Do you know how your annual turnover compares to your competitors, whether your business is paying more rent than it should or whether your staff is overpaid or not paid enough?
In essence business owners can use their competition as the ultimate measuring stick for improvement.
Benchmarking analysis provides small-to-medium enterprises with the most commonly sought-after details. Information varies from tiered levels of competing
businesses in terms of size and revenue, financial processes, administration, staffing and product specifics, all the way through to how much of the
competition’s budget is dedicated to advertising and marketing. Information can be compared to competitors on a national scale and also those located
within or close to your business area.
Determining whether you should invest in benchmarking your business really depends on how well you know your business. Ask yourself the following to establish whether you’re on top of your business, its associated industry and of course, your competitors:
- Who are my most important customers and why?
- Am I spending too much, or too little, on advertising compared to my competitors?
- How much are my competitors paying their staff?
- What do customers like from a business, like mine?
- How much are my competitors charging for similar products or services?
- Which marketing techniques would best suit my business and what are my competitors doing in this area?
- Can I further streamline my products, services, or processes to increase my end-of-year bottom line?
