Building KPI Dashboards that Actually Drive Behaviour

Why Most KPI Dashboards Don’t Work

Many businesses think they need more data. In reality, they need less. But, it needs to be more relevant, more timely, and more actionable.

Dashboards are often overly complex, packed with 20+ metrics in an effort to cover all bases. Instead of offering clarity, they create noise. When everything is important, nothing is. Teams glance at the numbers but don’t act on them. Or worse, they don’t trust them.

Another common issue is cadence. A dashboard that’s updated once a quarter can’t support weekly decisions. But swinging to the other extreme , updating dashboards daily, often becomes a bottleneck. You end up zooming into micro-variations that don’t matter, spending valuable time on reporting instead of execution. It distracts teams, overloads operations, and pulls attention away from long-term business development.

And perhaps the biggest failure: dashboards that aren’t linked to strategy or accountability. If a KPI exists in isolation, with no owner, no context, and no consequence, it doesn’t influence behaviour. It just exists. And over time, people stop paying attention altogether.

Dashboards aren’t there to decorate a board pack. They’re there to focus attention, create alignment, and drive better decisions. When they fail to do that, they’re just a waste of time.

Here is an example, A client offering marketing services had plenty of metrics but overlooked a key metric for their type of business, personnel efficiency. We designed and implemented an appropriate metric. Profitability improved by over 90%, mainly because the business was now focused a key metric they were missing earlier.

Our Framework for KPI Dashboards That Drive Behaviour

Most founders don’t build dashboards, they copy them.

They track what the market says is “standard”: CAC, LTV, burn multiple. But those metrics are often disconnected from their actual business model, stage, and growth challenges. What’s worse, they rarely support day-to-day decisions.

We e take a different approach. We design dashboards rooted in the strategy, scale, and cash dynamics of the business. Whether you’re a SaaS founder aiming for a strong Rule of 40 score, a professional services team managing delivery bandwidth (personnel cost to revenue ratio), or a construction firm tracking project cash flow and square metre costs, your dashboard should serve your growth engine, not slow it down.

Here is the 5 step process we use:

1. Start With Strategy, Not Spreadsheets

Every dashboard starts with the end in mind by answering these questions:

• What’s the founder’s vision?
• What stage is the business in — early validation, scale-up, or systemisation?
• What are the top 3 questions the founder should have clarity on every week or month?

For example, a SaaS business entering the EU, the priority might be: What’s our Rule of 40, and how can we improve it without burning too fast?

Until these questions are answered, metrics are just noise.

2. Track the Right Levers, Not Just the Famous KPIs

We only include metrics that:

• Drive decision-making
• Are updated frequently enough to influence action
• Our designed for your model, not someone else’s

Here are some examples we have used with our clients.

For SaaS clients:

• Rule of 40 (growth % + EBITDA %)
• Gross margin per product or region
• Churn-adjusted revenue projections
• Burn multiple (especially in VC-backed scenarios)

For service businesses:

• Personnel Cost Ratio
• Utilisation vs. capacity
• Billings vs. cash collection (to watch receivables)
• Revenue per full-time employee
• Delivery margin by client or project

These aren’t theoretical. They changed how those founders operate.

3. Prioritise Leading Indicators and Weekly Rhythm

Founders often default to lagging indicators: revenue, profit, debt. But by the time those metrics move, it’s can already be too late.

Instead, we focus on

• Setting Up the budget for the year
• Weekly cash movement
• Management Accounts → Performance overview
• Variance Analysis
• Actionable results

We push for weekly visibility, especially in fast-moving or cash-sensitive environments (like early-stage, or during multiple simultaneous builds). For slower or more strategic decisions, a monthly or quarterly cadence makes sense.

4. Assign Ownership and Action Triggers

Metrics without an owner and action thresholds are doomed to failure from lack of accountability and lack of planning.

Every KPI in a dashboard should:

• Havea clear owner (even if that’s the founder)
• Sit in a weekly/monthly review
• Come with “what if” thresholds (e.g. if cash falls below X, pause Y)

These actions help teams, take responsibility avoid surprises and move faster

5. Build for Clarity, Not Complexity

We build dashboards in Google Sheets (with automated logic) or link into Notion or Google Looker if the stack is more mature.

But regardless of format, every dashboard must be:

• Scannable in 30 seconds

• What’s going well?
• What’s off track?
• Where do I need to dig deeper this week?
• Actionable within 15 minutes of review
• Readable by someone outside the finance team

If it can’t help the founder or operator make a better decision this week, it doesn’t belong in the dashboard.

Real-World Impact: What Changes When You Get It Right

When dashboards are done properly, tailored to your business, tied to your strategy, and reviewed with rhythm, the impact is immediate and compounding.

We consistently see these 4 benefits from our clients:1. Better Decisions, Faster

With the right dashboard, founders and teams can answer key questions in real time.

For example:

• Can we afford to scale this channel?
• Can we afford to hire this person?
• Is this project slipping out of margin?
• Are we on track to hit breakeven next quarter?

Speed creates momentum. Dashboards provide the visibility that supports bold, informed action.

2. Accountability Across Departments

When every KPI has an owner and is reviewed consistently, accountability becomes cultural. Teams begin to self-correct. Red flags don’t get buried. Performance becomes transparent and collaborative.

You move from “I didn’t know” to “Let’s fix it.”

3. Reduced Dependence on Founder Intuition

Early-stage founders often run the business on gut feel. That works, until it doesn’t.

A solid dashboard reduces decision fatigue by giving clear signals. It supports delegation, unlocks strategic thinking, and creates the confidence to step back and scale up.

4. Improved Investor Confidence

When investors see that you’ve got a tight grip on your numbers, they lean in.

A clean, founder-led dashboard builds trust. It shows discipline, clarity, and forward-thinking. It’s not just about reporting, it’s about how you operate.

Dashboards as a Behavioural Tool

We don’t see dashboards as reports. We see them as behavioural tools, built to drive action, accountability, and alignment.

In every business we work with, from SaaS to services to e-comm, we build toward a simple goal:

A single source of financial truth that supports better decisions, week in and week out.

If your current dashboard isn’t helping you lead with clarity, it’s time to rethink the structure, not just the spreadsheet.

For more on KPIs visit the library of Bernie Smith

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