The three numbers every small business should track weekly
Monthly reports tell you what went wrong four weeks too late. A weekly glance at a few numbers lets you correct course while it's still cheap.
1. Cash in the bank, and what's due
Profit on paper doesn't pay wages. The U.S. Small Business Administration treats cash flow as a core part of managing your finances. Track cash on hand alongside invoices owed to you and bills due in the next 30 days.[1]
2. New enquiries, and how fast you answered them
Volume tells you whether marketing is working. Response time tells you whether you're wasting it: Harvard Business Review research found leads contacted within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to be qualified.[2]
3. Work booked ahead
Bookings, signed proposals, or scheduled jobs for the coming weeks. It's the earliest warning of a quiet month — early enough to do something about it.
Three numbers you look at every week beat thirty you look at once a quarter.
Making it stick
Put all three on one screen that updates itself. If gathering them takes more than five minutes, it won't happen every week. In Asana's 2023 survey, knowledge workers estimated better processes could save them 4.9 hours a week — this is where some of that time comes from.[3]
