Another concern when running a business is how to track and measure your progress. If you have been investigating, probably you have seen all sorts of metrics: customer complaints, revenue, market share, reviews on social media… Anything that can be measured can become a metric.

However, what are the right ones? This is often a tricky question. If you ask around, read books or check the internet, you’ll find hundreds of different metrics that can be applied: accounting ratios, social media engagement, percentage of material waste… If you try to implement many of them, you’ll waste precious time monitoring them instead of focusing on business strategy, even if they could be automated. In addition, you could choose the wrong ones which can distract you from your long-term goals.

If you’re small, you can start with some generic metrics (e.g. revenue, working capital, number of followers on social media…) and as you gain experience in the market you can implement the ones that are more suitable for your industry and your business.

Focusing on the right metrics will allow you to set the right direction in your business and grow in the direction you want to grow. The worst thing that can happen is that you get distracted by or investing in things that are not creating any value, neither directly nor indirectly. Why do you want to focus on having one thousands followers when high engagement into your social media can provide you with higher changes to obtaining sales than just followers that don’t interact with you?

On the other hand, not having any metrics at all can make you lose sight of the direction where you want to take your business. In the end, it is a matter of choosing just a few that can truly be of use.