Apr 20

Apr 20 How do I get a handle on my numbers?

Aiden asked the question about getting a handle on numbers. He has an auto parts business online and he would like to get regular reports that show him the numbers. He does - it sounds to me like Aiden does have the numbers in a computer somewhere, you're keeping the numbers, but you're not getting them in regular reports. Well the way to get from where you are today Aiden to where you want to be is by identifying the things you want to see - which numbers do you want to see - and take them one at a time.

What's the most important thing? Let's say the most important thing is sales, so then you say, OK, I want a sales report, and you stop and you make that report. So a good way to do this Aiden would be to make a list of the things that you would like to see numbers on.

Let's say there's 10 things. There's 10 things you'd like to see numbers on. For each one of those 10 things, I would order them one through 10. Which one is the most important? Which one of the 10 is the least important? And order them one through ten. Then take number one and say, OK, it's sales, I want to see my sales:

How often do I wanna see it? I want to see the weekly.
Where do I want to see? I want to see it in a written report on my desk.

So whoever is responsible for your program that does sales, you can say to them, "On Monday morning, I want to see a written report of my sales on my desk."

It almost doesn't matter what format it's in because if the format is pleasing to you, you're done. And if the format isn't pleasing to you, you go to the person who's making this report and you say to that person, I want this report in such in such a way I want to compare to last year's sales. I want - whatever it is you want. You can modify the format as you go. The important thing is to get started. So make a list, prioritize the list, and tackle them one at a time.