True Entrepreneurial Success Doesn't Just Come From Your Bank Account

Recently, online clothing retailer Nasty Gal filed bankruptcy. Now, those of us who have been in business for a while—and who have worked with other businesses—know that this isn’t the death sentence it may seem to be at first glance.

Bankruptcy happens. And in the case of this business, it doesn’t mean disaster. In fact, the company has had skyrocketing success over the past 10 years, but circumstances, which we can only speculate on, have led the company to have some financial strain, and bankruptcy was a solution to help it get back on track.

Destroying the Myth of Financial Success

Money is good. Profit is good. But it’s not everything, and the Nasty Gal case is a fine example of this. Founder Sophia Amoruso, from my perspective anyway, has been on top of the world. She’s worth a ton of money. Is a media darling. Has published her own book.

And yet, her company is going through some restructuring, and bankruptcy is an essential element of that strategy. It doesn’t mean her company has failed. It means she and her executives have made a strategic decision for the better of the business.

What this should tell us is that the myth which pervades the media, telling us that once you’re making a profit you’re golden simply isn’t true. The Notorious B.I.G. was right: “Mo’ money, mo’ problems.” Money, while it may make it easier to make certain decisions, comes with a whole slew of other issues that most of us don’t even consider until we’re presented with them.

I think focusing solely on profitability as a metric of success is detrimental to any business, even if yours isn’t bringing in the millions that Nasty Gal is.

How to Have True Small Business Success

Quite honestly, I don’t have a secret formula for success for you because success is different for every business owner and every situation. But I encourage you to think about why you’d like to make a ton of money. Maybe it would afford you the opportunity to retire early, or hire people so you can work less. Once you reach these goals, there’s your success.

I see it again and again: entrepreneurs busting their you-know-whats to get to some unreachable pinnacle. They reason that if they work 60-hour weeks, it’ll pay off in revenue. I’ve rarely found it to be true that working past a certain threshold really netted additional income for any business.

But these folks work themselves to the bone, and then never reach the crest of that mountain. Because, as you know, there’s always another crest behind it. So I suggest spending less time looking to the theoretical future and more time enjoying life beyond your business right now.

So What Does Success Look Like for You?

With the end of the year around the corner, now’s as good a time as any to really define what success means for you in your business. What makes you feel like you’ve done a good job with your company this year? Maybe you scored a big-name client this year, or started writing that book you’ve been talking about. Those are successes.

Now, what successes would you like in the coming year? Don’t only include giant pie-in-the-sky goals. Small ones are great too, because they’re easier to accomplish.

I think loosening the reins on our expectations of success, and being more open to varying interpretations of it will allow us as business owners to move forward more easily, without the fetters of what the media tells us success is.