Interesting question indeed. How does “business success” look like? Well, ‘success’ is one of those words that’s hard to define, because each person’s threshold, capability, determination and expectation will be different. Some people will feel that they have succeeded in their business if they can simply survive up until launch day, open their doors, and have all the parts of their website working smoothly and efficiently. Others won’t feel as though they’ve succeeded until or unless their business expands to the point that they can buy that ten thousand square foot mansion with Olympic-sized swimming pools and tennis courts. Anything less, and they won’t feel satisfied with the result.

Even though e-business success is difficult to be defined in simple words or formula, there are some things we can all agree on.

If your business has customers who pay you money, and you are able to take some of that money and do things such as: a) buy yourself a nice dinner, b) pay a bill – keep the lights on, pay the rent, etc, or c) buy a little “treat” for yourself or someone you care about, then you can fairly say that your e-business is a success.

For some, probably with much higher standards and goals, “merely” being able to do the above is not a indicative sign that the e-biz is truly “successful.” Whatever your personal feelings and milestones (and more on those in a moment), if, at the end of a given month, your e-biz generates enough money in sales to pay all of your operating expenses with enough left over to pay you a salary of some size, it’s hard to pretend that’s not success.

The crucial piece of the puzzle to determine “success” has everything to do with you. Your goals and dreams. If you haven’t already, you absolutely should make earning milestones an integral part of your overall business plan. If you do that, then there is no question and the issue is never in doubt. Simply build in a certain level of success right from the start, and relentlessly march toward that goal.

Again, “success” is rather relative to different people, so there’s no one right answer to the question, “When my business is truly successful?”. What the question truly underscores is the need to establish what “success” mean in the context of you and your business, and make those definitions a part of your business plan from day one.

“If you don’t do it, you’ll never know.”

“Do it. Keep doing better. Success will follow.”