I’m not exactly sure why this is true, but what you are tracking consistently and closely tends to grow.

There are certain things in your business you should be tracking and paying close attention to, in order to bring about more.

This is also one of the areas that separates the business owners from the “hobby owners.”

It’s necessary as the CEO of your company (even if it’s just a one-person operation) to take a good hard look at your numbers, stats, and results, in order to continue growing.

Yes, even when you’re “afraid” to peek under the hood. (That’s when you need to do it the MOST!)

I admit, the first couple of years in business I was NOT good at tracking and paying attention to my numbers.

I paid more attention to what was coming in versus going out, which gave me a really skewed idea of how my business was actually doing.

One day my ex-husband, who also happens to be an accountant, gave me a Profit and Loss template to use in order to get clear.

And of course, the minute I started tracking and paying attention to my income closely, it became a lot more consistent.

Not only that, the same year I began tracking was the first time I crossed the $100,000 mark.

That template saved my butt.

Coinkydink?

Maybe, but I doubt it.

If you don’t know what you should be tracking, here are 5 important ways you can start:

1. Use a spreadsheet to track income and expenses. (I know, I know – I used to RUN from spreadsheets.)

Yes, having a bookkeeper is great, but I still like to keep my own spreadsheet to track, and I also use it for forecasting. Meaning, plotting out what I need to do to get to my income goal for the month, quarter, year, etc.

I review my spreadsheet no less than once a week, at least.

2. Use a “Magic” money tracking sheet. Create a document with the numbers 1-31 and write down each day’s income daily, every month.

Tracking down to the penny makes you diligent, and it makes you pay attention.

Will there be a bunch of zeroes at first? Sure, for some people – but this won’t last long. (That’s the “magic” part.)

3. Track your website stats. (This is a great one to delegate.) Track your visitors, what they are clicking on, how much time they are spending on certain pages, where they are coming from, etc.

This is crucial for tracking your marketing results. Google Analytics is a good free tool for this.

4. Track your list numbers. I look at mine 3-4x/week to make sure they continue to grow. (Note: this does NOT mean obsessing over your unsubscribes. Stop that!)

5. Track where your best ideal clients are coming from. Is it certain social media sites or groups? From certain referral partners? From speaking gigs?

Getting clear on this makes it easy to ramp up what’s already working well.

Makes sense, right?

You don’t need to put all of these in place at once, just start with one.

Decide on one area you will track in order to get started. If you paid close attention to it, what one part of your business would experience the most impact?

Make this a regular part of your routine: put it on the calendar or delegate and assign to a team member to do on a consistent basis, such as a particular day and time every week.

Treat it as if it was an appointment because it is – it’s an appointment with yourself to keep money chaos at bay.

Then, celebrate watching things grow in your business. (They almost certainly will.)

Years ago, I heard someone say:

“Money loves to be paid attention to, and it will get our attention one way or another.”

Make sure it gets your attention in a positive way.

After all, if you’re not grateful for and attentive to what you already have, why should more come to you?

Food for thought. 🙂