The Math of Scaling — Knowing Your Numbers
May 04, 2025
Hi Queens, welcome back to the School of Soul: The Social Series. I’m Adeline Atlas, and today we’re shifting gears from vision board to calculator — because if you want to scale past random wins and hit consistent $10K, $20K, or even $50K months, you need to know your numbers.
Scaling isn’t a mystery. It’s math. And when you learn how to track, project, and reverse-engineer your revenue goals, you stop guessing and start making decisions that are rooted in data — not drama.
So let’s break down exactly what numbers matter, how to track them, and how to use them to scale smarter, not harder.
Why Most People Stay Stuck
Most people in the online space don’t track their numbers — at all. They know what they made this month, but they don’t know:
- Where those sales came from
- What their actual conversion rate is
- What their average order value is
- What it costs to acquire one customer
Without those data points, every decision feels emotional. You either chase the next shiny offer or throw ad money at the wall hoping something hits. That’s not a strategy — that’s chaos. And chaos never scales.
First: Define the Numbers That Matter
Let’s get clear on the core metrics you need to track and understand if you’re serious about growth:
1. Monthly Revenue Target
This is your top-line goal. If you want $10K/month, we reverse-engineer every other metric from here.
2. Average Order Value (AOV)
This is how much each buyer spends on average per transaction.
If you sold $5,000 worth of products to 50 people, your AOV is $100.
Want to increase revenue without more customers? Raise your AOV. That’s where offer stacking and upsells come in.
3. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
This is what you spend to acquire one new paying customer — including ad spend, software, or even affiliate payouts.
If your CAC is $20 and your AOV is $100, you’re doing great. If your CAC is $80 and your AOV is $50, you’re in trouble.
4. Conversion Rates
You need to know:
- Landing page opt-in rates (aim for 30–50%)
- Email open and click rates (20–30% open, 2–5% click)
- Sales page conversion rates (1–3% is average; 5%+ is excellent)
Tracking these lets you spot leaks. If traffic is high but conversions are low, it’s a copy or offer clarity issue — not an audience problem.
5. Email List Growth Rate
Your list is an asset. Know how many new leads you’re adding per week or month. Set a growth target — even 100 new leads/month can turn into $5K+ in revenue with the right funnel.
The Math of Reverse Engineering Your Income Goal
Let’s say you want to make $10K/month.
Here’s how to break that into a numbers-based plan.
Step 1: Identify your core offer.
Let’s say your digital product is $197.
Step 2: Do the basic math.
$10,000 ÷ $197 = ~51 sales/month
That’s about 1.7 sales per day.
Suddenly, that $10K month isn’t some magical achievement — it’s a daily sales goal.
Step 3: Use conversion math.
If your sales page converts at 2%, you need 2,550 people to see the page that month to get 51 sales.
2% of 2,550 = 51 buyers
Now you have your traffic target. That could be from:
- Paid ads (e.g., 85 clicks/day)
- Email list
- Organic content
From there, you figure out: how many people do I need on my list to generate that traffic? What content channels drive those clicks? What percentage of my audience is truly warm?
You’re no longer guessing. You’re scaling like a CEO.
Leverage Metrics to Make Better Offers
Once you know your numbers, you can make strategic moves:
- If your AOV is low, create a bundle, stack, or premium tier
- If your opt-in rate is low, test new headlines or lead magnets
- If your CAC is rising, improve your targeting or add a better front-end offer
- If you need more revenue but can’t take more 1:1 clients, switch to group delivery or subscription
Math doesn’t lie. It shows you exactly where to optimize next.
Simple Tools to Track Your Metrics
You don’t need a CFO. You need a spreadsheet (or Airtable, Notion, or a dashboard tool). Here’s what you should be tracking weekly or monthly:
- Total revenue
- New leads added
- Sales per offer
- AOV and CAC
- Traffic sources and click-through rates
- Funnel drop-off points (where people fall off and don’t convert)
Set a monthly KPI review date in your calendar. Treat it like a check-in with your future empire.
Mindset Around Numbers
You might think: “I’m not a numbers person.”
Let me reframe that: you’re not a broke person either.
Tracking your numbers is not about spreadsheets — it’s about sovereignty. It’s about running a business based on data, not doubt. Numbers are clarity. And clarity is power.
You don’t need to track everything — just the numbers that tell you what’s working, what’s leaking, and what’s next.
Final Tip:
Scaling is a numbers game — not an energy drain. When you know what numbers to track, you can make calm, powerful decisions. You stop reacting, and start leading. You stop throwing spaghetti at the wall, and start building scalable infrastructure.
This is how real CEOs operate — and that includes you
Everything you need to grow online — without burnout, gatekeeping, or guesswork.🗝
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