Following as I often do, the example of Pieter Levels, I have decided to create an open and public page to show progress towards my revenue goals with several of my projects. This allows me to hold myself accountable and to show hard numbers related to the writing I’m doing.
Dashboards are a valuable tool which helps us to define clear and measurable metrics for concisely tracking and communicating progress towards goals. This is an excellent tool for business as well as for our personal lives.
Methods
I have seen several different approaches to accomplishing this type of dashboard. Many of them have included attempts to develop the dashboard itself from scratch in order to prove the ability to do so. Instead, I have decided to go for a serverless approach. I will simply use a Google sheets document and then publish a connected graph onto the page. I will simply add data to the spreadsheet and then Google will update the graph pictures automagically. No reason to overcomplicate this.
I want to follow two main metrics; total monthly revenue by project, and revenue mix.
You can view the dashboard here: cjtrowbridge.com/open.
2019 Goals
- Each of three projects produces at least 20% of total revenue.
- Total monthly revenue from these new projects exceeds $1,000.
Most entrepreneurial thought leaders advise starting with a number for how much cashflow you need to live. This number is often called MRR or monthly recurring revenue. I am currently a student who does not need to have any income. Thus, I am less focused on the total than on coming up with a steady non zero amount for each project’s revenue. I have set an arbitrary goal by the end of the year of $1,000 MRR.