Key Ratios of a Successful Catalog Company

Benchmarking

It’s important to understand the key ratios that are standard for your specific market. This will enable you to measure against “realistic” standards. Set goals for each that will impact your bottom line. These goals can be set in a “what if” spreadsheet scenario. For example, if your cost of goods currently is 50 percent, imagine what could happen to your bottom line if you got this down to 48 percent. In this age of cost-cutting, try shaving a little bit like this for every line in your income statement. Be cautious not to overestimate, or expect all of your goals to fall into place at once. Be realistic about your expectations. As the saying goes, you want to under-promise and over-deliver.