Let’s imagine watching a professional football game… could you picture the coach leading the team by only looking at the scoreboard?
Of course not, that would be a disaster.
A great coach watches what’s happening on the field moment by moment. They track patterns, spot weaknesses, notice what’s working, and adjust the strategy before it’s too late. They rely on stats, game footage, and real-time feedback to make smarter decisions.
Business works the same way.
If the only thing you review is your income statement, it’s like coaching by scoreboard alone. Yes, revenue matters, but it only tells you the final result, not what caused it. The real opportunity for growth lies in the activities and behaviours that happen every day in your business.
What Successful Business Owners Do
Successful business owners measure and monitor the actions that lead to results, and review them regularly to improve faster.
Instead of waiting until month-end (or worse, year-end) to find out something isn’t working, successful business owners use simple performance signals to:
- Catch small issues before they become expensive problems
- Identify what top performers do differently
- Improve customer experience and retention
- Increase conversions and efficiency
- Make better decisions with confidence
What Activities Should You Track?
Track activities that directly drive revenue and keep customers happy. Depending on your business, that might include:
- Customer inquiries (calls, emails, DMs, walk-ins)
- Quotes and estimates sent (and how many turn into sales)
- Customer complaints or recurring issues
- Lead sources (where new customers actually come from)
- Advertising results (what’s working and what isn’t)
- Sales follow-ups completed (and how quickly)
- Top performer habits (what your best people do consistently)
- Website performance (traffic, contact forms, booking requests)
Even one of these categories can reveal easy wins, such as improving response time, tightening follow-up, or adjusting how offers are presented.
Keep It Simple: Start With One Metric
You don’t need fancy software or a complicated dashboard to begin. Start with one thing and build from there.
Here’s a simple way to start tracking this week:
- Gather your team
- Explain what you’re tracking and why it matters
- Record it daily
- Review the numbers regularly (weekly is a great start)
- Share the results with the team
- Adjust and improve together
The goal isn’t perfection, it’s progress.
The Big Takeaway
Just like a coach makes better decisions with better data, your business becomes easier to grow when you pay attention to the right signals.
Track what drives sales, learn what drives loyalty, and improve what drives profit.
Start small. Stay consistent. And watch how quickly things begin to change.
