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Measuring Success

How the success of a business can be measured in ways other than profit: sales, market share, customer satisfaction, survival and social goals, and how a business chooses the measure that fits its aim.

⏱️ 16 min 🎯 14 activities
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What you'll cover

More than just profit

It is easy to think a business is successful only if it makes a lot of money. Profit matters, but it is just one measure. A charity, a new start-up and a big company can each be doing well in very different ways. This module looks at the many ways success is measured and how a business picks the one that fits its aim.

Success vocabulary

Learn these four terms before you study the measures.

Financial or not

Measures of success fall into two groups.

Match the measure to the business

A top answer never assumes profit is the only sign of success. It picks the measure that fits the business in the question: a charity judged by the good it does, a new firm by whether it survives, a growing company by its share of the market, a shop by how happy its customers are. Judge success against the aim, not against money alone.

Match the measure

  • profit
  • market share
  • customer satisfaction
  • social objective
  • the money left after costs
  • the part of the market a business holds
  • how happy the customers are
  • a goal to help people or the planet

Match the business

  • a charity
  • a new start-up
  • a large company
  • a local shop
  • judges success by the good it does
  • judges success by whether it survives
  • judges success by its share of the market
  • judges success by happy, returning customers

A non-financial measure

Which of these is a non-financial measure of success?

  • Customer satisfaction.
  • The profit made.
  • The value of sales.
  • The revenue earned.

Beyond profit

Select the TWO ways to measure success other than profit.

  • The share of the market held.
  • How satisfied customers are.
  • The profit left after costs.
  • Nothing else can be measured.

Order the judgement

Put the steps of judging a business success in order, earliest first.

  • Decide the aim of the business
  • Choose a measure that fits the aim
  • Collect the data for that measure
  • Compare the result with the target
  • Judge whether the business succeeded

Complete the facts

The money left after costs is _____, one measure of success. The part of a market a business holds is its market _____. How happy buyers are is customer _____. A charity often judges success by its _____ objectives rather than profit. A brand new firm may measure success simply by its _____.

profit share satisfaction social survival loss sector complaint private growth

Measuring customers

A shop had 200 customers last year and 300 this year. Subtract 200 from 300 to find the increase in customers. What is the answer?

Spot the non-financial measures

Tap the TWO non-financial measures of success.

  • happy, satisfied customers
  • a good reputation
  • the profit made
  • the value of sales

Judge the success

Read each business and choose the best measure of its success.

  • A charity runs a food bank for families in need. How is its success best measured?
  • A cafe opened last month and is struggling to cover its costs. How is its success best measured?
  • A large chain wants to know if customers keep coming back. How is that success best measured?

Explain the measures

Explain how the success of a business can be measured in ways other than profit.

  • Describe two financial measures of success
  • Describe two non-financial measures of success
  • Explain how a business chooses a measure that fits its aim