What constitutes success in business?

During a board meeting last week we were discussing what would constitute success in year one for OX Seven.

Success is an incredibly subjective term and can mean completely different things to different people. You see a lot of conjecture on achieving arbitrary figures by a certain point in time; ‘I am going to smash 1 million revenue by month 12’, ‘There must be £50,000 in the business account by December next year’ – Is focussing on pure profit this the best way to achieve this?

You will speak to a lot of people who will say that the answer is yes. That you need to have a certain level of tunnel vision and single-minded determination to reach a particular goal, but when the goal is a financial output and not a process output, is this going to be sustainable?

For me, as a recruitment startup business owner, survival at the end of year 1 would be a success to me. There are nearly 900 new recruitment business being registered every single month, with a total of circa 40,000 recruitment businesses in the UK, competing and thriving amongst this saturated market would be an achievement I would be proud of.

My key focus is getting to the end of year 1 with the business plan on track and each consultant I have hired still with the business.

In an industry which is infamous for high staff turnover and fixation on KPI’s, billing targets and long hours, having a focus which is process and quality based could seem a little strange, and potentially risky.

But I firmly subscribe to the approach of believing in the quality of what you do, getting the right people in your business and allowing them to flourish. The financial side should look after itself.

If we get to the end of year one and I have retained all of my staff, brought in the people I have planned to and have created an enviable work culture, I will be a very happy chappy.