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Settle the argument
“The business isn’t sustainable” is an opinion. “It costs more to acquire a customer than we get back from them” is a fact. The guide shows how to get to that sentence.
Data Roadmap: Simple Metrics for Scaling shows a small business owner which four numbers actually answer “can I grow this?” — and what to do once you have them.
The guide is short on purpose. It gives you a shared language for the decisions that stall a growing business.
“The business isn’t sustainable” is an opinion. “It costs more to acquire a customer than we get back from them” is a fact. The guide shows how to get to that sentence.
Not just the first invoice. Reviews, referrals, and repeat visits belong in the number too — even when you have to start with an educated guess.
A healthy margin on each sale and a thin profit at the end of the month is a volume problem. The opposite is an efficiency problem. They call for different fixes.
Each section includes the formula, a worked example, and the ranges that are typical — plus when your industry needs an extra metric such as churn, inventory, or runway.
Revenue minus the direct cost of providing it. A typical small business lands around 35–40%. Luxury retail runs higher. Groceries and other commodities run much tighter. Low margin is the signal to revisit price or cost before you pour money into ads.
A loyal restaurant guest at $50 a visit and a 65% margin can be worth about $780 over two years. A roofer’s $10,000 job is worth the gross profit plus the review, the yard sign, and the neighbor who calls next. The guide walks through both.
Ads, salaries, tools, and your own time, divided by new customers. There is no universal “good” CAC. It only makes sense next to margin and lifetime value — which tells you whether you can afford to buy more growth.
What’s left after every cost. Small businesses often land around 7–10%. Grocery can survive near 1% because it turns inventory constantly. The guide uses that contrast so a slim margin doesn’t get misread.
The guide follows a $100 product with a 60% gross margin. Rent is covered only when enough people buy. At 100 customers a month the business breaks even. Lifetime value is $60. Acquisition cost is $20.
Tripling a working marketing budget feels absurd when profit is zero. Against a 3-to-1 return, it is the obvious move — and in the example it turns a 0% net margin into 20%. That is the decision the roadmap is built to make obvious.
Written for owners of restaurants, trades, shops, and service businesses who want a starting set of metrics without hiring a finance team.
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