Dashboards are everywhere, but most are filled with vanity metrics that look good but don't help you make decisions. Here are the metrics that actually matter for small businesses.
📈 Companies that use data-driven decision making are 5% more productive and 6% more profitable than their competitors.
Financial metrics
Revenue (with trends)
Track daily, weekly, and monthly revenue. More importantly, track trends—are you growing, plateauing, or declining? Compare to same periods last year to account for seasonality.
Cash flow
Revenue is great, but cash is what pays the bills. Track money in and out, and forecast future cash position. Many profitable businesses fail because of poor cash flow management.
Profit margin
Revenue minus expenses tells you if you're actually making money. Track both gross margin (revenue minus cost of goods) and net margin (after all expenses).
Accounts receivable aging
Who owes you money and how old are those invoices? Aging receivables tie up your cash and increase the risk of non-payment.
Customer metrics
CAC
Customer Acquisition Cost
How much you spend to acquire a new customer
LTV
Customer Lifetime Value
Revenue from average customer over time
Churn
Churn Rate
% of customers who leave each month
See all your metrics in one place
Trezbo Business Dashboard gives you real-time insights into your business.
Try it freeOperational metrics
- ✓ Employee productivity - Track key outputs per employee (billable hours, sales per employee, units produced)
- ✓ Project completion rate - Track projects completed on time and within budget
- ✓ Inventory turnover - How quickly you're selling through inventory
Building your dashboard
- Start with 5-7 key metrics - Choose metrics that directly tie to your business goals
- Focus on trends, not absolutes - Is the metric improving?
- Set targets - Know what "good" looks like
- Review regularly - Schedule weekly or monthly dashboard reviews
Metrics to ignore
- ✕ Social media followers (unless they translate to sales)
- ✕ Website traffic without conversion data
- ✕ Email open rates without click-through
- ✕ Gross revenue without profit context
The right metrics help you make better decisions, spot problems early, and focus your energy where it matters most.