The first thing successful founders check

Not revenue (despite what you’d expect)

Most founders assume successful founders check revenue first. Open analytics. Look at yesterday’s total. $4,200. Good or bad?

You can’t know. $4,200 means nothing without context. Is that up or down? Compared to what? Better than last Monday or worse?

Successful founders don’t check revenue first. They check revenue trend first—revenue with comparison context pre-calculated.

What they actually check first: Revenue trend (not absolute revenue)

What it looks like

$4,200 (+8% vs yesterday, +12% vs last Monday). Context included. Trend visible immediately.

Why this matters more than absolute revenue

Absolute revenue tells you what happened. Revenue trend tells you what’s happening. Direction matters more than position for daily operations.

$4,200 could be excellent (normally $3,000) or concerning (normally $6,000). Without trend context, you’re guessing.

Revenue trend eliminates guessing. +12% week-over-week = momentum positive. -15% = momentum negative, warrants attention.

What comparisons matter

Day-over-day: Shows immediate momentum. Most volatile—daily variance creates noise. Use as signal, not sole decision driver.

Week-over-week: Shows true trend. Monday vs Monday eliminates day-of-week effects. Most important comparison for daily checks. Revenue up 12% vs last Monday = genuine growth trend.

Month-over-month (optional): Shows longer-term trajectory. Too slow-moving for daily checks—belongs in weekly review sessions.

How to get revenue trend automatically

Email-based analytics (Peasy, Metorik) calculate comparisons automatically. Report shows $4,200 (+8% vs yesterday, +12% vs last Monday). Pre-calculated.

Manual approach: Spreadsheet with daily revenue. Formulas calculate percentage changes from previous day and same day last week.

Platform approach: Shopify, GA4, WooCommerce show revenue with custom date comparisons. Takes 60-90 seconds navigating. Automated approach takes 5 seconds.

What they check second: Conversion rate stability

After revenue trend, successful founders check conversion rate versus recent average (typically 7-day average).

Why conversion comes before traffic

Conversion rate reveals if site is functioning. Conversion drops = technical problem or UX issue. Traffic drops = marketing problem. Different root causes, different solutions.

Checking conversion before traffic allows logical diagnosis. Revenue down + conversion normal + traffic down = marketing problem. Revenue down + conversion down + traffic normal = site problem.

What conversion stability means

Yesterday: 2.8%. Seven-day average: 2.6%. Stable. No concern.

Yesterday: 2.1%. Seven-day average: 2.6%. Unstable (-19%). Flag for investigation.

Single-day fluctuations normal (10-15% variance). Multi-day trends warrant attention. Conversion down 3+ days = investigate immediately.

What they check third: Traffic and top source

After revenue trend and conversion stability, successful founders check total traffic and top traffic source performance.

Total traffic context

Yesterday: 1,420 sessions (+6% vs last week). Traffic growing slightly. Explains revenue growth partially.

Top source performance

Top 3 sources yesterday: Google organic 520 (+15%), Direct 380 (-2%), Facebook 290 (+8%).

Google organic driving growth. Direct flat. Facebook growing moderately. Source-specific insight enables source-specific action.

Why only top 3 sources

Top 3 typically drive 70-85% of traffic. Remaining sources provide marginal value for daily checks. Detailed source analysis belongs in weekly review sessions.

Morning check focuses on major movers. Source #8 changing 20% doesn’t materially impact business. Source #1 changing 20% significantly impacts business.

What they check fourth: Order count (not just revenue)

After traffic and sources, successful founders check order count trend.

Why order count matters alongside revenue

Yesterday: 47 orders, $4,200 revenue. Day before: 45 orders, $3,890. Orders up 4%, revenue up 8%. Revenue growing faster = AOV increased.

Alternative: 47 orders, $4,200 yesterday. Last week: 52 orders, $4,100. Orders down 10%, revenue up 2%. Fewer customers, higher spending. Different pattern.

What divergence signals

Revenue up, orders up proportionally: Healthy growth. More customers buying similar amounts.

