Need to hear what is ur viewpoint on how to consider your internet business "successful" ?

When your website is very well known? Or is it when you have reached your target revenue?

For me a business is sucessful when it is generating steady revenue. Being in the black or close is also on the list, but any business person knows it could be awhile before this happens. Steady business with new clients, repeat clients, etc is the way a business becomes known.

That definition has been a moving target for me - and I'm going into my sixth year. I don't doubt it will continue changing. I would probably give any Harvard Business School grad a case of hives.

My first year, the business was successful if I managed to get 60% signups that were not people that I directly knew - in other words, not friends or family. While most of my signups were friends and friends of friends, I did get several clients through freelance hosting and design work, a few through forum posts, and one bit of word-of-mouth advertising.

My second year, the business was successful if I was able to get a certain profit margin. In all fairness, it wasn't a huge profit margin - but I got it.

My third year, the business was successful if I managed to move to my own servers and maintain a certain profit margin. I didn't quite make the profit margin that year; but I did move to my own server. I was also able to better tailor my plan specs and increase features without raising prices - in part, because of the move to my own server.

My fourth year, I was fairly modest in defining "successful" - it was a bad year, extra stress on me, my support team was in flux, and I just wanted to maintain service levels and not go into the red.

My fifth year I was going to pour on the guns in terms of advertising and marketing, especially since I had stayed pretty low-key in years one through five. I figured that after surviving five years, I could safely say that I was in this for the long haul and that I had been around for a while. The plan to amp up the advertising kind of fell apart...but that was completely my fault. (Well, that and the relocation.) I have that same goal this year, and am actually following through.

In overall terms, I want the business to grow to the point where it can support me and pay a decent wage to my staff. I want to have the ability to keep learning about server management, fine-tuning my knowledge of what my clients might need, and figuring out how to provide that safely and reliably. Essentially, this business is my retirement plan: it will give me some income so that I don't have to try and live off of Social Security; and it will give me something to do so that I don't go batty with boredom. (Now I just have to keep the business active for another...oh...25 years, and I can see how well it meets that particular goal.)

Ofcourse reaching the revunue potential would be the ultimate test!

Success is one of those "user designed" terms to me because we are all looking for different things from our businesses. Most would like to make a profit, of course, as it's just a hobby without the money. The level with which we are satisfied and classify as successful will be highly individual though.

For myself, I would like to replace and somewhat surpass my offline job income so I could quit and just work on my business. To me, this would be the ultimate freedom. I don't have to get rich, although that wouldn't hurt. Mainly, I want to be free of time clocks and bosses.

I'd name business sucesful only in cases when it brings lots of advertising everywhere and very well made. Than means that the company is sucessful.

I am always setting new goals for my little places on the web, and when one is reached it is replaced with a new goal. Something harder and more challenging, this way things never get old. If you do what you start out to do, do it well, turn a profit and are honest............well for me thats what I shoot for & I am quite content with it.

Success online isn't always about money... or money isn't the single element that defines success. This business is about building relationships. It really is a people business. The money will come once you've established a good relationship with people and have branded yourself well in your chosen niche.

For me to consider my online business successful it would have to be providing for my needs comfortably and consistently without having to take outside employment. That being said when I achieve that end I expect I will raise the bar on myself. I thrive on attainable goals. When I achieve one I can't help myself I set another.

well depending upon the size and capital that you have put in your business , I would define breakeven as the stepping stone to success