33 Business Benchmarks - Information by Field (Information Research)
Description
This article is from the Information Research FAQ, by David Novak david@spireproject.com with numerous contributions by others.
33 Business Benchmarks - Information by Field (Information Research)
Business Benchmarks are statistical descriptions of the running costs
of comparable businesses.
There are several ways to use benchmarks. Accountants use them
frequently, as do bankers and investment advisors, to judge the health
of a business. Certainly anyone buying a business will reach for
business benchmarks as one measurement of business health and value.
Equally as often, your accountant will do this work for you.
A standard business benchmark will describe various costs as a
percentage of total turnover. They may include figures like turnover
per staff, gross profit as a percentage of turnover, staffing costs as
a percentage of turnover and such. Some benchmarks give more. These are
the ones we are aware of.
* Small Business Advancement Electronic Resource
The SBAER (http://www.sbaer.uca.edu) publishes a collection of 33 small
business profiles, free on the net but unfortunately slightly dated
now. Start at http://www.sbaer.uca.edu/sbaer/publications/#industry
* US Industry and Trade Outlook 2000 (USA)
US Industry and Trade Outlook 2000 is an NTIS publication compiled by
industry analysts from Dept of Commerce. Their blurb describes a 650
page volume, reviewing most important sectors of the US economy. If
your library does not have a copy, the book is inexpensive at about
US$70. See their webpage description
(http://www.ntis.gov/product/industry-trade.htm).
* Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (Australia)
The ABS publishes business benchmarks in their industry analyses. If
the ABS has undertaken surveys, and you search their online catalogue
to determine this, then they will have compiled information that can be
used as business benchmarks. You may have to calculate the percentages
yourself, the ABS tends to have older data than other sources, and
focus more on industry. The ABS collects their data from surveys sent
to businesses. Start with the current ABS Catalogue of Publications.
Other benchmarks are published as books.
* The [Australian] Bureau of Industry Economics publishes a series of
studies on various Australian infrastructure industries. Each study
compares between states and against best work practice, including
costs, services and operating efficiency. All have the titles
"International Performance Indicators ..." and you can get a list by
entering this in the AGIP database of Australian Government
Publications.
* The Locating Books article will help you find alternative books.
Commercial Benchmark Compilations
* FMRC Benchmarking Team (Australia)
The FMRC Business Benchmarks (www.benchmarking.au.com ) are Australian
business benchmarks, recording the expected costs as a percentage and
certain business ratios for a range of mostly small business
industries.
I have not had time to review their new website but previously they
came in two formats... a single sheet and a small pamphlet, which is
little more than the single sheet with an explanation attached.
Accountants use benchmarks frequently, and this may well be the easiest
place to go to get them. The State Library in Western Australia has an
aging collection in a binder held behind the business help desk and The
Small Business Development Corporation's Free Advisory service in WA
incorporate this information into their advice. You could also purchase
these directly from the SBDC (formerly $250 for hard or softcopy for
complete information or about A$40 each.)
Be careful of their age. Each industry is only analyzed every few
years, and the libraries may not have the most recent version. Further,
these do require some understanding of business ratios.
* Westralian Business Ratios (Western Australia)
John Watson, from the Economics Department of the University of Western
Australia, has created a very professional set of business benchmarks
on Western Australian businesses. Unlike most business benchmarks,
these are annual, present quartile information and describe the
statistics in a most professional manner (including sample size !). You
may need the help of your accountant to get a copy.
Conclusion
We have listed just a few benchmarks here but information about
benchmarks is so poorly distributed, and we get asked so frequently, we
thought it worthwhile publishing this article anyway. If you know of
further benchmarks, do inform us.
One further opportunity is Purposeful Benchmarking. Ideally you arrange
an amicable invitation to peruse the best practice of, not your
competitor but a business unit which does similar functions in a
different industry. Thus, compare Airplane Turnaround times with an
racecar pit crew.
The Benchmark Self-Help Manual is guide to the concept of creating
benchmarks. Best Practice manuals and journals also cover this
activity.
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