This is one of the MOST important blog posts I've ever written, because if you follow it, you will see improvements in your revenue (and profit) over time for your company.
This comes from 15 years of testing various "company dashboards" to make something simple, effective and filled with useful information in a clear format.
A company dashboard, put simply, is a place where you can see all of the most important numbers each month (or week) to determine the health of your business.
Numbers don't lie, and they tell the best stories on where you're doing well or where you're performing weakly.
All of my consulting clients have to have a company dashboard, and in our first strategy meeting, we set it up together. This is so we can all see clear results.
You can track a variety of things like monthly revenue, profit, new leads, outbound calls, meetings with new prospects, success percentage for clients, etc.
My current clients and I decide in our first meeting what are the top metrics to focus on.
Here are the 9 core principles for your company dashboard.
1) It's EASY to update (i.e. Google Sheets)
There are many tools you can use, but I like google sheets.
I like that google sheets are EASY to pull up on my laptop or phone.
It's not perfect, because you change things too quickly sometimes, but I've never had an issue.
Monday.com also works well.
You could use excel, but I like that google sheet sis easy to share and edit remotely.
2) Each Metric has an OWNER
You will list out all your metrics and a column for each month of the year .
Then you can write the numbers for each metric… but you need to assign ONE owner to each metric.
Most people don't have this level of accountability.
In fact, I had a fun side chat with a recent client where he tried to add two owners to a metric, and I politely said NO.
Only one person is responsible for this metric's success, and when they know it AND focus on it, it's surprising how things improve over just a few months.
Don't make the mistake of having "two people in charge"
Then no one is in charge.
Also they have to write the metric each week and month. (not you!)
3) Each Metric has a GOAL
Let's say your goal revenue this year is $2 Million.
That means that the column to the right of the name of the metric in a bright yellow background has the GOAL number.
For this example, you would put $166,000 next to Monthly Revenue.
That's the goal you need to hit each month for 12 months to do $2 million in revenue. Each month we'll note where you are…but the goal is clear as day.
4) Keep the dashboard SIMPLE, SIMPLE, SIMPLE
I said the word "simple" three times because I don't like complexity.
Honesty, that's one of my main superpowers as a business consultant is my ability to keep things simple.
I only care about 10-12 metrics that really matter.
I might include some other metrics, but they aren't highlighted or a big deal. In fact, some metrics help me discover the most important ones.
Example: If I'm focused on net profit, I will need to look at Revenue, COGS, Gross Profit and Operational Expenses.
But Revenue and Net Profit are the most important.
So limit yourself to just 10-12 total metrics that matter.
Also for individual staff members, they shouldn't have more than 7 key metrics to track each week or month.
It's hard to figure out what those are, but that's why having an experienced consultant, like myself, can be of immense value.
5) Percentages are often more VALUABLE then the exact number
This is my own personal take, but I like percentages.
In my case, it's often more important to look at the percentage of my COGS (cost of goods sold) compared to revenue, then the exact amount of the expense per month.
For example, If my goal is 25% COGS, then I want to see how that number is every month. I want to see what the average of that number is over 3 months, or 6 months or (ideally) the past 12 months.
If it's higher then it should be, then I need to fix some other elements of my company.
This is especially important for something like Net Profit, which you want to look at as a percentage of revenue.
If your goal is 20% net profit, and it starts to have dipped over the past 3-6 months, you have a problem somewhere that is worth your time to fix.
6) You have to USE your dashboard every month (but weekly is better)
You can't slack off on tracking the key numbers.
Each month you need to review it.
Also DON'T review it alone.
Meet with a consultant like myself.
Or a trusted friend.
Or a key employee so you can discuss and problem solve AFTER viewing it together.
The meeting should be on the calendar every month and run like clockwork.
7) Use two colors to see good (or bad) progress
Once you have your 10-12 key metrics, assigned to owners, with a goal and a column for each month of the year, you can now post the most recent month's numbers.
If it's around or near the goal, then you can highlight that cell in GREEN if it's going well.
Or you can mark it in RED if it's not going well.
It's that simple.
The colors paint the true picture because you can look back on the past 3-6 months and see where the trends are going. This gives you valuable information on where you need to make changes.
A really good goal I have for me and my team is to have a full column of green.
Sometimes we get really close and it's exciting!
Mature companies, like LIFT Enrichment, are almost always green, and that's because we've been using this system (and refining it) for years.
8) Only use NUMBERS
When I present the company dashboard, some clients like to add numbers AND other things.
They might put a "range" like "6-7"
Or even a question mark that says "82%?"
Or a quick explanation "3, but it's usually 3.5"
None of these are allowed and it throws off the whole point of using google sheets.
You can only put a number.
And that's it.
End of story.
No explanations, that's for troubleshooting later during the Leadership meeting
9) The numbers should be EASY to find
A lot of times I hear from clients, and prospective clients, "I can't get that info!"
"Why not?" I ask.
And they usually say something about how they don't have access, or their bookkeeper isn't good, or their quickbooks are out of date.
When it's only 10-12 numbers, these numbers now have a sense of priority.
You gotta fix and clean up your P & L statements so you can get the numbers.
I don't want any difficult numbers.
They shouldn't require complex calculations.
They often take some work to put together, but it's basic stuff.
Keep it simple, simple, simple
If you'd like help to build a company dashboard, track the key numbers and watch your business' revenue (and profit) increase,
let's book a quick consultation call at this link.