be dangerous.
You win more clients. Hire more recruiters. Add more systems, meetings and overhead.
The agency gets bigger, but what about your happiness?
Revenue isn’t irrelevant. But it isn’t a complete measure of success.
The better question is:
What do you want your agency to give you?
More profit? More time? More freedom? More impact? More choices?
Once you know the answer, you can define the measures that matter to you and build the right agency, not one that merely chases revenue.
You can create measures of success that are important to you (as above).
Because success isn’t how much revenue your agency generates.
It’s how effectively your business contributes to the life you want.
If you’ve been focusing mostly on revenue as a measure of your success. Don’t forget profit is the best fiscal measure and outside the numbers pay attention to the measures that genuinely light you up. The ones that make your life better.
👇 Three more to see
🎙️ Check out our latest episode of The Tech Savvy Recruiter podcast. “AI can’t fix bad sourcing”
🎥 Begin with the end in mind. A short video to help you create the agency you want.
💬 Looking for more from your agency? – Let’s chat
BK
P.S. Love to know what measures are important to you in getting the business and life you want☺
This week’s edition is brought to you by Achieve.
Achieve partners with businesses to simplify technology and deliver practical solutions people actually use.
