The power of benchmarking

Benchmarking is a key practice for businesses looking to stay competitive and improve their performance.

By comparing your company’s metrics with industry standards, you can gain valuable insights into your strengths and highlight areas that may need improving. In this article, we explore the power of benchmarking, how to conduct a benchmarking report, and why it should be a key part of your business strategy for long-term success and business growth.

What is benchmarking?When looking to improve areas within your business, benchmarking is a powerful tool to identify areas for growth and development. It’s a process that allows you to assess your company’s performance by comparing it to others within the same industry. This comparison helps to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses, offering a clear roadmap for improvement. By understanding where you stand in relation to your competitors, benchmarking reveals the necessary steps and actions in order to gain a competitive advantage, helping you to make strategic decisions that really drive business success.

Who does benchmarking benefit?Benchmarking benefits all businesses by providing an opportunity to evaluate performance and identify key areas for improvement. However, to ensure meaningful insights, it’s important to perform benchmarking accurately and ensure that you are making relevant comparisons. By measuring both internal performance and external industry standards, businesses can gain a comprehensive understanding of where they stand in relation to their competitors and identify key opportunities for growth. This process not only highlights areas that need improvement but also guides strategic decision-making to drive better results and future growth.

How often should you do a benchmarking report?We recommend that businesses perform benchmarking reports annually. This frequency ensures that you are staying up to date with current industry standards, tracking progress over time, and consistently identifying opportunities for performance improvement. By benchmarking regularly, you can make informed changes to your strategy and business goals, stay competitive, and ensure continued business growth.

Why should you perform a benchmarking report?By using a data-driven approach, this ensures that your business is performing as well as you think it is. Business owners only see their own numbers, so what does “good” actually look like? It may not be until you perform benchmarking that you realise that your competitors are performing better in certain areas. Benchmarking will provide you with a clear understanding of where you stand compared to your competitors, areas that need improvements, a growth roadmap, and improved financial management.

Oldfield's Insights and Benchmarking ReportsOn an annual basis, clients of Oldfield Advisory, are presented with a visual ‘Financial Insights Report’ which summarises the year's performance and compares that with the previous year and targets. Our Benchmarking Report is presented through a visually engaging slide deck, illustrating how each client is fairing against the results for all our clients in areas such as revenue growth, contribution margin, gross profit, overheads as a percentage of sales, EDITDA, productivity, working capital, cash generation and more. These reports are unique to Oldfield and have received positive feedback from our clients, as they play a crucial role in effectively helping to drive improvements in these key areas.

To see the power of benchmarking and an accountant who understands and is driving financial metrics, here’s a case study you can watch.

With years of data and expertise, we can help you compare your business’s performance to industry standards, identifying what “good” truly looks like and providing a clear path to growth. Partnering with an expert ensures that you not only have access to the right data but also the strategic guidance to turn that information into actionable growth, giving you a competitive edge in the ever-evolving market.

To see how we can assist your business and boost your growth in 2025, fill out the below form and a member of the team will be in touch. Alternatively, please contact us via email or call and we will be happy to advise on the best solutions for your business.

Please note: This article is provided for information only and was correct as at the time of writing (27/02/25). Any lists and details provided above are not exhaustive and are not intended to be full and complete guidance.  No action should be taken without consulting detailed legislation or seeking independent professional advice. Therefore, no responsibility for loss occasioned by any person acting or refraining from action as a result of the material contained in this article can be accepted.