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A beginners guide to small business metrics

TaxFlowBlog
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As a business owner, it's as if you're the one in the center of a bustling circus, keeping all the acts running smoothly. You might feel as if you've got your business's performance under your thumb. However, if you're not keeping an eye on some crucial business metrics, you might miss out on the comprehensive view.

Don't let the technical lingo discourage you. Often, business metrics are straightforward to monitor and can offer crystal-clear insights, helping you achieve a more thorough understanding of your business's performance.

Unraveling Business Metrics: What exactly are business metrics, you might ask? Essentially, a metric is a means of measurement, and when we talk about business metrics, we refer to tools used to gauge business performance. While these metrics usually come in numerical form, they aren't necessarily financial. Metrics might include a broad spectrum of factors - from your average profit margin to the scope of your social media audience. Regardless of whether they're financial or not, business metrics are instrumental in identifying your business's strengths and highlighting potential areas of improvement.

Disentangling Business Metrics and KPIs: You might wonder about the distinction between a business metric and a KPI, or key performance indicator. Indeed, all KPIs are business metrics, but not all business metrics qualify as KPIs. Puzzled? Let's simplify... Consider 'business metric' as a comprehensive term that incorporates various methods of measuring business performance. In contrast, a KPI is precisely what it sounds like - a metric that you've identified as crucial. Therefore, a KPI is a traceable measurement that you can rely on to assess your business's success.

Identifying Key Business Metrics: There's no universal set of business metrics that every business must track - it genuinely depends on your business's unique characteristics. However, a few metrics hold significant value across most industries and can unveil fresh insights into your business performance. Here are some examples:

Cashflow: Cashflow represents the amount of income your business earns over a given period, minus the expenses incurred during the same period. This prevalent metric offers a clear indication of your business's financial wellbeing. You can monitor your cashflow manually via a spreadsheet, or accounting software can handle it for you automatically.

Expenses: An attentive observation of your business expenses can aid in conserving money, reducing unnecessary expenditures, and ensuring your business maintains its financial health. Keeping tabs on your expenses over time can also help you recognize trends and patterns, ensuring your costs aren't escalating beyond control.

Website Visitors: If you haven't started already, keeping track of your website's visitor count is a swift and simple method to assess your business's visibility and your marketing efforts' effectiveness. It's worth examining how your visitors land on your site, the duration of their stay, and the pages they view.

Consistently monitoring a fundamental metric like your number of website visitors can provide a clear illustration of your reach, and indicate whether your marketing strategy might benefit from some tweaking.

Websites constructed with platforms like Squarespace and WordPress often include in-built tracking to assist in monitoring data. If you're tech-savvy, consider utilizing more advanced website analytics tools to delve deeper into the data.

Whenever you're ready, there are 2 ways we can help you:

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