The 5 numbers a small business owner should check every week

Some small business owners don't track a single number and make every decision by gut feel. Others build a dashboard with forty metrics and never look at any of them, because they don't know where to start. Both end up in the same place: discovering problems too late.

The good news is that for most small businesses, five well-chosen numbers, reviewed every week, are enough to improve the quality of your decisions. You don't need an expensive system. A simple spreadsheet and 30 minutes a week will do the job.

Why every week?

Because the month-end close arrives too late. By the time the monthly report shows that cash got tight or sales dropped, four weeks have gone by in which you could have changed course. Looking at your numbers weekly turns surprises into adjustments.

The 5 numbers

1. Available cash and a 4-week projection

Profit and cash are not the same thing. A company can sell well and still go under because there isn't enough money in the account when it's time to pay suppliers and salaries. Write down how much you have available today and project, week by week, what's coming in and what's going out over the next four weeks. If any week goes into the red, you find out now, not on the due date.

2. Weekly revenue compared to target

Having a weekly target, even a simple one (the monthly target divided by the number of weeks), helps you spot early when the month is going off track. Alongside revenue, keep an eye on your average sale value: if it drops, it could be due to excessive discounting or a change in your customer profile.

3. Contribution margin

This is what's left from each sale after paying the costs that vary with it, such as raw materials, commissions, sales taxes and shipping. An illustrative example: if a service sells for R$ 1.000 and variable costs add up to R$ 600, the contribution margin is R$ 400, or 40%. This is the money that pays the rent, fixed salaries and, ultimately, generates profit. Selling one more low-margin product can mean a lot of work for very little return.

4. Overdue receivables

A sale that hasn't been paid yet isn't money. Track how much is overdue and for how long, grouping it into categories, for example: up to 15 days, 15 to 30 days, and more than 30 days. The more time passes, the harder it is to collect. A phone call in the first week of delay often solves what turns into a real problem after two months.

5. Sales funnel: leads, proposals and closed deals

How many new leads came in this week? How many proposals were sent? How many turned into sales? With these three numbers, you can see where your process gets stuck. Lots of leads and few proposals may point to slow response times. Lots of proposals and few closed deals may come down to price, an unclear proposal or customers who aren't a good fit.

How to build your dashboard in one afternoon

• One row per metric: a spreadsheet with the five numbers in the rows and the weeks in the columns is all you need.
• Targets and a traffic-light system: set an acceptable range for each number and colour it green, yellow or red.
• One owner and a fixed time: for example, Monday at 9 a.m., before the week gets going.
• One action for every red: a red number with no defined action is just worry. Write down what will be done and by whom.

The most common mistakes

• Tracking what's easy instead of what matters: followers and website visits are useful, but they don't pay the bills.
• Too many metrics: if it doesn't fit on one page, no one will look at it every week.
• Measuring without acting: a metric exists to drive decisions, not to decorate the meeting.
• Mixing business and personal cash: without that separation, none of the numbers above can be trusted.

Start with these five, for four weeks in a row. After a month, you'll know which ones need more detail and which are already under control. Good management isn't about having more data; it's about looking at the right data at the right time.