Last week we were recognized as the 20th Fastest Growing Small Business (sub $2 mil in revenue) by the Mercury 100 for Boulder & Broomfield Counties here in Colorado. On the surface this might seem like a great accomplishment, however it’s a false measure of success, and I’ll tell you why.

• The Mercury 100 just looks at Boulder / Broomfield County. Not Denver or the rest of the state. Colorado is loaded with great startup companies. Sure, Boulder & Broomfield are a hotbed of entrepreneurial activity, yet sizing yourself up against a small group isn’t a true validation of efforts.
• You have to apply to be in the Mercury 100. Who knows for certain how many small business out there have not submitted their information. Clearly if you’ve found wild success in a business model why, other then selling the business or gaining investor dollars, would you feel the need to tell others?
• The growth is skewed as a startup. It’s not difficult to show 500% growth when your first year consisted of the 3 months in ‘06 followed by a ramp up in ‘07 and sustained business in ‘08.
• Revenue growth doesn’t equal profitability. While our revenue has grown over the last few years our most profitable year was ‘06. Arguably we’ve become less efficient as a business, and that is certainly not a measure of success.

So why are we rewarding pure revenue growth?

Don’t get me wrong, I like the recognition we receive for things like this. I just want to stress to other business owners that measuring success by pure revenue growth clearly isn’t the best option.

I read an article a while back about how your spouse or significant other can drastically affect your good and bad habits. Makes sense, right? If your sweetie is going to the gym, you’re more likely to tag along. On the flip side to that, if your darling honey bear likes to eat out and eat often, you are more likely to follow suit.

So what about the people that you spend 40 hours a week or more with? How much influence do they have on your habits? Here at Imulus, we have 10 employees. So, needless to say, we’re a pretty tight knit group. We all go out to eat together on Fridays, and some of us go out to eat every day.

It’s especially difficult to refuse the lunch invite considering the fact that most of us exercise the use of peer pressure. I can’t count how many times someone has brought their lunch and has been talked out of eating it. This is, of course, a compliment to the victim of said peer pressure. We like spending time with each other and taking an hour out of our day to relax and shoot the shit.

This could present a problem. Especially if the choice of Big City Burrito arises. However, as aforementioned, this can also cause a positive impact on your co-workers when so many of them are advocates for health and fitness.

When you are surrounded by people who are often talking about which foods are good for you, (our accountant used to be a nutritionist for goodness sake!) you can’t help but let it seep into your brain – try as you might. Not only that, but Imulus provides breakfast foods every Monday morning which usually lasts us the whole week. Instead of the breakfast burritos or the bagels with cream cheese, we now have fruits and bread. This sets the tone for the rest of the day by eating a piece of toast and an apple.

Not only that, but just by working in Boulder, Colorado I feel the influence of being a healthier individual. Boulder has such a variety of different healthy restaurants, eating healthy even when you’re eating out is much easier.

Plus, every (that’s right, every) employee of Imulus is active. When your boss always uses his lunch break to go work out, it’s hard not to be influenced.

Moral of the story? Not sure. I guess what you can take away from this is try to ignore those bad habits of your employees. Maybe you’ll break the mold and be a good influence on them. If not, at least you’ll look hot.