How To Chart The Progress Of Your Company
Eben Pagan reveals the simple 4-metric vital stats dashboard that helped him track his multi-million dollar business growth. He demonstrates how tracking just bank balance, daily cash deposits, net cash, and daily expenses for 90 days can provide complete business visibility for less than $5 per day.
Teachings 8
Create a vital stats dashboard with just 4 financial metrics tracked daily over 90 days to gain complete business visibility
Eben created a simplified dashboard tracking bank balance, daily cash deposits, net cash, and daily expenses over 90 days that revealed business cycles and stability patterns in his multi-million dollar business
Track bank balance daily to reveal business payment cycles and cash flow patterns
In Eben's 90-day tracking period, the bank balance showed clear cycles going up and dropping off every two weeks, revealing they were paying bills biweekly
Monitor daily cash deposits to understand revenue timing patterns
Eben's tracking showed Monday and Tuesday were high deposit days with weekend deposits coming in, followed by three lower days and two zero days, revealing clear weekly revenue cycles
Implement a 'net cash' metric that shows real business value by accounting for all incoming money, bank balance, and upcoming obligations
Eben invented this mini-accrual method to know where they'd actually stand if they settled up everything happening right now, accounting for money coming in and checks written for the next 30 days, without installing complex accounting systems
Track daily expenses with moving averages to smooth out fluctuations and reveal true spending patterns
Eben's team logged expenses daily from credit cards and checks, then ran moving averages that revealed consistent spending cycles when smoothed out
Most entrepreneurs lack basic visibility into whether their business is stable, growing, or declining
When Eben asks entrepreneurs to show him tracking charts, they say no, and when asked if they have a feel for what's happening, they say 'not really' and only know they're making profit because they're surviving
Implementing daily vital stats tracking takes only minutes per day and costs approximately $5 daily
Eben calculates that having a $10/hour administrative person spend 30 minutes daily logging into terminals and filling in four numbers costs $5 per day for complete business visibility
Daily business tracking provides emotional relief and certainty for entrepreneurs
Eben describes how having a daily chart delivered to your email that you can glance at provides 'relief,' 'a little more peace about your business,' and 'a little more certainty'
Quotable Moments 3
“if you don't know any of this stuff and once in a while you're just looking at the bank balance online and you're thinking how much do we have to write in checks... you have no way of knowing whether or not your business is stable”
— Eben Pagan“is it worth five bucks a day to be able to just glance at the thing and go right everything's cool everything's normal the instruments are reading that we're doing fine”
— Eben Pagan“most of the entrepreneurs I know if I said can you show me something like that chart... they just say no”
— Eben Pagan
How to Create a Vital Stats Dashboard
Build a simple 4-metric tracking system that provides complete business visibility for under $5 per day
- 1
Set up the framework
Create a simple spreadsheet with dates down the left side for 90 days and four columns for metrics
- 2
Track bank balance daily
Log your checking account balance each day to reveal payment cycles and cash flow patterns
- 3
Monitor cash deposits
Record daily cash deposits to understand revenue timing and weekly cycles
- 4
Calculate net cash
Create a mini-accrual metric accounting for all money in bank, incoming money, and upcoming obligations
- 5
Log daily expenses
Track all expenses from credit cards and checks, then apply moving averages to smooth fluctuations
- 6
Assign to team member
Have an administrative person spend 30 minutes daily logging into terminals and filling in the four numbers
Questions Answered
What are the 4 metrics in Eben Pagan's vital stats dashboard?
“the First Column is our bank balance your checking account balance... the next chart was the daily cash deposits the next chart was what we call our net cash... and our next chart was our daily expenses”
— Eben Pagan▶ 0:32
Bank balance, daily cash deposits, net cash (real business value accounting for all money in/out), and daily expenses tracked over 90 days.
How much does it cost to implement daily business tracking?
“let's say you have someone on your team that does some administrative stuff and you know they make $10 an hour and it takes them 30 minutes to do this thing every day let's say you haven't doing it for 30 minutes is it worth five bucks a day”
— Eben Pagan▶ 5:42
About $5 per day - the cost of having a $10/hour administrative person spend 30 minutes daily logging the four key metrics.
