Really depends on what stage of the game you are in. As a sole employee / CEO revenue / leads are going to be the guiding factor. You'll be able to "feel" the growth more than anything.
Once you start getting more employees, seeing them working together is usually a good indication you are working well. Does growth just seem to come naturally? Do you find it natural to be firm, but fair?
As a self-made CEO for going on 6 years now, I find that my internal dialogue is the best indicator for how things are going. If you don't have a mentor, get one. If you can't find one, at least find someone who is a CEO that you can bounce things off of from time to time that will give you honest feedback. And remember, feedback aren't orders they are suggestions. Not all feedback I've been given over the years (even with the best intentions) have worked out. Learn from your mistakes and good luck!
Once upon a time a CEO was a person with years if not decades of experience acquired by working their way up a career ladder. By working in different roles, possibly in different companies and most importantly working with and for more experienced people they acquired a comprehensive skill-set.
These days many people bestow upon themselves the title of CEO, print business cards and expect to impress people. Sorry, you can only fool some of the people some of the time.
The reason I'm asking is that I find that people, often running younger, smaller businesses, can really be impacted by internal demons, and I'm doing some research to find out what those are, how people with more experience monitor themselves and what barometer they use to see how they're doing.
I'd love to see some resources for people who find themselves in a role of managing a team (or teams) of people when they haven't had the luxury of decades of experience.
>Once upon a time a CEO was a person with years if not decades of experience...
Yes, that was before the internet. Now we have all sorts of companies, startups, etc with all levels of people / competencies including Mom's with shopify sites selling crocheted ear warmers that wake up one day and find themselves in the position of CEO.
If you have to ask, you are way farther along than most CEO's who are afraid to look bad.
Reading stuff on the internet is no substitute for the experience of running a company, being responsible for revenue, staff and answering to shareholders.
People running small business, like the Mom you mentioned, are more accurately described as "business owners". Just like we don't call a cat a lion.
this is 2015 and CEO's are not just men who sit in boardrooms who smoke cigars.
just like there are Chefs at my local diner, and there are Chefs in NYC's greatest restaurants. CEO's can be many different types of people, for different companies.
yes there are business owners, they are normally called founders.
Of course I'm much more a jack of all trades at this point than a full blown CEO.