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With basketball season in full swing (the NBA, NBL, and the Brisbane league our kids play in), we’ve been living and breathing basketball lately.
And so, of course, it makes for a perfect analogy for this week’s topic.
In basketball, the team with the flashiest plays doesn’t always win.
The only number that really matters at the end?
The score on the board.
In business, it’s the same.
A lot of owners focus on stats that look good to outsiders, at the expense of focusing on what’s actually important.
It’s like watching a highlight reel: fancy dunks look impressive, but they don't actually tell you if your team is winning the game.
This is Mistake #5 in our 6-part series on how business owners use data and the pitfalls that can hold back growth -
Let's jump in:
MISTAKE #5: FOCUSING ON FLASHY STATS
When you focus on numbers that don’t actually link to performance, you end up chasing growth that looks good but doesn’t deliver results.
Here are some of the most common traps we see:
1- Focusing on social media likes or followers
Getting tons of likes on your posts or having lots of followers might feel good.
But they're vanity metrics.
They don't mean you have a healthy, growing business.
What matters more is the return on investment.
Is the time and effort you’re putting into social media bringing in customers and growing revenue?
If it’s not, it might be time for a new strategy, even if you have a gazillion followers.
2- Focusing on number or size of locations
So many small business owners think opening a new office or store is the key to growth and success.
While this kind of expansion can feel good to share at a friend's barbecue, it's often a recipe for complexity and extra costs.
One well-run site that consistently delivers results will always beat three if they're barely breaking even.
3- Focusing on team size
Growing your team can look like progress (and similar to the examples above, look good to outsiders), but more people don’t always mean better results.
If communication gets messy or roles overlap, productivity per person can actually drop.
The goal isn’t to have a bigger team; it’s to have the right people doing the right things at the right time.
The big fix
You can’t improve what you don’t measure, but you also can’t win if you’re measuring the wrong things.
Start by defining what success really means for your business: is it profit, retention, customer satisfaction, or time freedom for you as the owner?
Then, focus on the few key numbers that actually reflect that success.
The flashy stats are just distractions.
When you measure what truly matters, you make better decisions, build healthier systems, and see progress that lasts.
Bottom line
In basketball and business, keeping score the wrong way means you’ll never really know if you’re winning.
đ Want help identifying the metrics that actually drive growth?
Book a free strategy call, and we’ll help you focus on the ones that count.
Speak soon,
Lynne and Steve
TLDR:
Mistake #5: Measuring the wrong things.
Vanity metrics like social followers, store/location count, and team size might look impressive, but they're flashy stats that don’t tell the real story.
The fix: Define what success looks like, focus on the few metrics that truly matter, and stop keeping score the wrong way.
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