Business Performance Indicators: KPIs for Building a Great Business

A Momentum Framework Field Guide for Mid-Market CEOs 

Most KPI sheets are bloated, measuring everything and clarifying nothing. The Momentum Framework goes beyond that to provide the structural spine of a great mid-market business. It outlines key business performance indicators organized around five pillars: Healthy, Smart, Disciplined, Growing, Beyond the Business. Each of these pillars build upon each other in that order. 

HEALTHY 

People. Culture. Depth. 

People and culture are not HR initiatives, they are strategy. They are your most defensible differentiator, making this an important KPI for business performance. 

In mid-market companies, product can be copied. Pricing can be matched. Process can be reverse engineered. A strong, aligned, accountable team cannot. 

If you have the right team, you crush your Rocks. If you don’t, you manage friction. 

Start here. 

% A Players  

A-Players model your culture and exceed your expectations for productivity. If this number is low, margin won’t save you. 

Regrettable Turnover % 

Measure only the departures you wish you could undo. That’s the real signal. 

Employee Engagement Score / eNPS 

Engagement tells you whether people are committed. eNPS tells you whether they’d choose your business again. 

Growth Plan Coverage % (A + B Players) 

Are you intentionally developing your best people, or hoping they self-develop? 

Successor Ready Coverage (Critical Roles) 

If a key leader left tomorrow, do you have depth? 

Internal Promotion Rate 

If you always hire from outside, you don’t have a pipeline. You have dependency. 

Healthy companies don’t rely on heroics, they build leadership strength deliberately. 

SMART 

Vision. Strategic positioning. Exit readiness. 

Strategy should change the shape of the business over time. 

If it doesn’t, it’s just language. 

Track progress toward your BHAG and 3HAG with measurable milestones. If those aren’t concrete, they aren’t real. 

Look at Enterprise Value Trend. Not because you’re selling tomorrow, but because value tells you whether you’re building something transferable. 

Then ask the uncomfortable question: could this company run for 90 days without you? That’s your Leadership Depth Ratio. 

Revenue from Core vs. Distraction % Strategic Revenue Mix Shift % 

Distraction revenue feels productive. It usually pulls you away from the long-term play. 

Every owner exits. Smart businesses are built to be ready long before that conversation happens. 

DISCIPLINED 

Execution rhythm. Financial integrity. Strategic momentum. 

Practicing discipline is where the business strategy becomes real. 

Accomplishing your set out priorities, “Rock crushing”, is not one metric among many—it’s  the compounding engine. 

% of Rocks Crushed (13-Week Cycle) 

Rocks Completed ÷ Rocks Committed. If you consistently hit 80–90% of the right Rocks, strategy compounds. If you don’t, you’re running quarterly planning theatre. 

Setting business priorities (“Rocks”) forces trade-offs, clarity, and  ownership. When your people are strong, Rock crushing becomes a natural output of culture, and an important business performance indicator. 

Support that natural output with weekly discipline: 

Weekly Commitment Completion % 

If weekly promises aren’t kept, quarterly momentum dies quietly. 

Then protect the machine structurally. 

I care more about ratios than raw dollars. Dollars swing with revenue. Ratios expose design. 

Net Profit Margin % 

Does the business actually work? 

LLGM % 

(Revenue – Direct Labour – Direct Costs) ÷ Revenue. After labour, what’s left? If this drifts, you don’t have a sales problem. You have a structure problem. 

Overhead Rate % 

Overhead creep erodes strength slowly. 

A/R Days 

Cash discipline shows up here. 

Cash Runway (Months) 

Every CEO should know this number without asking. 

Discipline creates momentum, and financial integrity sustains it. 

GROWING 

Economic quality of growth. 

Business growth isn’t automatically good. 

Bad growth adds complexity, weakens margin, and burns out your team. 

While it is of course important to track Revenue Growth %, it’s also important to track whether growth improves the business. 

Ideal Client Revenue % 

If this shrinks while revenue grows, your life gets harder. 

Weighted Pipeline Value (Current Fiscal Only) 

Pipeline × Close Probability. Only deals expected to close this fiscal year. Not next year. Not the long-cycle dream. This fiscal. If your weighted pipeline doesn’t support your plan, you have a growth problem now. 

CAC : CLV Ratio 

If CLV doesn’t materially exceed CAC, you’re buying growth. 

Referral Rate % Customer NPS 

Retention can be inertia. Referrals signal genuine advocacy. 

Business growth that strengthens structure compounds. Business growth that chases volume exhausts you. 

BEYOND THE BUSINESS 

Why you’re building this in the first place. 

A great business should expand your life, not shrink it. 

Owner Strategic Time % 

If most of your week is reactive, the business owns you. 

Personal Financial Runway (Years) 

The more runway you have, the better decisions you make. 

Vacation Time Taken 

Not scheduled. Taken. 

Wheel of Life Score 

Health. Relationships. Growth. Meaning. If these deteriorate while revenue rises, something is off. 

Healthy teams crush Rocks. Rock crushing creates momentum. Discipline protects margin and cash. Smart strategy shapes the future. Growth compounds quality. 

And beyond it all — the business serves the life. Not the other way around.