What's the best way to track my business growth and know if I'm making progress?

Focus on profit and new customer acquisition rather than obsessing over individual sale margins. Look at overall profit month-to-month and compare six-month periods to see trends. Track how many new customers you acquire each year—that number should grow steadily. One artist tracked this by writing thank-you postcards to every customer at year’s end; going from a handful to 65 customers showed clear, measurable progress. Also pay attention to repeat customers—they signal you’re building a collector base. Don’t get discouraged by daily or weekly fluctuations; zoom out and look for patterns over longer periods. Celebrate small wins and incremental growth. If your customer count and profit are both trending upward over months and years, you’re on the right track.

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Asked by artists wanting to measure success · Answered by Patrick Shanahan and Hava Gurevich · art-marketing-podcast · 2024-06-28