Like most business owners, you’re always looking for ways to improve your operations and achieve your business goals. Monitoring your key performance indicators (KPIs) is a great way to do this. But what are KPIs, and why are they essential for your business?

What are KPIs?

KPIs, or key performance indicators, are metrics used to assess individual performance and the company’s overall success in achieving its goals. KPIs provide performance benchmarks while giving insights that help a business make better business decisions.

Businesses typically use KPIs to assess their progress in achieving specific goals. High-level KPIs focus on the company’s overall performance issues. Meanwhile, lower-level KPIs measure processes across the company’s divisions, such as sales, marketing, and human resources.

Consider which aspects of your business are eligible for measuring. Different sets are required for various businesses. Concentrating on the proper elements will allow you to receive early confirmation of success or early notice of potential problems.

Why is tracking KPIs essential?

KPIs, in general, will assist companies in making accurate business decisions. Moreover, a KPI is a straightforward information piece with tangible and trackable indicators. KPI functions can also be tailored to each level of the company. For example, the marketing division’s KPIs measure the effectiveness of current marketing campaigns. At the same time, KPIs for employees can be used to determine their level of productivity. 

Tracking high-level KPIs regularly will help business owners ensure their business is on the right track. Meanwhile, the data presented by lower-level KPIs will assist business owners in determining which operations should be enhanced and which might be retained.

KPI is also an objective measuring tool that can help remove biases such as personal sentiments toward an employee. This indicates that KPIs are much better for assessments based on observations from a few people.

What does a KPI look like?

As a measuring tool. what is measured here is the performance of your business. To be effective and yield useful outcomes and findings, a KPI must be:

  • Relevant: List the metrics that have the most impact on your business.
  • Balanced: Measuring performance both short and long term as an evaluation material.
  • Understandable: Everyone involved in your business should understand why the metrics listed are significant. Everyone must understand all existing measurement results and the implications.
  • Shared: Everyone in business should understand why the metrics listed are critical.

Let’s say you want to set up KPIs for the finance department. Then the metrics utilized in the measurement must then be derived from data in your accounting system. Here are some examples of metrics that you could use:

  • Average margin
  • Net profit margin
  • Revenue growth
  • Inventory turnover
  • Loan ratio
  • Customer acquisition cost

Non-financial KPIs, on the other hand, are derived from data outside the firm accounting system, such as a website or the CRM (customer relationship management) system of your business. Here are some examples:

  • Client retention rate
  • Customer satisfaction
  • Customer lifetime value
  • Net promoter score

How do you evaluate the KPI values?

  • Review business goals

Reviewing your business goals regularly allows you to construct a reliable long-term strategy and develop a business that responds quickly to change. KPIs are essential for business goals because they keep goals at the forefront of decision-making.

  • Current performance analysis

KPIs are more than numbers that are reported weekly; the metrics presented to allow you to understand the performance and sustainability of your business. KPI reports enable businesses to make significant adjustments in planning and execution to accomplish strategic goals.

  • Assess team targets

Leverage information from KPIs to find out the right directions your business should go in, which initiatives are moving faster, and reallocate resources if necessary. Tracking targets will also help the team stay motivated when they see progress.

  • Examine progress and make adjustments

Assess your performance from report to report to ensure that your business KPIs do not simply become reports with a series of data. Compare KPIs from the present and the past. Check to see whether there has been any significant advancement. If you don’t see any progress, draw up strategies to meet your goals immediately.

There are many strategic advantages of using KPIs. A set of measurements to gauge your company’s overall performance enables decision-makers to understand its performance versus competitors.