5 numbers every small business owner should know
You don't need an accountant's report to know how your business is doing. If you can find these five numbers every month, you're ahead of most.
1. Sales this month against the same month last year
Comparing with last month can fool you: December is always busy and January is always quiet. The same month last year shows whether you are really growing.
2. How much your top 20% of products bring in
In many shops a handful of items bring in most of the money. Know which ones they are, and never run out of them.
3. Your average sale
Total sales divided by the number of sales. If it's rising, customers are buying more per visit. If it's falling, they might be shopping around.
4. Your best and worst day of the week
Put your strongest people on the busiest day, and use the quiet day for stock-taking, cleaning or a special.
5. What is slipping
Look for products or customers whose sales dropped over the last three months. Small slides are easier to fix early.
Drive-through Analytics finds all five in your sales export in a few minutes. Open a sample report to see how.