Indicators of business growth and success – Factors and Indicators of Business Growth (Senior 1 Entrepreneurship) | Ganzaa

Factors and Indicators of Business Growth

Lessons

Senior 1 · Entrepreneurship

Factors and Indicators of Business Growth

5 lessons

Lesson 4 of 5

Indicators of business growth and success

25 min

Case: how do we know the juice business is growing?

Ingabire makes pineapple juice in Rwamagana District, buying fruit from farmers in the Eastern Province. In 2022 she had one sales point and four workers. Today her juice is sold at three sales points and in shops across the district. Her uncle, who is thinking of investing, asks: "Show me the figures. How much has the business really grown?" (An illustrative case.)

To answer him, Ingabire needs indicators: measurements that show how big the business is and how fast it is changing.

Definition

Indicator of business growth: a measurement that shows whether, and how fast, a business is growing, by comparing its value at different times.

Example: the number of employees: 4 in 2022, 12 in 2025.

Definition

Sales (turnover): the total value of the goods or services a business sells in a period.

Example: Ingabire's juice sales of Frw 40.3 million in 2025.

Definition

Market share: the percentage of all sales in a market that one business makes. $\text{Market share} = \frac{\text{sales of the business}}{\text{total sales in the market}} \times 100\%$

Example: Ingabire sells Frw 40.3 million of the Frw 260 million of juice sold in the district: a share of about 15.5%.

Definition

Percentage growth: the change in a value, as a percentage of its OLD value. A negative answer is a fall. $\text{Percentage growth} = \frac{\text{new value} - \text{old value}}{\text{old value}} \times 100\%$

Example: sales rising from Frw 31.0 million to Frw 40.3 million is growth of 30%.

The main indicators

Indicator	What it measures	Be careful
Sales (turnover)	The value of goods sold	Can rise just because prices rose
Profit	Income left after expenses	Can fall for a while when a business invests to grow
Number of employees	The size of the workforce	More staff is not always more efficient
Market share	The business's part of all sales in its market	Needs figures for the whole market
Branches or sales points	How widely the business reaches customers	Each new branch adds costs
Number of customers	How many people buy	Count regular customers, not only visits
Output	Quantity produced, e.g. litres of juice	Output unsold is not growth
Assets and product range	Machines, vehicles, buildings; number of products	Assets bought with loans also create debts

Success, not just size. A business can also be judged by indicators of success: steady profit, satisfied customers who come back, a good reputation and awards, debts paid on time, staff who stay, and goals achieved.

Ingabire's figures

Indicator	2022	2023	2024	2025
Sales (Frw millions)	18.0	24.5	31.0	40.3
Profit (Frw millions)	2.2	3.1	2.8	5.0
Employees	4	6	9	12
Sales points	1	1	2	3
All juice sales in the district (Frw millions)	200	215	235	260

(Illustrative figures.) A bar chart is good for comparing amounts, such as sales in each year:

A line chart is good for showing a trend, the direction of change over time, such as profit:

Tip

New minus old, over old, times 100. Say it as you write it: $\dfrac{\text{new} - \text{old}}{\text{old}} \times 100\%$ . A plus sign means growth; a minus sign means a fall.

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Worked example 1: sales growth, 2024 to 2025

$\frac{40.3 - 31.0}{31.0} \times 100\% = \frac{9.3}{31.0} \times 100\% = 30.0\%$

Sales grew by 30% in one year. From 2022 to 2025 the growth was $\dfrac{40.3 - 18.0}{18.0} \times 100\% \approx 123.9\%$ : sales more than doubled.

Worked example 2: employees and profit

Employees, 2022 to 2025: $\dfrac{12 - 4}{4} \times 100\% = 200\%$ . The workforce tripled, which is growth of 200%, not 300%.

Profit, 2023 to 2024: $\frac{2.8 - 3.1}{3.1} \times 100\% \approx -9.7\%$ Profit fell by about 9.7%, even though sales grew by 26.5%: opening the second sales point added rent and wages. In 2025 the investment paid off: $\dfrac{5.0 - 2.8}{2.8} \times 100\% \approx 78.6\%$ .

Worked example 3: market share

2022: $\dfrac{18.0}{200} \times 100\% = 9.0\%$ . 2025: $\dfrac{40.3}{260} \times 100\% \approx 15.5\%$ .

The whole market grew by $\dfrac{260 - 200}{200} \times 100\% = 30\%$ , but Ingabire's sales grew much faster, so she took a bigger share of it. Her uncle now has the evidence he asked for.

Warning

Divide by the OLD value. Employees rising from 9 to 12 is growth of $\dfrac{12 - 9}{9} \times 100\% \approx 33.3\%$ . Dividing by the new value, $\dfrac{3}{12} \times 100\% = 25\%$ , is a common mistake. And never judge growth by one indicator alone: in 2024 sales rose while profit fell.

Math with Mr. J, "Percent Change | Percent Increase & Percent Decrease" (about 17 minutes). Watch the first examples: the method for percent increase and decrease is exactly the one used for business growth.

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Practice

List five indicators of business growth.
Why is a rise in sales alone not proof that a business is doing well? Give two reasons.
A shop's sales rose from Frw 25 million to Frw 30 million. Calculate the percentage growth.
A firm's employees fell from 20 to 17. Calculate the percentage change.
A business sells Frw 12 million of juice in a market where total juice sales are Frw 80 million. What is its market share?
Ingabire's sales points rose from 2 in 2024 to 3 in 2025. What is the percentage growth?
Look at the profit line chart. In which year did profit fall, and what was the likely reason?
Name two indicators of success that are not about size.

Show answersHide answers

Any five: sales, profit, number of employees, market share, number of branches or sales points, number of customers, output, assets, product range.
For example: sales can rise only because prices rose; costs may rise faster, so profit falls; the whole market may be growing faster, so market share falls.
$\dfrac{30 - 25}{25} \times 100\% = 20\%$ .
$\dfrac{17 - 20}{20} \times 100\% = -15\%$ : a fall of 15%.
$\dfrac{12}{80} \times 100\% = 15\%$ .
$\dfrac{3 - 2}{2} \times 100\% = 50\%$ .
2024: the second sales point added rent and wages before it brought in enough extra sales.
For example: steady profit, satisfied and returning customers, a good reputation or awards, debts paid on time, staff who stay, goals achieved.

Sources and credits

Photo: Inanasi zo mu Rwanda, IGANZE, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
Video: Percent Change | Percent Increase & Percent Decrease | Practice Included, Math with Mr. J, embedded from YouTube.

Written by Ganzaa: the Rwamagana juice case, the tables, the bar and line charts, the worked examples and the practice items. All figures are illustrative (2026).

1Case: how do we know the juice business is growing?

2The main indicators

3Ingabire's figures

Case: how do we know the juice business is growing?

The main indicators

Ingabire's figures