Facts and data aren’t necessarily attractive and the truth doesn’t always get headlines, as it’s easier to get attention through missed information or exaggeration. But what does that do to credibility and reputation over time? More importantly, how do you make decisions without facts and data that aren’t accurate?

In business, accurate data is critical to growth and smooth operations. If you don’t know the right numbers, you can’t effectively set up strategies or action plans to make improvements. Since business changes so quickly, it’s imperative that you keep track of the data so you can adapt, and pivot as quickly.

Figuring out what numbers to track can also be daunting. Where do you begin? What numbers make the most sense to monitor?
Financial metrics and data are the first line of defence and offense for a business owner. Knowing the following numbers is fundamental to running a successful business.

  • TOTAL REVENUE
  • TOTAL EXPENSES
  • PROFIT
  • PROFIT MARGIN
  • CASH ON HAND or CASHFLOW
  • EQUITY
  • DEBT and DEBT RATIO
  • TAX RATE
  • ACCOUNT RECEIVEABLES and PAYABLES
  • TOTAL INVENTORY
  • NET INCOME

Once you know your financial position which depending on your type of business might need weekly vs. monthly review, you can move to other important data to help you be even more successful.

In a digital world, knowing your online metrics is critical. Understanding the following key performance indicators will give you a glimpse into the opportunities to raise your brand awareness and reach and how your digital footprint is performing.

  1. Unique Visitors to your Website
  2. Bounce Rate of your Website
  3. Time spent on Website
  4. Number of Sessions for unique visitors
  5. Pages on your Site with most activity
  6. Social Media Engagement and reach add an additional layer of information to help grow your business…
  7. Followers, New and existing
  8. Engagement (Shares, likes or comments)
  9. Video Views
  10. Post with most engagement

Your Lead generation activities also need to be tracked. Tracking is  very important and to maximize your efforts you will have to know the following numbers…

  1. # of Leads (qualified)
  2. Acquisition Cost
  3. Conversion Rate
  4. Lifetime Value of a customer

Customer Experience also has key indicators;

  1. Customer Retention or Repeat visits
  2. Average Sale
  3. Number of Transitions 
  4. # of Items purchased per visit
  5. Customer Count per daypart
  6. # of reviews or five-start ratings
  7. Net Promoter Score

There are likely unique numbers for your business that might apply, there are only a few of these numbers that can help you make the most impact on your business.
At ActionCOACH, there is a formula called the 5-WAYS which makes the process of where to begin easier.

The 5-WAYS formula is;

# of LEADs x Conversion Rate = Number of Customers
Number of Customers x Average Dollar Sale x Average Number of Transactions = Revenues
Revenues x Profit Margins = £ Profits

This formula illustrates which numbers really make the biggest impact on your business’ growth potential. The most impactful of these are # of leads, average sale, number of transaction, conversion rate and profit margin. 

Check out the chart below for specifics on how you can effect change in these critical key indicators and make a massive impact of your business’ profitability and growth.

ActionCOACH 5 Ways 

Once you know the important numbers for your business you can build dashboards and charts to track and monitor them. When you are the master of facts and data within your business, you are more equipped with evidence to build new strategies and measure your success and make your own headlines.

 

To your success!

 

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