At the end of the day, can you declare victory within your business if the only thing you accomplish is making a profit? For me, the answer was no, but I worked for a nonprofit - Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ozarks. Not-for-profit organizations like ours are typically created because there is not a market for their services in the private sector. They exist for more than just making money, but I couldn’t help but wonder whether other companies exist for reasons like this as well. Some call it their “noble cause,” others call it “triple bottom line,” but typically successful open-book management companies know their “why” and have a Critical Number TM tied to it.

“What gets measured gets managed.” It’s hard to argue with that piece of wisdom. That said, here’s another old saw to consider: “If everything is important, then nothing is important.” Between these two valuable quotes is a balance and a guideline for business owners. All businesses have certain numbers that define success. Some, like profit, are universal. Every business must take in more than it spends, so an argument could be made that this number – profit - is a definition of success for every business.