💰 The One Financial Metric I Check Every Week

Let’s be honest: most of us didn’t become entrepreneurs because we love spreadsheets.

We wanted freedom. Flexibility. Impact. Maybe even a little fun.

But the moment invoices, taxes, expenses, and income statements enter the picture, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed or out of control.

For years, I avoided the money side of my business. I’d check in monthly (at best), cross my fingers, and hope I had enough to cover everything.

But everything changed when I committed to checking just one number every single week.

And no—it’s not my revenue.
Not my profit.
Not my sales pipeline.

The one metric I track weekly?

Net Cash Flow

📊 What Is Net Cash Flow?

Simply put, Net Cash Flow = Money In – Money Out.

It answers this simple but critical question:

“Am I making more than I’m spending?”

This metric tells you:

Whether your business is healthy

If you’re about to run into a cash crunch

Whether that new software/tool/freelancer is a smart investment

If you can pay yourself (or should wait another week)

It’s not sexy, but it’s powerful.

🧠 Why Net Cash Flow Is More Important Than Profit (Sometimes)

You can have a profitable business on paper, and still be broke.

Here’s how:

You’ve made sales, but clients haven’t paid yet

You spent a lot upfront (ads, tools, inventory)

You're tracking revenue, but not actual cash movement

Profit is long-term.
Cash flow is survival.

If you run a small or solo business, cash flow keeps your business (and your sanity) alive.

🧾 How I Track It (In Less Than 10 Minutes a Week)

You don’t need fancy software to track net cash flow. Here’s how I do it:

Step 1: Open My Finance Tracker (Google Sheet or Notion works great)

I use 3 simple columns:

Income this week

Expenses this week

Net Cash Flow = Income – Expenses

Step 2: Update the Numbers

I check my business bank account + payment platforms (Stripe, PayPal, etc.)

I log any new income that landed

I log any expenses paid (subscriptions, freelancers, ads, etc.)

Step 3: Note the Net Flow

Was it a positive week (more in than out)?
Or a negative week (more out than in)?

Then, I add a quick colour code:

✅ Green = Positive

⚠️ Yellow = Close

🔴 Red = Negative

That’s it. 10 minutes, max.

🔁 Why I Do It Weekly (Not Monthly)

A month is too long to catch problems.

What if a subscription increased?

What if you didn’t notice a client is overdue?

What if your ad budget ballooned without results?

By checking weekly, I can:

Adjust quickly

Make faster, smarter decisions

Spot patterns (good or bad) early

It's like checking your pulse. You want to catch issues before they become emergencies.

🧩 Real-Life Example

Let me show you how this saved me.

A few months ago, my net cash flow suddenly dipped two weeks in a row, even though I was booking new clients.

Why? A delayed invoice and a surprise annual software renewal.

Had I waited until the end of the month, I would’ve been blindsided. But by catching it early:

I paused a few non-urgent expenses

I nudged my client (politely) to process payment

I created a plan to space out annual renewals

Crisis averted—in just 10 minutes.

💡 What Weekly Cash Flow Teaches You

Here’s what I’ve learned by tracking this one metric:

Your income rhythm matters. (A $3k week followed by three $0 weeks isn’t steady.)

Your spending adds up. (Little $10 tools? They multiply.)

Confidence grows with clarity. (You’ll make decisions faster—and sleep better.)

🤯 Other Metrics I Don’t Obsess Over Weekly

There are other important numbers, but I don’t check them every week:

Total profit (monthly)

Annual revenue goal (quarterly)

Lifetime customer value (strategic planning)

Weekly focus = clarity, not clutter.
That’s why net cash flow stands alone.

🧘‍♀️ The Mental Health Benefit of Weekly Money Check-Ins

Money avoidance is a real thing. And it causes stress even when you’re doing “okay.”

By checking my cash flow weekly:

I feel in control

I don’t fear the numbers

I stop money spirals before they start

It’s not about being a finance nerd. It’s about not letting fear run your business.

✅ Try It This Week: A Simple Template

Create a 3-column sheet with these headers:

Colour code. Update weekly. Watch your patterns.

Once you’re in the habit, it becomes second nature—and it’ll change how you run your business.

📌 Final Thoughts: Simplicity Wins

You don’t need a CFO. You don’t need 12 dashboards.
You need a clear view of your money.

Tracking weekly net cash flow gives you:

Control

Confidence

Clarity

Calm

It keeps you grounded when revenue is up… and when things are tight.

So if finances feel fuzzy, overwhelming, or avoided…

📣 Start here.
Track just this one number for the next 4 weeks.
It’ll tell you more about your business health than any big report.

And it might just give you the peace of mind you didn’t know you were missing.

🧮 Want More?

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