Book contents · Part 2, chapter 3 of 6
Weekly Dials are ten to fifteen numbers reviewed every week, each with one owner and one target. Most are owned by operations and sales, because they are the people who can move them. A dial is green or red against its target, and when it is red its owner explains why. A first version can start with as few as eight.
- The question
- Are we on track right now?
- How often
- Every week, reported on Friday
- Who owns them
- One person per number, mostly in operations and sales
- How many
- Ten to fifteen; start with eight
A week of Weekly Dials
Eight starter dials for the fictional installer. Every figure is illustrative.
| Dial | Owner | Target | This week | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value of quotes sent | Sales lead | €40,000 | €46,500 | Green |
| Quote conversion rate | Sales lead | 35% | 31% | Red |
| Jobs completed | Operations lead | 18 | 19 | Green |
| Actual hours vs quoted hours | Operations lead | 105% or less | 112% | Red |
| Gross margin on jobs closed | Operations lead | 31% | 29.5% | Red |
| Overdue debtors | Admin lead | €25,000 or less | €21,800 | Green |
| Cash in the bank | Owner | €60,000 or more | €74,300 | Green |
| Lowest point in the 13-week cash forecast | Owner | €30,000 or more | €38,900 | Green |
Three reds, and they tell one story: jobs are overrunning their quoted hours, so margin is slipping, even though sales and cash look healthy. That goes straight to the Fix List at this week’s Weekly Table.
How do you choose your Weekly Dials?
- Work back from the Year MapFor each target, ask which weekly numbers, if they stay green, will deliver it.
- Mix leading numbers with resultsQuotes sent and jobs booked show what is coming; margin and cash show what has happened. You need both.
- Give each number one ownerThe person who can actually move it. The owner of the business should own only two or three.
- Set a target and a red lineEach dial needs a target and a clear rule for when it turns red.
- Report every Friday on one pageThe same layout every week, so the eye goes straight to what changed.
- Explain the reds at the Weekly TableThe owner gives a one-line reason. Anything that needs more goes on the Fix List.
- Review the set every quarterDrop dials nobody acts on, and add the ones the last quarter showed were missing.
The rule, and the mistakes to avoid
- Tracking forty numbers, so nobody really looks at any of them.
- Measuring only results, with no leading numbers.
- The business owner owning every dial.
- Changing the layout or the definitions from week to week.
How the Weekly Dials connect to the rest of the framework
Fed by
- Year MapWhere are we going this year, in numbers?
- Money EngineWhere does profit come from, and where does it leak?
Feeds into
- Weekly TableWhat must we decide this week?
Which pains the Weekly Dials fix
The Part 1 chapters where the Weekly Dials do much of the work:
- 1Lost in accounting and admin
- 2No time for sales and operations
- 3Can’t step away
- 4Not knowing where you stand until year end
- 5Rising costs, flat prices
- 6Cash flow that keeps surprising you
- 7Debtors that keep growing
- 8The bank says no
- 9Finding and keeping good people
Questions owners ask about the Weekly Dials
What are Weekly Dials?
Weekly Dials are ten to fifteen numbers reviewed every week, each with one owner and one target. Most are owned by operations and sales, because they are the people who can move them. A dial is green or red against its target, and when it is red its owner explains why. A first version can start with as few as eight.
How many KPIs should a small business track?
For most owner-managed businesses with 5 to 50 staff, ten to fifteen weekly numbers is enough, and a first version can start with eight. What matters more than the number is that each one has an owner and a target.
Do I need special software to track weekly KPIs?
No. A spreadsheet works. The hard part is capturing the operations and sales data consistently every week, and that is where most of the early work goes.
To choose dials that matter, you need to know how the business actually makes money, sale by sale. That is the job of the Money Engine.
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