The problem: data scattered across five different tools
Most businesses accumulate useful data in completely separate places: sales in the POS, bookings in an agenda app, web traffic in Google Analytics, advertising in Meta Ads Manager, and billing in a spreadsheet. None of these tools talk to each other.
If you want to know if an advertising campaign generated more sales, you have to manually cross-reference Meta data with POS data. If you want to know which product is more profitable, you have to export data from several sites and build the table yourself. No one does it because it takes too much time, and in the end, decisions are made by intuition.
Real fact: 70% of SMEs make pricing, stock, and marketing decisions based on the owner's experience, not data. Not because they don't have it — they do — but because it's fragmented and difficult to consult in real time.
What a dashboard is (and what it isn't)
A dashboard is not an end-of-month report that someone prepares in Excel. It's a screen — visible on a computer, tablet, or a screen in the office — that shows your business's key metrics automatically updated. You open it and see the current status. No preparation needed.
It's also not the dashboard of a multinational with 200 indicators. A good dashboard for an SME has between 6 and 15 metrics, all with clear meaning, answering a simple question: how is the business doing today?
What metrics to include according to your business
Shop or retail
- Daily / weekly / monthly sales vs target and vs same period last year
- Average ticket per transaction
- Best-selling products and products with low stock
- Comparison of channels (physical store vs online)
- Conversion rate from visits to purchases
Clinic, spa, or appointment service
- Confirmed, canceled, and pending appointments for today and this week
- Agenda occupancy rate (% of slots filled)
- Revenue generated vs projected
- New vs returning customers
- Average time between first visit and next (to detect churn)
Service company or agency
- Leads received this week and their origin (web, social media, referrals)
- Quotes sent vs accepted (conversion rate)
- Active projects and their status
- Monthly billing vs target
- Average closing time from inquiry to signing
What technology to use and when
Looker Studio — free, ideal for the Google ecosystem
If your data is in Google Analytics, Google Ads, Google Sheets, or YouTube, Looker Studio is the fastest and most economical option. Completely free, with native connectors for all Google tools. For external data (Meta Ads, Shopify, custom POS) you need third-party connectors, some paid (€10-30/month).
Power BI — for Microsoft environments
If you use Office 365, Excel, Dynamics, or Azure, Power BI is the most integrated option. Included in many Microsoft 365 licenses. More powerful for complex data and large volumes, but with a steeper learning curve.
Grafana — for technical data and infrastructure
Standard for monitoring servers, applications, and databases. If you manage IT infrastructure, online stores with their own database, or custom applications, Grafana allows real-time dashboards with updates in seconds. Open-source and free to self-host.
Custom dashboard with Next.js or React — total control
When you need to integrate your own data sources, or when the dashboard must be part of your web or internal app, a custom solution is the most flexible. Higher initial investment, but maximum adaptation to exactly what your business needs.
How it connects to your data sources
A dashboard doesn't have its own data — it reads from the tools you already use. There are three ways to connect it:
- Native APIs: Shopify, Meta Ads, Google Analytics, Holded, Stripe, and most modern tools have APIs to read data in real time.
- Webhooks: when an event occurs (a sale, an appointment, a new lead), the tool sends the data automatically. No delays.
- Centralized database: data from several sources is consolidated in PostgreSQL, BigQuery, or Supabase. More complex, but faster and with unlimited history.
Real cost of implementation
- Basic dashboard in Looker Studio (Google data + 1-2 external sources): 4-8 hours of configuration, monthly cost €0-30.
- Intermediate dashboard with 4-6 data sources (Meta, Shopify, CRM, Analytics): 10-20 hours, monthly cost €20-80.
- Custom tailored dashboard with own data and specific logic: 30-80 hours of development, monthly cost for hosting and maintenance.
Once built, the dashboard requires almost no maintenance. It only updates when you change tools or add new metrics. The initial investment pays for itself quickly when the owner stops losing 2-3 hours per week looking for data.
The business that makes decisions with fresh data has an advantage over the one that makes decisions with month-old data. And that advantage accrues over time. It's not big company technology — any SME can have it running in days.