Why You Need to Fall in Love With Your Numbers (Even If You Hate Them)

How clarity with your numbers gives you control, confidence and a calmer business.

Most agency founders I speak to say the same thing when the topic of numbers comes up. There’s usually a half smile, a shrug and a quiet confession.

“I’m not great with the financials.” “I hate the numbers.” “My accountant sorts all that.”

And I get it. That used to be me.

When I started out, the numbers felt complicated. The reports didn’t make sense. And, if I’m honest, I preferred working on some cool creative project, pitching to clients or spending time with my team instead of grappling with spreadsheets. So I did what lots of founders do. I pushed the numbers away. I delegated them. I convinced myself it was fine.

The reality was that I had no real visibility. I didn’t know what our true profit was. I couldn’t say which clients were good for us. I didn’t understand what work was worth scaling. I was making decisions based on instinct, not information.

Some of those decisions worked out. Some definitely didn’t. And none had the clarity they should have had.

The moment things shifted

There came a point when I realised something important. If I didn’t understand the numbers, I wasn’t running the business. I was reacting to it.

So I made myself learn. Not to become an accountant. Just enough to have clarity. And once I got that clarity, everything became easier. Pricing. Forecasting. Hiring. Saying no. Even sleeping at night.

And the surprising thing is, it wasn’t as difficult as I’d imagined.

You don’t need loads of numbers. You just need the right ones

There are a handful of financial and operational metrics that give you almost everything you need.

These are the ones that worked for us. They’re a solid starting point, but every agency is slightly different. You’ll want to choose the KPIs that actually matter for your business, not just copy someone else’s list.

Here’s where we began:

Financial

• Gross profit per project

• Gross profit per client

• Net margin

• Revenue vs forecast

• Cash position and runway

• Revenue per head

Operational

• Real utilisation

• Project performance (time vs budget)

• Pipeline health

• Client concentration

• Delivery cycle time

As the business grew, we introduced more. For example, we used a lot of freelancers, so we broke out freelancer costs by type. When we looked at that alongside utilisation, it became a great indicator of how well we were managing our resources. It helped us spot patterns, see where we were stretched and make smarter hiring decisions. If we were spending heavily on a particular skill for several months in a row, it was usually a sign we needed to bring someone in permanently.

That’s the point. Your KPIs should help you understand the shape of your business, highlight risks and give you confidence in the decisions you make.

Start simple. Get consistent. Then build.

How we actually built our system in the early days

People often assume I’ve always had a neat dashboard or clever setup. Not even close.

At the beginning, getting the numbers together was a slog. A manual process. This was way before anyone had AI tools or automated reporting. So we reviewed things quarterly, not monthly, because that was all we could realistically manage.

We didn’t even have timesheets at first. What we did have was a clear view of our services. We internally productised everything and worked out, on average, how much resource and cost went into each type of job.

That alone had a big impact. Going through it with the team helped them see where the opportunities were to work smarter. Not everyone was commercially minded, but everyone understood effort. When they realised certain jobs took far more effort than expected, it clicked. They could make their lives easier by improving how they worked.

We also asked our accountants to pull out a few KPIs each quarter alongside the usual P&L, cashflow and balance sheet. It wasn’t perfect, but it was enough to get us moving.

And once you start looking at numbers consistently, something shifts. You become more curious. You question why something changed. You ask why a project overran. You spot patterns you would have missed before. The team starts asking for data so they can make better decisions too.

I needed high level visibility. Others needed something more detailed. So we created small dashboards for different teams.

One of the biggest breakthroughs came when we moved to a specialist accountant who actually understood agencies. For the first time, we properly recognised our people costs inside our gross margin. That single change influenced how we priced, planned and forecasted. It was a big step towards running the business with real clarity.

How you can put your own system in place without overwhelming yourself

Most agencies already have the data. It’s just scattered around in different systems. The first step is simply mapping what you’ve got.

Then:

1. Start measuring the basics

Add missing fields. Standardise CRM stages. Introduce one simple new habit at a time.

2. Bring the numbers together

Create a simple monthly report. Quarterly if that’s more realistic. What matters is using the same format each time so you can spot patterns and trends.

3. Let tools help you but don’t start with tools

Decide what questions you want the numbers to answer, then pick the tools that support that. Not the other way round.

4. Don’t carry it alone

Give each team member ownership of the metrics they influence. Teach them what the numbers mean and why they matter. Make sure the data helps them rather than polices them. When people understand the numbers, they make better decisions without you.

It becomes a shared system, not a solo burden.

The real benefit: calm and confidence

Once you understand your numbers, even at a basic level, everything feels steadier. You price with more confidence. You hire at the right time. You spot risks earlier. You sleep better. You stop running your business on hope.

People often think the numbers kill creativity. In reality, they protect it. They give you the freedom to build the business you actually want, not the one you’re firefighting.