Hot Tip: Quick & Dirty Math Metrics
Data and metrics can feel like an endless deep dive into your business, but what metrics actually matter, and how can you get to them quickly?
Your metrics matter. Metrics and data tell us how to make good decisions in our business, inform our thinking, and help us chart the next step forward. However, since there are so many things you could track in your business, here are the 7 things that I think every pet care business owner should track:
Net Profit
Profit is the lifeblood of your business. Knowing your profit basically shows you how healthy your business is — or isn’t — extremely quickly. This is something I suggest is tracked on a quarterly basis.
2. Labor Cost Percentage
Your labor costs are going to be the most expensive costs in your pet care business. Keeping your labor costs in a healthy percentage (aim for 50% or lower) will keep your business more profitable and also you to actually invest in things to grow. Without appropriate labor margins, you’ll struggle to be able to hold healthy profit or grow your business.
3. Average Client Spend
This tells you how valuable clients are to your business within a specific timeframe. This is helpful to know how much you can spend in marketing and to predict revenue.
4. Average Length of Client Retention
Knowing how long clients stay with you once they join your business helps us plan revenue and know the total value of a client.
5. Month over Month Revenue
This will give you a picture of the health of the business in a quick snapshot — are we growing or shrinking?
6. Hiring Leads
How many people are in your pipeline that are qualified? I think a business should have a set target that they try to hit, to ensure they always have qualified hires that they can bring into the business.
7. Employee Retention
How long do your people stay once they join your team?
These 7 metrics give you a clear picture of the health of your business, and can help you make informed decisions moving forward. Let me know what you think in the comments.
Michelle Kline is the founder of DogCo Launch, and the host of the DogCo Secrets Podcast. Michelle spends her time helping pet care companies in the industry grow and scale their teams, increase their revenue, and increase personal profits - all while protecting their time. Learn more about Michelle here.
Do you want to scale your pet care business? Consider joining us at the DogCo Business Summit - the first pet care conference focused exclusively on business scaling in this industry - September 26 - 28, 2025.