If you’ve been following me for a while, you know, I’m a bit of a work-a-holic.  It’s a problem, I know. And one day I’ll find a cure, but for right now, I just roll with it and make the best of it.  One of my sure-fire ways to double-down on my laptop time is to combine it with another one of my hangups…Binging TV shows. My criteria are pretty simple:

1. the show can’t be TOO engaging (I need to work at the same time!)  OR it has to be a show I’ve seen before, and

2. there have to be SEVERAL seasons available online – I hate having to make a decision about what to what next, so the more seasons, the better.

Each evening as I settle into my “night shift” I click on the next episode and let auto-play work its magic.  I know it’s time for a break when I get the “Are you still watching” message.

At the start and end of each “shift”, I’m constantly checking to see what season and episode I’m on.  How many more are left? Are there more seasons? When do I have to start up the dreaded “doom-scroll”??

This may seem like a weird thing to relate to business…but the season & episode number – are my KPIs.  They’re my way of knowing where I’m at relative to the end of the show (or at least what’s available on Netflix!).

Now, I know what you're thinking – KPIs, metrics, and data sound like some techy mumbo-jumbo that only suits those corporate big-wigs, in their ivory towers. I’m here to tell you that even us scrappy, creative, mini-empire builders can dive into this realm too.  We're going to break it all down and get to the bottom of what KPIs are and why they matter for businesses big and small.

Alright, let's start at the beginning. What in the world are KPIs? Well, KPI stands for "Key Performance Indicator." Think of them as little signposts along the road to success. They're like those milestones you set when you go on a road trip to check if you're on the right path. Think “Apple Maps” for your business…it’s like that oh-so-calm British lady in my phone, telling me to turn right in 300m.

In business terms, KPIs do the same thing – they help measure how well a company is doing in achieving its goals.  I guess that mean’s I’m your calm British lady? I’ll work on my accent.

Now, why should you care about KPIs? Great question! Imagine you're a soccer team (not the Yellowjackets though…we need to keep this a lot less twisted). Your KPIs would be like the number of goals you score, the number of passes you make, or how many times you manage to keep that ball away from the other team. These stats help you understand if you're improving, where you need to work harder, and ultimately, how likely you are to win the game.

In business-speak, KPIs can be all sorts of things, depending on what you want to achieve. They could be:

• the number of products you sell,

• customer satisfaction ratings,

• revenue earned, or even

• how many people visit your website.

These can reveal the overall health of your business, and they're the secret sauce that helps you track progress toward your goals.

Just like those fancy smartwatches that count your steps and monitor your heart rate, KPIs keep an eye on your business's pulse. Are things going well, or do you need to make some changes to get back on track? KPIs will tell you.

Now, you might wonder, "I’m making money, isn’t that enough to know?”  Short answer – NO!  What if you’re not making money? What if you are, but some months are better than others? What are you doing that ticks your profit up or down?  Maybe you’re making money but beyond burnt out? KPIs are your magnifying glass that helps you zoom in on specific areas of your business to uncover valuable insights.

Deciding what KPIs are for you, starts with first having a clear goal in mind. If you don’t know where you’re going, it’s pretty hard to lay out your path and road marks along the way. 

Let’s say you run a digital magazine.  If your goal is to grow the number of subscribers by 20%, then there’s no real point in measuring your renewal rates.  That doesn’t mean that renewal rates aren’t important for other reasons, but helping your increase subscribers, it’s not going to help you get there.  For this, you’d want to be looking at lead generation measures, conversion rates, and of course, new subscriber counts.

The great thing about KPIs and our Goals is that they are not set in stone. As your business grows and evolves, so should your indicators. It's like upgrading your favorite video game when you level up – you need new challenges to match your newfound skills. Regularly reviewing and tweaking your KPIs keeps your business strategy sharp and focused.

In the magazine example above, as you’re reaching your 20% growth target, maybe you notice that you’re spending a CRAZY amount of money on advertising.  The goal might now become “Grow the number of subscribers by 20% at a maximum cost of $2 per subscriber”.  Now your KPIs will include things like cost per click, campaign costs, ad spend, promotion cost, etc. 

These are super helpful when it’s you doing the work so you can know where and how to tweak what you’re doing.  It becomes CRITICAL when you’re working with others – whether it’s employees or contractors – cause you’ll be able to get a clear picture of whether they’re actually doing what you’re paying them to do!!

KPIs are like your business BFFs – they guide you, cheer you on, and keep you accountable on your journey to success. They help you understand where you are, where you want to go, and how to get there. No KPI is too big or too small. Just set your sights, measure, and make those positive changes. You've got this!