What does success really look like in terms of year-over-year progress?

If your business was better in 2021 than 2020—your sales were higher, your email list grew—that’s real progress in the right direction. Businesses aren’t built overnight. It takes three to five years, and that’s true of any business in any industry. The beginning is always slower. When you get to years three, four, and five, things ramp much more because you’re reaching critical mass. If you did better than last year, you’re making more customers happier and you need to keep doing it. Each year should be a new record, and you should look at the trend: if 2021 was your all-time record and 2020 was your previous record, your sales are going in the right direction. Focus on incremental improvement, not overnight transformation. As you see success, invest back in your business—don’t choke it by taking all the money out. Equip yourself with better technology, improve your customer experience, and level up your marketing. That’s how you compound initial traction into sustained growth.

---

Asked by general teaching · Answered by Nick Friend and Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2022-01-08