An entrepreneur's journey is full of doubts, assumptions and questions. How do I know if I’m on the right path? How can I tell if it’s working? How do I know if my business is successful? Yes, you are not alone; these are some of the most common doubts of all entrepreneurs alike.

If you wish to run a successful business, you must begin with answering two basic questions. First, what is your objective? Second, what factors will help you achieve that objective?

Yes, revenue is undoubtedly one of the most vital parameters of business success for SME India. However, it is not the only one. Read on to know the following 2 ways in which you can measure the success of your business beyond money:

The impact you make:

Impact is an important key performance indicator that measures the effectiveness of your business. The effect you have on the people you serve is always directly proportional to the increase in the income levels of your business.

How, you might wonder.

Don't just treat your business as a transaction medium. Pay a lot of attention to whether your product or service is adding any value to the lives of your customers. Look for ways beyond the product’s basic offering. Look at your consumer’s interaction with the sales team, or the after-sales support.

Going beyond the call of the product will not only fill your pockets but also build up credibility for your brand in the long run, thereby establishing it as a market leader.

The people you help:

What goes around comes around. No matter what your goal is, if your business can help several people along the way, it is already on the right track. Understanding just this metric goes a long way in helping your business gain the success and popularity you dreamed about.

Identify who you are helping, understand how the help is reaching them, and exactly what is the value addition that you are bringing into the lives of these people. Also, knowing who you are serving helps you better your product, services and business model.

Doing so can help you not only identify your apt target group, but also create a lead magnet that can turn out to be very profitable for SME India.

Studies have shown that companies which focus on nonfinancial measures and value creation, stand a better chance of improving revenues in the long run Thus, pay head to the above two, non-monetary parameters as well, the next time you are assessing the business success of your company.

** By association with Digikredit Finance Pvt Ltd , an NBFC, which operates under the name SMEcorner and offers credit to small business owners.