We are launching a brand-new business line with zero historical data, making it difficult to set realistic targets for our weekly Scorecard. How do we establish meaningful targets and metrics when we are operating entirely on guesswork?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Launching a new venture or business line is not an excuse to avoid using a weekly Scorecard. While you may not have historical data to establish perfect targets, running without numbers will guarantee you get lost in the noise of launch chaos.

When data is scarce, you must shift your focus entirely to activity-based leading indicators rather than results. In a new business line, you cannot predict revenue, but you can control your actions. Your initial metrics should measure the activities required to validate your model and generate momentum.

Set your weekly targets based on your best-guess operational capacity. Focus on tracking metrics such as:

- The number of discovery calls made to prospective customers.
- The number of product demonstrations completed.
- The turnaround time for delivering initial proposals.

Set realistic targets for these activity metrics and review them every week. Do not worry about being wrong initially. The purpose of the first ninety days is to establish a baseline of data. As you run your weekly Level 10 Meetings, you will quickly see if your targets are too high or too low, allowing you to adjust them during your next quarterly session. Starting with imperfect numbers is always better than running on raw emotion.