📊 How I use data

I am a fan of creating simple scorecards and minimal KPIs. It helps me benefit from the kind learning environment I created for myself and my business.

What 3-5 stats can tell you exactly whether things are going well or poorly in under 60 seconds?

Running a business is difficult. There is a lot of information you need to understand and take action on. If everything is visible in one place, it is hard to focus on the things that are important.

Odd analogy, but a mass of information hampering decision making and performance is one of the main reasons prey animals form herds. Bunching lots of similar things together in one place makes it incredibly difficult to focus.

To avoid analysis paralysis, I like to create simple overviews. I can then deep dive into more specific stats as required to fix problems or improve performance.

The core stats I track? Revenue, Customer Acquisition Cost, and Customer Lifetime Value. For product businesses I like to add net profit percentage. Everything else is simply data that feeds into one of these 4.

ACTION: Make a basic scorecard (7 mins)

You don’t need anything fancy, or even any integrations. Just create a basic document, spreadsheet, or grab a piece of paper. We can start by tracking these stats manually each month. How to calculate each stat is included on the hyperlink.

When you get into the habit of tracking and you find it useful, then we can look into automating that data collection.

Don’t get lost in the herd of data. Isolate your target.

💡 Quote I'm pondering

"People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.” - Judge Taylor, To Kill A Mockingbird

When it comes to facts, your opinion doesn’t matter. Opinions are important and they do help us make better decisions, but we also need to know what the facts are.

Unfortunately, you and I (and all humans) have a whole load of unconscious biases. We want to try our best to reduce the effect our biases have on our decision making and to get the most objective data possible. But that is difficult.

Having a trusted and experienced independent external person to look over things helps, but we want to ‘clean’ our data as much as possible regularly too.

I shared this in my Work Smart Wednesday newsletter. Want the full set of related insights? You can read them here: https://worksmartwednesday.substack.com/p/work-smart-wednesday-february-28

👋 Want to work together?

When you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you:

🔍 Clarity Call - we will discuss your situation and create a step-by-step action plan together so you know exactly what you need to do next for maximum impact

👓 StartSmart - Achieve a 6 figure income within 6 months, whether you only have an idea or you have already started your business

🧘 Overload to Optimal - reduce your workweek to 20 hours or less within 90 days while running your 6-8 figure business