Why Tracking Your Most Important Numbers Is a Game-Changer for Your Business
If you’ve ever felt like your business was just coasting along, or worse, stuck in a rut, you’re not alone. It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day hustle and lose sight of the bigger picture. But here’s the truth: numbers don’t lie. And if you want to grow and improve your business, you need to start tracking the right metrics.
It took me years to figure this out. I just started tracking my most important numbers about a year ago, and honestly, I wish I had started doing this five years ago. I could have avoided so much guesswork and frustration. Dan Martell, a renowned entrepreneur and coach, famously said, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” It’s true! Without a clear sense of what’s working (and what’s not), you’re just flying blind.
Start Simple: Focus on Just 3 Numbers
The biggest tip I can give is that you don’t need to track everything all at once. That’s a fast track to overwhelm. Instead, pick just three numbers to start focusing on. Maybe it’s your conversion rate, social media engagement, or email open rate—whatever is most relevant to where you want to grow. The beauty of this process is that what you track is what you focus on.
For example, once you start tracking your conversion rate, you’ll naturally begin to pay more attention to how you can improve it. You’ll look for ways to optimize your website, refine your messaging, and better serve your customers. The same goes for social engagement—once you start measuring it, you’ll start seeing patterns, and you’ll know which content resonates best with your audience.
Dan Martell also mentions, “Where focus goes, energy flows.” When you choose your three key metrics, you’ll start investing energy into moving the needle in those areas. It’s a natural progression—by tracking, you create awareness, and with awareness comes action.
Keep It Simple: Use a Basic Spreadsheet
You don’t need anything fancy to get started. A simple spreadsheet will do. It’s easy to set up, and you can add more metrics as you get comfortable with tracking the basics. Personally, I now track more than three metrics, but I didn’t start that way. Over time, as I got used to the habit, I added more and more to my weekly “scorecard.”
Here's my example. I have 3 main goals for the year and few metrics related to my top three that I watch on a weekly basis to inform where we need to work. It's helped me stay so much more focused. Like I said, it's just a simple spreadsheet that I fill in each Monday morning to get direction.
You will see I still only have 3 goals I'm working towards: reaching 1 million in revenue, trying to reach 40k email subscribers, and increasing my best sellers revenue by 20%. Then I track. It's a numbers game. I figured out what weekly revenue I need to hit consistently to reach 1 million which I have noted in green on my first column so I can easily see if I'm on track or not each week. Same with the other metrics, I noted the weekly benchmark I'm trying to hit. As you can see, I'm NOT hitting a lot of them and it's making me focus each week on which metric to work on.
And that’s exactly how I recommend you do it. Build up slowly. Don’t overwhelm yourself by trying to track too much at once. Pick three things that are most important to you right now, and get started. It’s amazing how the simple act of tracking can lead to breakthroughs in your business.
Why This Matters for Your Business Growth
Here’s why tracking matters: data gives you clarity. When you have clear data, you’re able to make informed decisions. Instead of guessing what’s going wrong, you can pinpoint the exact areas that need improvement. You also see, in real-time, what’s working, and you can double down on those efforts.
As Dan Martell wisely says, “The difference between successful entrepreneurs and those who struggle isn’t talent—it’s discipline. Discipline in tracking the numbers that matter most.”
If you’re not tracking your numbers weekly, you’re likely missing out on opportunities to grow and optimize your business. Start today—pick three numbers and commit to tracking them. Watch how quickly your focus sharpens and your business transforms.
Action Step: What three metrics will you start tracking this week? Set up a simple scorecard, and let your numbers guide your next moves.