You can run a venue on gut feel for years. Plenty of owners do. But a handful of honest numbers, checked every week, can show you where money is slipping through that gut feel never notices.
You don't need forty dashboards. You need these seven, checked weekly.
1. Utilisation
Of all the slots you could have sold, how many did you sell? This is the master number. Everything else exists to move it. Look at it per room and per weekday, not just as one average.
2. Online share of bookings
What portion of bookings arrive without a member of staff touching them? Every point of growth here is front-desk time handed back to your team.
3. No-show rate
Slots you sold but couldn't charge for, and can never resell. Deposits and reminders push this down; watching it weekly tells you whether they're working.
4. Average group size
Say a room costs roughly the same to run for six players as for three. With per-person prices, the six earn twice as much. Small nudges move this number: tiered group prices, party packages, a “bring a fourth” promo code for off-peak slots.
5. Revenue per available slot-hour
Total revenue divided by total sellable hours. It sounds academic until it catches the room that looks busy but earns less per hour than any other.
6. Outstanding voucher balance
Money you've been paid for visits that haven't happened yet. It's both a liability and a marketing opportunity: every unredeemed voucher is a guest you can invite into a quiet week.
7. Rebooking rate
How many guests come back within six months? Winning a new guest costs marketing money. Bringing back an existing one costs an email. This number tells you which business you're really in.
Where the numbers come from
The catch: these numbers are tedious to assemble by hand from booking sheets, a till and a voucher shoebox. They get much easier when bookings, payments and vouchers live in one system. In Leisbase:
- Utilisation and revenue: Analytics 360° shows occupancy and revenue – so revenue per slot-hour is one division away.
- Voucher balances: every voucher's remaining balance is recorded as it is partially redeemed.
- Online share, no-show rate, group size and rebooking rate can be calculated from your booking data via CSV export.
Staff KPIs and VAT and settlement reports sit alongside, which is worth a look while you're there.
