I think that it is some misunderstanding between be successful and have money. Money is the consequence, but the objective of a business should be create real value. In this sense, if you have only a few customers but you are delivering real value, you are successful. Take youtube, for example. They were a very successful company in the beginning, delivering a delightful experience. Now, if you consider money as objective, they are still successful, but they are not. They now deliver a awful experience, with Ads in the beginning, middle and the end of each video. For me, no matter how much money they are making, they just not successful anymore.