We talked about this a while back – finding the one number that tells you *TODAY* about the progress of your business.
For example, a restaurant’s indicator of future business might be the number of new entries they have in their free birthday dinner program.
Why?
Because you know that for every 100 members in your birthday program, 32 of them come in on their birthday and bring someone with them. And you know that there are 67 people in the program whose birthdays are next month.
Just a little 5th grade math stands between you and a little better handle on predicting business, which tells you whether you need to market harder or not.
If you need a little more evidence to reinforce why knowing your number is important, here’s a Wall Street Journal story that talks about the same kind of indicators – things that tell you what’s going on – and do so well before hard numbers arrive.
Maybe it’ll give you some ideas about how to figure out what your ONE number is.