One of the first questions I ask people when we’re talking about building their business is, “What does success look like for you?”
You might be surprised how difficult that question can be to answer.
We’re surrounded by messages about what a successful business is supposed to look like. Six-figure incomes, seven-figure businesses, growing teams, and the latest strategies promising to get you there.
And then there are the coaches and consultants who tell you that if you want to be successful, you need to follow their system. After all, it worked for them!
But just because someone else built a successful business doing things a certain way doesn’t mean that’s the business you want to build.
Before you start following someone else’s roadmap, shouldn’t you figure out where YOU actually want to go?
When Did Success Become All About More?
Somewhere along the way, entrepreneurship became a competition over who could build the biggest business, make the most money, or grow the fastest.
Scroll through social media and you’ll see plenty of examples. Coaches celebrating six-figure launches. Entrepreneurs sharing how they scaled to seven figures. Programs promising to help you build a million-dollar business.
And there’s nothing wrong with wanting any of those things!
But what if your ideal business earns $100,000 a year? Or $50,000? What if you want to work three days a week, travel more, or simply have the freedom to choose how you spend your time?
Maybe making a difference in people’s lives matters more to you than reaching the next revenue milestone. Or maybe you want a combination of income, impact, and freedom.
Why should any of those goals be considered less successful?
The problem isn’t wanting to make more money. It’s assuming that making more money is the only measure of success.
Someone Else’s Success Isn’t Your Blueprint
You’ve taken courses, hired coaches, and collected plenty of advice about how to build a successful business.
And somewhere along the way, you’ve picked up the idea that there’s a particular way you’re supposed to do things.
You need to post on social media every day. You need a high-ticket offer. You need to build a membership. You need to scale. You need to hire a team.
According to whom?
There’s tremendous value in learning from successful entrepreneurs. But there’s a difference between learning from someone’s experience and trying to recreate their business.
A coach may have built a million-dollar company using a particular system. That’s great. But their success doesn’t automatically mean their system is right for you.
A strategy can be successful and still be completely wrong for you.
Your business should reflect your strengths, your priorities, and the lifestyle you want to live. Not someone else’s cookie-cutter formula.
Don’t Let Shiny Opportunities Make Your Decisions
Have you ever looked at someone else’s business and thought, “Wow, I’d love to have that!”
Maybe they’re making incredible money, traveling the world, or running a business that looks almost effortless.
But what you’re seeing isn’t necessarily the whole picture.
How many hours are they working? How much are they spending to generate that revenue? How much responsibility comes with running that business?
There’s a difference between wanting the results someone else has achieved and wanting the business required to produce them.
Before chasing an exciting opportunity, consider whether you’d actually enjoy building and running that kind of business.
What Does a Successful Tuesday Look Like?
Here’s an exercise I like because it gets you thinking beyond revenue goals.
Imagine it’s an ordinary Tuesday in your business, and everything is going exactly the way you want.
What time do you start working? Are you meeting with clients, creating something, teaching, or consulting? How many hours are you working? What are you doing when you’re not working?
Now think about the income you need to support that lifestyle.
If your goal is to earn $5,000 a month while working 20 hours a week, that should influence your pricing, offers, marketing, and how you deliver your services.
If you want to build a million-dollar company, your business decisions will probably look quite different.
Neither approach is better. They’re simply designed to achieve different results.
Your definition of success should drive your business strategy, not the other way around.
More Possibilities Than You Think
One of the things I love about entrepreneurship is that there are so many ways to build a business.
You can work with a handful of clients or serve thousands. Build a team or stay a business of one. Offer services, create products, teach, consult, or combine several approaches.
You can grow quickly, stay intentionally small, or change direction as your priorities change.
But when you’re convinced there’s only one right way to succeed, you limit the possibilities you’re willing to consider.
That’s where I see a connection to The Unicorn Factor®.
I talk a lot about recognizing what makes you different and using those differences to stand out from the crowd.
Why shouldn’t that same thinking apply to the business you’re building?
If you’re creating something unique, why squeeze it into someone else’s cookie-cutter business model?
The possibilities become much more interesting when you stop asking how to build a business like theirs and start asking what kind of business is right for you.
Decide What Enough Looks Like
How will you know when you’ve achieved the success you’re working toward?
There’s always another revenue milestone, another opportunity, another level to reach. And if you enjoy that pursuit, there’s nothing wrong with continuing to grow.
But growth should be a choice, not an obligation.
Maybe enough means earning a comfortable income while having time for family, travel, and the things you enjoy. Maybe it means making a meaningful difference in people’s lives.
Or maybe you have big plans and love the challenge of building something larger.
The important thing is making that decision for yourself rather than allowing someone else’s expectations to make it for you.
Your Business. Your Rules. Your Success.
I’m a big believer in setting goals, challenging yourself, and exploring new possibilities. But I also believe you should be clear about what you’re trying to achieve and why it matters to you.
Success isn’t determined by how your business compares to someone else’s. It’s determined by whether you’re building something that delivers the results that matter to you.
Before you chase another shiny opportunity or follow someone else’s blueprint, ask yourself whether it’s moving you closer to the business and life you actually want.
Because one of the greatest possibilities entrepreneurship offers is the freedom to create something that’s uniquely yours.
And the possibilities are endless!
Whose definition of success are you using to build your business?
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