If your business is one of the lucky few that make it through their first year without going bankrupt, you might be left wondering what it was exactly that made you so sucessful. If you can isolate that item, then you can focus on it, and as the theory goes, continue your sucess (or even be more sucsessfull in your second year).

1. What Were Your Profits?

Be brutally honest with yourself when tabulating your profits or losses. Don't write off the new computer you bought just because your old one died on you, and similarly, don't count money that is due any day now. Only after you know how you did can you start to plan on doing better.

2. Where Did The Money Go?

Most businesses do not make any sort of profit within their first five years. You should be lucky just to still exist. Of course, if you did happen to make a profit, don't immediately go and spend it. If you re-invest that money back into the business it might serve you much better.

3. Track Your Customers

If you don't already have a customer database, now is a good time to start one. If you can, you should also use a system that is sophisticated enough to track repeat purchasers. In this way, you can start a customer loyalty program if you so choose. Out of all the transactions you did, calculate how many were repeat business. Most businesses aim at achieving the highest possible amount of repeat business they can, because it's a lot cheaper to keep an existing customer than it is to make a new one.

4. Learn From Your Mistakes

You should have a detailed record of every customer complaint you have ever recieved. Take a good hard look at what you didn't do right, and make a commitment to correct those issues permanantly. If you can, put up defensive measures to help ensure those situations won't happen again.