Revenue up, orders flat/down: AOV increasing. Good short-term, potentially risky long-term (smaller customer base).

Revenue flat, orders up: AOV decreasing. More customers buying less per order.

Revenue down, orders down proportionally: Declining health. Address urgently.

What they check fifth: Top products this week

After order count, successful founders glance at top 3 products by revenue this week (not yesterday—weekly product data smooths daily variance).

Why weekly, not daily

Daily product rankings fluctuate significantly. Monday’s bestseller might not sell at all Tuesday (random variance, not meaningful shift). Weekly rankings smooth variance, reveal genuine patterns.

What they’re looking for

Product ranking changes. Last week’s top 3: Product A, Product B, Product C. This week’s top 3: Product A, Product D, Product B. Product D moved from #5 to #2. Product C dropped out of top 3.

Changes signal opportunities or problems. Product D rising = potential winner, investigate why (seasonal demand? successful campaign? organic popularity?). Product C falling = investigate why (out of stock? seasonal end? competitive pressure?).

Action threshold

Note ranking changes during morning check. Investigate during Friday weekly review session (30-60 minutes). Exception: Product completely out of stock and was bestseller = investigate immediately.

What they skip in morning checks

Skip: Real-time today’s data

Morning check (7am) of today’s current data shows 1-2 hours of partial performance. Not actionable. Not meaningful. Wait until tomorrow morning to see today’s complete data.

Skip: Deep funnel analysis

Cart abandonment rates, checkout funnel drop-offs, page-by-page conversion rates. Valuable metrics, don’t belong in 2-minute morning check. Save for weekly 30-60 minute analytical sessions.

Skip: Customer-level detail

Individual customer purchases, repeat customer rates, customer lifetime value, cohort analysis. Strategic metrics requiring thoughtful analysis. Not operational metrics for daily scanning.

Skip: Device and demographic breakdowns

Mobile vs desktop, browser types, geographic locations, age demographics. Interesting for strategic decisions, excessive for daily awareness. Review monthly or quarterly, not daily.

The complete first-five sequence

First (15 seconds): Revenue trend. $4,200 (+8% vs yesterday, +12% vs last Monday). Positive momentum. Continue.

Second (10 seconds): Conversion stability. 2.8% yesterday vs 2.6% seven-day average. Stable. Continue.

Third (20 seconds): Traffic and top sources. 1,420 sessions (+6%). Google organic +15%, Direct -2%, Facebook +8%. Google driving growth. Continue.

Fourth (10 seconds): Order count. 47 orders (+4% vs yesterday, +6% vs last week). Proportional to revenue growth. Healthy. Continue.

Fifth (15 seconds): Top products this week. Product A, Product D (new to top 3), Product B. Note Product D rise. Investigate Friday. Continue.

Total time: 70 seconds. With practice and automation (pre-calculated comparisons via email reports), completes in under 90 seconds. Complete operational awareness achieved.

Quick questions

Why this order specifically?

Revenue trend provides context (business up or down). Conversion stability diagnoses type of issue if revenue is down (site problem vs traffic problem). Traffic explains revenue changes. Order count reveals customer behavior shifts. Products show specific performance. Each builds on previous. Changing order fragments logical diagnosis flow.

What if I want to check different metrics?

Customize for your business. Subscription business might check churn rate third instead of traffic. Marketplace might check seller activity. But keep sequence: Context metric first (trend), diagnostic metric second (conversion or equivalent), explanatory metrics third-fifth (traffic, orders, products). Logic matters more than specific metrics.

Is 90 seconds really enough?

For operational awareness, yes. Morning check answers: “Is business running normally?” That’s knowable in 90 seconds with right setup (automated comparisons, fixed sequence, practice). Deep understanding (“Why is Google organic up 15% and what should we do strategically?”) requires longer analysis—weekly sessions, not daily checks.

Peasy emails your key metrics every morning—your team gets instant visibility without logging in. Starting at $49/month. Try free for 14 days.