An essential tool for your business to stay competitive and grow.
Business benchmarking is a process of comparing the performance of a business with that of other companies in the same industry or sector. Benchmarking helps you in identifying the areas of strength and weakness in your business, setting up performance targets, and developing strategies to improve performance.
Types of business benchmarking
Your business can be benefitted from different types of benchmarking by comparing its performance to other companies in your field of trade. Some of the most common types include:
Financial benchmarking: This involves comparing your company’s financial performance, such as revenue, profit, and expenses to other companies in the same industry. Financial benchmarking can help you identify areas where you can improve your profitability or reduce your costs.
Operational benchmarking: This involves comparing your company’s operational processes, such as production, logistics, or customer service to those of other companies in the same industry. Operational benchmarking can help you identify areas where you can improve efficiency and productivity.
Strategic benchmarking: This involves comparing your company’s strategic plans, such as marketing, product development, or expansion to those of other companies in the same industry. Strategic benchmarking can help you identify areas where you can improve your competitive position and grow your business.
Internal benchmarking: This involves comparing different departments or teams within your own business to identify best practices and areas for improvement. Internal benchmarking can help you improve collaboration and communication within your organization.
It’s important to remember that benchmarking is not a one-time event. To stay competitive, you should regularly review your performance and compare it to other companies in your industry. This will help you stay on top of industry trends and continuously improve your performance.
Benefits of business benchmarking
Business benchmarking can be beneficial in helping businesses improve their performance and stay competitive in their industry. Here are five of the top benefits of business benchmarking:
- Identify areas for improvement: To help you focus your resources and efforts on the areas that will impact your business most.
- Set realistic performance targets: To help you establish realistic goals and ensures that your company is performing at a level that is competitive in your industry.
- Improve efficiency and productivity: Identify best practices and processes used by other companies in your industry to improve your own processes.
- Enhance customer satisfaction: Identify areas of improvement in the customer experience to help you increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.
- Stay competitive: Stay up-to-date with industry trends and best practices to ensure your business remains relevant and profitable.
By regularly benchmarking your company’s performance against industry standards and best practices, you can ensure that you are operating at the highest level possible and achieving your goals.
What is the business benchmarking process?
The benchmarking process can be accomplished by following these three simple steps:
Step 1. Information Collection
To conduct benchmarking, you will need to collect data on your own performance and the performance of other companies in your industry. This can be done through surveys, interviews, industry reports, or other sources of data.
Step 2. Improvement identification
Once you have collected the data, you can use it to identify areas where your business is performing well and areas where you need to improve.
Step 3. Action Plan Development
You can then set performance targets based on the benchmarking data and develop strategies to achieve those targets.
Benchmarking can be a time-consuming process that requires resources and expertise. If you don’t have the necessary resources or expertise, you may want to consider outsourcing benchmarking activities through experts.
Business Benchmarking FAQs
What is benchmarking in business used for?
Business benchmarking is an essential tool for any company that wants to stay competitive and grow. By comparing your performance to other companies in your industry, you can identify areas of strength and weakness and develop strategies to improve your performance. Whether you’re conducting financial, operational, strategic, or internal benchmarking, the key is to collect data, set performance targets, and continuously review and improve your performance.
What is the difference between benchmarks and KPIs?
Benchmarks and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are both important tools in measuring and improving business performance, but they serve different purposes.
Benchmarks are used to compare a company’s performance against industry or sector standards. For example, a company might benchmark its profit margins against industry averages to identify areas where it can reduce costs or increase revenue.
On the other hand, KPIs are specific metrics that a company uses to measure its progress towards achieving its goals. For example, a company might set a KPI of increasing customer satisfaction by 10% over the next year and track its progress toward that goal by regularly measuring customer satisfaction scores.
How can you determine whether you should benchmark your business or not?
Benchmarking can be a valuable tool for improving business performance, but not all businesses may need to use it. Here are some factors to consider when deciding whether to benchmark your business:
- Industry standards: If there are well-established industry benchmarks for your business or industry, it may be worth benchmarking your business to see how you compare.
- Competitive landscape: If your industry is highly competitive, benchmarking can help you identify areas where your competitors outperform you and develop strategies to improve your performance.
- Goals and objectives: If you have specific goals and objectives for your business, benchmarking can help you track your progress toward those goals. By setting KPIs based on industry benchmarks, you can ensure that you are setting realistic targets and making progress toward achieving your objectives.
- Resources: If you don’t have the necessary resources or expertise, it may not be worth investing in benchmarking. In this case, you may want to consider outsourcing benchmarking activities or focusing on other areas of improvement.
In summary, benchmarking can be a valuable tool for improving business performance, but it’s not always necessary. Consider factors such as industry standards, competition, goals and objectives, and resources when deciding whether to benchmark your business.
What financial data comparatives are most commonly used in Benchmarking reports?
By using financial data comparatives in benchmarking reports, your business can gain a better understanding of its financial performance and identify areas for improvement. Below are some of the key numbers used to compare the financial data:
Current and Previous years’ Turnover, Gross profit Operating profit, Interest receivable and similar income, Interest payable and similar charges, Profit on ordinary activities before taxation, Tax on profit on ordinary activities, Total employee costs, Fixed assets Current assets, Current liabilities, Long-term liabilities, Balance sheet total Trade debtors, Stock and work-in-progress, etc.
What are the common ratio measures that are often used in business benchmarking?
Financial benchmarking uses ratio analysis, which involves comparing key financial ratios to industry benchmarks. Here are some common ratio measures that are often used in business benchmarking:
- Profitability ratios: These ratios measure a company’s ability to generate profits. Examples include gross profit margin, net profit margin, and return on assets (ROA).
- Liquidity ratios: These ratios measure a company’s ability to meet its short-term financial obligations. Examples include the current ratio and the quick ratio.
- Efficiency ratios: These ratios measure how efficiently a company uses its assets and resources. Examples include inventory turnover, accounts receivable turnover, and accounts payable turnover.
- Debt ratios: These ratios measure a company’s leverage and its ability to meet its long-term financial obligations. Examples include the debt-to-equity ratio, the debt-to-asset ratio, and the interest coverage ratio
- Market ratios: These ratios measure a company’s market value and its ability to attract investment. Examples include the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, the price-to-book (P/B) ratio, and the dividend yield ratio.
How can Heighten Accountants help you benchmark your business?
Heighten Accountants team can help you with all three stages of the benchmarking process from financial information collection to identifying the areas of improvement and, to develop an action plan to keep you accountable. We can assist you to:
Generate a detailed benchmarking report for your business
We have tools to collect the required financial information with minimal involvement at this stage to save you time and effort. The hardest part of assembling the information is done by our team of experts for you.
Explain the results of the benchmarking report to you
It is crucial to understand how each number in your benchmarking report has been calculated. Our team will answer any questions you may have about the report.
Create an action and accountability plan
Once you are fully aware of the areas you should be concentrating on in your business, we will devise an action plan and will make you accountable for your actions to ensure you achieve your desired profitability and happiness in your business.
