By Tonika Bruce, CEO of Lead Nicely , who helps startups, nonprofits and leaders WIN with unique & innovative marketing and business strategies! getty The success of any business venture depends on two factors: the goals and metrics for defining that success. One of the goals is customer success, which starts with understanding why and how customer success is critical for growth. Customer success goals might be straightforward, but the real deal lies in metrics. For entrepreneurs already on top of one or more of these CS metrics, monitoring business success will be easy. Here are five customer-focused metrics that reflect the performance and true health of a business: Customer Loyalty Once the business gets off the ground and starts attracting clients, loyalty is arguably one of the most important objectives to focus on. Customer loyalty is reflected in the retention rate. Tracking retention rate will indicate the number of customers that consistently use a company’s product or service over a specified period and—in the case of merchandise—repeat purchases. The actual number of loyal customers can be calculated with this formula: Retention Rate = [Number of customers at the end of a specified period] – [Number of new customers […]