We go into business because we love the products and services we offer.  How do you know if you’re successful at it?  Growing up, we all have our own individual experiences of what math was like and what application it had in our lives.  Now, as business owners, the measures we choose to determine success is just as important as the success itself.  Creating a road map to success using quantitative and qualitative measures helps determine how we are doing.  Having a business does not mean people will come to your doorstep or to your website.  Having customers does not mean people will come back.  Offering the best products and services does not mean people will buy from you.  Measures to determine ‘return on investment’ will help the business owner understand if the activities you partake in are really getting you to the goals you have set out for yourself.   Quantitative measures such as sales, profits, number of customers, repeat customers, products/services sold, and client satisfaction rates are all solid measures to help a small business owner to know what is working.  Qualitative measures also help such as comments from your customers about service, process in which you inform your customers about timelines for when products/services will be delivered, expectations from you on what should be delivered to your paying customer, etc.  Feedback from valued partners also helps to know what industry standards are and what your competitors are offering.