How to Record Your Metrics So Your Business Can Thrive

I see it time and time again. Business owners want to see their businesses grow and reach their full potential, and why shouldn’t they? I see so many talented people kicking ass in their industries, but their businesses still struggle. Frankly, I resisted this for quite a while in my own business.

One reason is that it’s hard to improve what you don’t measure.

Yes, this means tracking your business metrics.

I know, I know. That’s one more thing to add to your ever-growing list of to-dos. (Luckily, this is super easy to outsource!)

Sometimes we don’t even know how to check these metrics, especially our site analytics. Trust me, it’s worth learning, or better yet, having someone else do it and send you a report to round up the information.

 

How often should you track these things?

I like to track on a monthly, quarterly, and yearly basis. That’s handy for tax and accounting purposes, of course, but it’s also easy to set goals that way. I love setting goals to beat my income record or number of email list signups!

I like to create a spreadsheet for each area (Financial, Audience, Website, and Work-Life Balance). This makes it much, much easier to see where I’m improving and where I need to make adjustments.

 

Not sure what to track? Start with these metrics:

Note: The items marked with a * are things I like to check on annually. I look at everything else monthly or quarterly.

 

Financial:

• Income
• Gross
• Expenses (you can even itemize these into payroll, education, supplies, equipment, services, etc.)
• Profits
  • Are there any unnecessary expenses you could cut? Do you have room to add that CRM or webinar platform you’ve been looking at?
  • Where is most of your income coming from? List out all your income streams, their incomes, and then rank them in order. This alone is super eye opening!
  • *Which products, services, or packages sold best? Which sold the least?
  • How are your paid ads performing?

 

Audience:

Remember, it’s really easy to get hung up on social media followers and blog comments. While those things can provide valuable insights into your audience, they don’t really indicate business growth.

It’s still good to track them, but I feel like the most important number to track is mailing list subscribers.

• How many mailing list(s) subscribers do you have? How many have you gained?
• Which lead magnets are performing the best? Which ones are the weakest?
• What’s your average open rate? Click rate? Conversion rate?
• How often are you sending emails to your list?
• Social media followers: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn etc.

 

If you want to grow your business, tracking your numbers is nonnegotiable. Click To Tweet

 

Website:

I recommend looking at Google Analytics for this. If you don’t know how, spend some time Googling it or ask for help. My team and I can take care of this for you as well!

• How many unique page views did you get this month?
• Where is most of your traffic coming from? That’s where you want to focus! List the top 3 sources.
• Which blog posts are getting the most traffic? Keep those blog posts updated and promote them like crazy!
• How often do you post? Would you like to publish more or less?

 

Work-Life Balance:

Okay, this might be an unusual one. Really, who does this? Next to no one keeps track of their days off or their stress levels!

Personally, I think these metrics are just as important as the other stuff. Always remember who’s running your business: You.

You’re the golden goose, my friend. You need to keep yourself happy and healthy, or you’re going to notice a massive dive in productivity, creativity, and profits!

Be sure to track these things as well. 

• How many days off did you take this year? How many of those were sick days vs fun days?
• How many hours did you work each week, on average?
• How would you rate your productivity this year?
• How are your stress levels?
• How healthy do you feel?
• How are your healthy habits? How often do you move your body and eat healthy meals?
• How many hours of sleep do you get per night, on average?
• Are you involved in any group activities? Exercise, Book Club, Wine Club, etc.

If you want to grow your business, tracking your numbers is nonnegotiable.

Guess what? It is perfectly okay if those starting numbers are ZERO or close to it! Instead of getting all bummed out, allow it to motivate you!! Some look at it as empowering because there are so many ways to increase your numbers. 😉

Numbers are tools, and they never lie. Numbers tell you quite bluntly what’s working and what’s not. By tracking your metrics, you know exactly what’s going on in your business and what you need to focus on.

Knowing your metrics simplifies your decisions so that you’re no longer guessing or waffling about what to do next.

Once you get the hang of it, you’ll love tracking your metrics! It’s really fun to see proof in black and white that your business is growing.

Need help getting your metrics in gear? We can help!