The Numbers Don’t Have to Be Scary: A Human-Centered Approach to Business Metrics
Lately, I’ve been working with several clients who are bravely starting to look at the numbers in their business: their revenue, their expenses, what each offer or client brings in, and how it all adds up.
And what I’m seeing continuously is a quiet, persistent fear. Not just fear of “doing it wrong” or facing something they’ve been avoiding, but something deeper:
A fear of losing the heart of their business.
A fear that once they put everything into spreadsheets and metrics, they’ll stop seeing people and start seeing numbers.
A fear that the business they built with purpose and passion will turn into something cold and clinical.
I get it. I really do. And I am not a financial expert. I don’t manage budgets or do bookkeeping. But I do help business owners get organized, make intentional decisions, and build a business that supports their values; and that means helping them understand the numbers that shape their day-to-day reality.
I want to offer a gentle reframe.
Your numbers — whether it’s your income, expenses, service pricing, time allocation or other metrics — are not here to strip the humanity from your business. They are here to serve you. To support you. And to help you make decisions with more clarity and confidence. It’s not about turning your clients into data points. It’s about creating a foundation that helps you serve them better.
What I often say is this - numbers are just information. They’re simply a mirror that reflects:
What’s working
What’s not working
Where your time, energy and money are being well spent — and where it might be worth pulling back
When we treat this practice as information gathering, it becomes a lot less scary and a lot more empowering. You can absolutely run a values-driven, human-centered business and pay attention to your numbers. Because understanding your numbers isn’t about losing the heart of your business, it’s about protecting it.
