What KPIs Should I Track for My Business?

In this post, we’ll help you identify the key performance indicators (KPIs) that matter most for your business. Not every metric deserves your attention. But the right KPIs give you clarity, help you make faster decisions, and align your team around outcomes—not just activity. If you're running a business between $3M and $20M in revenue, tracking the right data is one of the most important things you can do to scale without losing control.

Key Takeaways

• KPIs help you track performance, predict problems, and focus your team

• Choose KPIs that reflect outcomes, not just effort

• You should have financial, operational, and customer-focused KPIs

• What you measure will shape how your company behaves

Why KPIs Matter at the Growth Stage

When your company was just getting off the ground, you probably made decisions based on instinct, hustle, and momentum. But as you grow, that approach stops working. Complexity increases. Your team expands. Cash gets tighter. And the margin for error shrinks.

That’s where KPIs come in. They give you a clear line of sight into what’s working, what’s slipping, and where to focus. Without KPIs, you’re flying blind—or worse, reacting to problems after they’ve already become expensive.

Successful founders don’t just work harder—they lead with numbers that keep everyone focused on the right levers.

Start with Financial KPIs

At the heart of every strong business is financial clarity. If you don’t know your numbers, you can’t manage for profit, cash, or growth. The right financial KPIs help you monitor both performance and risk.

Here are some of the most important to track:

• Gross Profit Margin: Measures the profitability of your products/services after direct costs

• Net Profit Margin: Tells you what’s left after all expenses—your true bottom line

• Revenue Growth Rate: Shows how fast you're growing compared to past periods

• Operating Expense Ratio: Tracks overhead as a percentage of revenue

• Cash Conversion Cycle: Measures how long it takes to turn inventory or work into cash

• Days Sales Outstanding (DSO): Tells you how quickly you're collecting invoices

These numbers don’t just belong in your finance department—they belong in your strategic dashboard.

Track Operational KPIs to Scale with Control

Strong financials won’t last without solid operations. Operational KPIs help you ensure that your business can deliver results efficiently, consistently, and without excessive reliance on you as the founder.

What to track here depends on your model, but might include:

• Project or job completion time

• Utilization rate (for service-based businesses)

• Production or output per labor hour

• Error rate or rework percentage

• Cost per unit or cost per job

If things are taking longer, costing more, or generating more client complaints than they should, your operations will quietly erode margin and customer trust. Tracking the right KPIs can help you spot inefficiencies before they become systemic problems.

Monitor Sales and Marketing KPIs

Most businesses want more leads, better conversions, and stronger customer retention. But few track these consistently—or accurately. Sales and marketing KPIs give you a window into your pipeline health and customer acquisition efficiency.

Key metrics here include:

When tracked together, these numbers help you answer key questions: Are we attracting the right customers? Are we closing deals efficiently? Are we spending wisely to grow?

Don’t Ignore Customer and Team KPIs

Some of the most important success signals can’t be found on your balance sheet. If your customers are unhappy—or your team is burning out—profit will eventually suffer. That’s why we recommend including qualitative KPIs that reflect satisfaction and alignment.

For customers:

• Net Promoter Score (NPS)

• Retention rate

• Customer churn rate

• Average resolution time for issues

For your team:

• Employee retention rate

• eNPS (employee Net Promoter Score)

• Completion rate of strategic initiatives

• Training hours or engagement metrics

The healthiest companies track both numbers and narratives—and understand that culture drives performance.

Build a Custom KPI Dashboard

Your KPI list shouldn’t be 50 metrics long. It should be short, focused, and tailored to your business. We typically recommend tracking 10–15 core KPIs across financial, operational, sales, and people categories.

Set a weekly or monthly rhythm to review them with your leadership team. Ask:

• Are we on track?

• What’s improving?

• What’s sliding?

• What decisions do we need to make?

KPI tracking isn’t about perfection—it’s about precision. Over time, your dashboard becomes your command center.

Final Word: What You Measure Shapes What You Build

KPIs don’t just help you track success—they help you create it. They force clarity, focus attention, and accelerate results. The key is to choose the right ones, track them regularly, and use them to make smarter decisions—not just create pretty charts.

At Coltivar, we help companies design KPI systems that actually drive action—so you don’t just measure performance, but improve it.

Want help building your KPI dashboard and aligning your team around performance?
Book a Strategy Review and let’s get your metrics working for you.