What to track.
THE ESSENTIAL FIGURES
Active subscribers New subscribers per period Cancellations per period Churn rate Recurring revenue Failed payment rate
CHURN RATE
Cancellations as a proportion of subscribers.
The single most important figure.
RECURRING REVENUE
Your predictable monthly income.
More useful than total revenue for planning.
FAILED PAYMENT RATE
High here, given card restrictions.
Track it and track how many you recover.
AVERAGE SUBSCRIBER LIFETIME
How long people stay.
That tells you what you can afford to spend acquiring them.
WHAT TO REVIEW MONTHLY
Churn and its reasons Failed payments and recovery Net growth
WHAT A RISING CHURN RATE MEANS
Value has declined, or a competitor appeared, or something broke.
Investigate rather than recruiting harder.
WHAT TO DO WITH CANCELLATION REASONS
Fix the top two. Then look again.
