The One Metric That Matters More Than Revenue
Revenue is a vanity metric. Here's what you should really track to build a sustainable digital product business.
When I started, I obsessed over monthly revenue. But revenue can be misleading. A high-revenue month might come from a single big launch, while the next month tanks. The real health indicator? Number of active customers.
Active customers are people who bought something in the last 90 days. They're your repeat buyers, your community, your biggest advocates. If you have 100 active customers and each spends $50, that's $5k/month. But if you grow to 500 active customers at $40, that's $20k/month — and more stable.
Focus on improving customer retention by 10% rather than chasing new sales. Send helpful emails, create exclusive content for buyers, and ask for feedback. A small improvement in retention compounds into massive growth over time.