Key Performance Indicator (KPI)

KPIs are essential to track progress towards a goal, as long as you’re measuring the right things. The best way to improve something is by measuring it, making adjustments and measuring the results. To use your time effectively, you’ll want to make sure you’re measuring the right KPIs. There are many KPIs to consider, and although you’ll want to measure multiple KPIs (4 to 10 according to Hubspot), make sure to focus on the ones that matter for your business.

It’s possible to track every bit of data you can get your hands on, but does a customer’s favorite pizza topping matter to your business? If you have a pizza restaurant, yes, if you don’t, that data probably doesn’t matter. Choosing a few KPIs that are relevant to your business goals will give you a great place to start. You may find that you need to adjust the KPIs you’re measuring as time goes on, so it’s important to be flexible and not worry about getting it perfect the first time. KPIs are meant to help you learn what adjustments you can make to reach your goals.

The easiest things to measure are ones that have already happened, sales last month, number of units produced, cost of goods sold, etc. Those can give you a good look at the past, but it’s important to also look forward. Focus on some KPIs to help predict progress, like website traffic, customer satisfaction, number of new products/services, etc. While these are sometimes more difficult to quantify, they can help identify areas to focus on for greater success.

It’s possible to dig deep into KPIs and spend hours on the topic, but they’re different for every industry and also depend on the stage of a business. A small business that’s just starting out will have different KPIs than an established global corporation, along with everything in between. Take some time to find examples of KPIs relevant to your industry and the size of your business along with the priorities of your business to get started. From there you can make adjustments along the way and use KPIs to measure progress towards achieving your goals!