A blog share from Niall McGinnity, CEO @ Nuvem9
I am not skilled at any form of DIY or home maintenance. In fact I am under a banning order from Mrs McG not to even try anymore! We recently hired a painter to paint two bedrooms and our kitchen / living room. To quote for the job, he came out to view our home. We did small chat for a few minutes, he asked about the colour we wanted; then he went silent. He walked quietly from room to room, inspected the walls and ceilings, knocked a few walls with his knuckles and then turned round giving us a quote, exact amount of materials needed, a definitive start and end date, the expected time his men would be onsite and the time they would even break for lunch. The job ended up top class but, amazingly to me, he was spot on in terms of time, and barely a single drop of paint short or over at the end of the job.
Just like that, with a single observation, he diagnosed the entire job. Because he was a master of his trade and he knows what matters most.
Dashboard Overload
In today’s world of business, everything can be measured:
- Revenue
- Utilisation rates
- Client satisfaction
- Click-throughs
- Likes
- Headcount
- Pipeline value
The list could go on and it can be a full time job to prepare, analyse, digest and act on the data available. For many business owners this means they can be still lost in the fog of data, without the obvious insights. Data in itself is not direction.
ONE Metric
Like my painter, what all businesses need to operate on, above anything else, is a single high trust metric that tells you the truth about the structure of your business: what’s working, and what needs stripping back. This metric is floor level. If it’s out of line, everything built on top, from cash flow to team morale, ends up skewed.
Red Zone Efficiency
In rugby, the Red Zone refers to the area inside the opponent’s 22-metre line, the territory closest to scoring a try. “Red Zone Efficiency” measures how often a team converts entries into this area into points. Think of it like a business getting a qualified lead into the final stages of the sales funnel, The Red Zone is not where you do the grunt work, it’s where and how you finish.
In elite rugby, particularly the New Zealand All Blacks, they don’t obsess over total possession or the number of passes. Instead, they obsess over Red Zone Efficiency, how often they score when they’re in the opponent’s 22-metre zone. Dominance without scoring is just theatre.
In the same way, busy companies with award-winning portfolios can still struggle. What matters, above all else, is how efficiently your team turns time into gross profit.
Practice the ONE Thing
Do you know the ONE thing for your business? For example, for many agency owners this remains gross profit per FTE employee. Using this tells you how much gross profit (the money left before overheads, taxes, and bonuses) each team member generates. In a business where your “product” is brainpower and creativity, this is the only place where growth truly begins.
Try this out:
- Run the numbers: Work out your current GP per FTE.
- Benchmark: Benchmark over the last 12-24 months and, if data is available, against industry averages.
- Review: What are the trends showing you in terms of an increase, decrease or fluctuation?
- Adjust your pricing and process: Are you truly charging for all value delivered? Are scopes watertight?
- Set a 90-day target: Aim to increase GP per FTE by 10–20%. Not through overwork, but through clarity, control, and better deals.
Final Thought
It’s quite easy to get fixated as a business owners on what’s new and sexy—revenue, likes, awards. Data dashboards with multiple graphs and charts can make the data easy to see, but a haystack to unravel. Those who build resilient, valuable agencies focus on what’s powerful. Fund your version of the All Blacks’ Red Zone. Nail that, and the rest will follow.
Photo by Miguel Á. Padriñán:
Helping leaders and businesses drive success forward
Here at Nuvem9, we do things a bit differently – we’re not your traditional accountants or financial advisors.
We empower ambitious business owners to grow with clarity and confidence. Based in the UK, we specialise in working in creative and service-led industries that demand a financial partner who gets it — responsive, knowledgeable and always easy to talk to.
Whether you’re scaling up, navigating change, or just need someone who speaks your language, we bring experienced financial and commercial advice and proactive support that keeps your finances clear, compliant, and under control. No jargon. No delays. Just sharp insights and a team who’s got your back.
Want to see if we could be a fit for your business? Let’s connect virtually (we’ll be live, no robots here).