What is net cash in business tracking?
“if we were to even up all the money we have coming in and the money we have in the bank and all the money that we've got a right check for in the next 30 days or so where would we actually be what's the real value what's the real cash value of our business right now”
— Eben Pagan▶ 2:06
A mini-accrual method that shows your real business value by accounting for all money in the bank, incoming money, and upcoming obligations over the next 30 days.
Why don't most entrepreneurs track their business metrics?
“most of the entrepreneurs I know if I said can you show me something like that chart do you have anything like that they just say no I say well do you have a feel even for what's going on and they say not really I mean we seem to be making profit because we're surviving”
— Eben Pagan▶ 4:09
They lack systems and only know they're profitable because they're surviving, with no real visibility into whether their business is stable, growing, or declining.
How long does it take to build a vital stats dashboard?
“how long does it really take to gather that data every day minutes I mean a few minutes you log into a couple of terminals you have someone on your team just do it and you say here put these four numbers in these boxes”
— Eben Pagan▶ 4:40
Just minutes per day to gather the data - someone logs into terminals and fills in four numbers for dates, bank balance, cash deposits, net cash, and expenses.
What emotional benefits come from tracking business metrics daily?
“how would you feel how would your gut feel relief maybe a little more peace about your business a little more certainty... you can just glance at the thing and go right everything's cool everything's normal the instruments are reading that we're doing fine”
— Eben Pagan▶ 5:42
Relief, peace of mind, and certainty about your business - you can glance at your dashboard and know everything is normal and functioning properly.
Summary
The Four Essential Business Metrics
Eben reveals his vital stats dashboard approach using just four key financial metrics tracked daily over 90 days. Bank balance, cash deposits, net cash, and expenses provide complete visibility into business cycles and stability patterns.
Understanding Business Cycles Through Data
Daily tracking reveals hidden patterns in business operations. Eben demonstrates how his tracking showed biweekly bill payment cycles and Monday-Tuesday revenue spikes from weekend deposits, providing actionable insights into cash flow management.
The Net Cash Innovation
Eben's invented 'net cash' metric provides real-time business value assessment without complex accounting systems. This mini-accrual method accounts for all incoming money, bank balance, and upcoming obligations to show true financial position.
The Five Dollar Solution
Most entrepreneurs lack basic business visibility despite the minimal cost and time investment required. Eben demonstrates how spending just $5 daily on administrative tracking provides complete business confidence and peace of mind.
Counterpoint
Claim: “You need sophisticated tracking systems and complex accounting to understand your business health”
Reframe: Just four simple financial metrics tracked daily can provide complete business visibility
Eben's vital stats dashboard uses only bank balance, daily cash deposits, net cash, and daily expenses - avoiding complex accrual accounting systems while still revealing all business cycles and patterns
Claim: “Business tracking is too time-consuming and expensive for most entrepreneurs”
Reframe: Effective business tracking costs just $5 per day and takes only minutes to implement
Eben calculated that having a $10/hour admin person spend 30 minutes daily on tracking provides complete business visibility for $5 daily
Key Points 8
Create a vital stats dashboard with just 4 financial metrics tracked daily over 90 days to gain complete business visibility
▶ 0:01Track bank balance daily to reveal business payment cycles and cash flow patterns
▶ 1:03Monitor daily cash deposits to understand revenue timing patterns
▶ 2:15Implement a 'net cash' metric that shows real business value by accounting for all incoming money, bank balance, and upcoming obligations
▶ 2:06Track daily expenses with moving averages to smooth out fluctuations and reveal true spending patterns
▶ 3:08Most entrepreneurs lack basic visibility into whether their business is stable, growing, or declining
▶ 4:09Implementing daily vital stats tracking takes only minutes per day and costs approximately $5 daily
▶ 4:40Daily business tracking provides emotional relief and certainty for entrepreneurs
▶ 5:42Topics
Business Frameworks
Common Mistakes