Busy ≠ Profitable: What You Should Actually Be Measuring

TL;DR: You’re measuring the wrong things.

If your team is flat out but your bank account says otherwise, you’re tracking the wrong numbers. Here’s how to shift from measuring effort to measuring what actually affects your margin.

Busy Doesn’t Mean It’s Working

Your calendar’s packed. You’re in back-to-back meetings. The team’s doing their best to keep up.

But the profit isn’t showing up. That’s the warning sign.

Too many businesses are built around busyness. But motion doesn’t equal margin. Without the right numbers in front of you, it’s hard to know where the money is actually being made or lost.

What You’re Probably Tracking

• Hours logged

• Tasks completed

• Meetings held

• How ‘busy’ everyone feels

None of that tells you how profitable the work is.

What to Track Instead

1. Cost to Deliver

How much time, people, and tech does it take to complete a typical job or client project?

✅ Choose a recent project. Add up hours across roles, tool costs, and any delays. Compare that to the revenue you brought in.

2. Utilisation vs. Capacity

Are your people working on the right things—or just filling the day?

✅ Track what % of time is actually spent on revenue-related work. Admin, internal fixes, and rework don’t earn.

3. Revenue Per Head

Are you getting enough return per team member?

✅ Divide total monthly revenue by number of employees (or active hours). If the number’s flat but workload’s rising, there’s your sign.

Why It Matters

Because more movement without more margin is just more work.

This is where founders get stuck - adding more people and taking on more projects, but not improving profitability. And at some point, capacity runs out. If you don’t know which work actually makes money, you’re scaling the wrong things.

Try This Week

• Review the last three jobs you did. Work out time spent vs. what you charged.

• Track how much of your team’s time is going to admin or internal fixes.

• Look at your profit margin per client - not just monthly revenue.

It’ll show you fast what’s working and what’s just filling time.

Final Word

Being busy is not the goal.

You’re not running a business to fill every hour - you’re running it to make a return.