A performance-based growth partner can't price anything until both sides understand your numbers. The good news is that you don't need a finance department. Most of what's needed sits in your invoices, your bank statements and your memory of the last year. This guide covers the eight numbers that matter, how to work each one out, and the mistakes owners commonly make. Every example uses round, made-up figures so you can swap in your own.
1. Average sale or job value
This is total revenue from new customers divided by the number of new customers, over the same period. Use at least six months, ideally a year, so seasonal swings even out.
Example: if 140 new customers brought in $420,000 over twelve months, your average is $3,000.
Common mistakes:
- Mixing new and repeat customers. Repeat business matters, but it should be measured separately.
- Letting one huge sale distort the figure. If one contract was ten times the usual size, note it separately.
- Using quotes instead of invoices. Quoted values are always higher than collected ones.
2. Gross margin
Gross margin is what's left from a sale after the direct costs of delivering it, as a percentage of the sale. Direct costs include materials, subcontractors and the labour that goes into the job itself, not rent or office salaries.
Example: on a $3,000 job with $1,800 in direct costs, gross profit is $1,200 and the margin is 40%.
This is the number to get right, and it's the one most often guessed. Use last year's financial statements if you have them. A partnership built on an optimistic margin creates problems for both sides later.
3. Gross profit per new customer
Multiply your average sale by your gross margin. Using the figures above, $3,000 × 40% = $1,200 per customer.
This is the most useful single number in growth planning, because it tells you the most you could possibly spend to win a customer before losing money. In practice you'd want to spend well below it.
If customers come back, you can also estimate a longer-term figure. If the average customer buys twice over three years, the gross profit per customer over that time is about $2,400. Be cautious with this; it's easy to overestimate.
4. New customers per month
Count the new customers you won each month for the past year. Write them down month by month, not as an annual total, because the pattern matters as much as the number.
A business in Ottawa or Barrie with strong seasons might see something like this:
| Quarter | New customers |
|---|---|
| January–March | 24 |
| April–June | 42 |
| July–September | 46 |
| October–December | 28 |
Total: 140. But a baseline built from summer alone would set an impossible bar for winter, and one built from winter would make summer look like a miracle. That's why a fair agreement compares the same months year on year.
5. Where customers come from
Group your new customers by how they first found you. Keep the categories few and practical:
- referral or word of mouth
- repeat or returning customer
- online search (including maps)
- paid ads
- walk-in, signage or vehicle
- other
If you don't know, start asking now. "How did you hear about us?" at the first contact, recorded every time, will tell you more in two months than any guess. The results measurement setup builds this into a routine.
This number matters because a partnership usually aims to grow specific sources. If 60% of your work is referrals, the agreement needs to say whether referral growth counts.
6. Enquiries and close rate
Close rate is the share of genuine enquiries that become paying customers. Count enquiries over a period, then count how many became customers.
Example: 400 genuine enquiries in a year that produced 140 customers is a 35% close rate.
Close rate is often the fastest number to improve. Suppose replies get faster and quotes are followed up properly, lifting the close rate from 35% to 40%. The same 400 enquiries would then produce 160 customers instead of 140. At $1,200 gross profit each, that's $24,000 more gross profit in a year without a single extra enquiry.
7. Response time
Measure how long it takes, on average, to reply to a new enquiry. Check a sample of recent calls, texts and emails. Note missed calls that were never returned.
This isn't a number most owners track, but it's one of the most revealing. A business that takes a day to reply to emails, or lets after-hours calls go to a full voicemail box, is losing customers it already paid to attract. For spread-out regions like Simcoe County or rural Ottawa, where customers may contact several businesses, it can matter even more.
8. Capacity
Estimate how many more customers you could serve each month without hiring or turning work away. Be honest. If your crew or team is already full in peak season, growth has to come in the quieter months, or the business needs to grow its capacity first.
Example: if your team could handle 15 customers a month at peak and you're already at 14, the summer can't absorb much more. The winter, at 8 a month, has room.
A good growth partner will ask this early. Driving demand you can't serve damages your reputation and wastes money for everyone.
Putting it together: a one-page summary
Bring these eight numbers to a first conversation, even as rough estimates.
| Number | Example |
|---|---|
| Average sale | $3,000 |
| Gross margin | 40% |
| Gross profit per customer | $1,200 |
| New customers per year | 140 |
| Top source | Referrals (about half) |
| Close rate | 35% |
| Typical response time | Same day, slower after hours |
| Spare capacity | Mostly in winter |
With this table, a growth partner can quickly see where the biggest opportunity is. In the example, close rate and winter capacity stand out more than raw traffic.
Common mistakes when preparing your numbers
Most errors come from optimism or from mixing categories.
- Rounding up. Better figures in the baseline make real growth look smaller later.
- Forgetting refunds and cancellations.
- Counting enquiries that were never real, such as spam or job applicants.
- Ignoring seasonality. Monthly figures beat annual totals.
- Leaving out referrals because they "don't come from marketing".
Next steps
Once you have rough figures, a first conversation can tell you whether a partnership is worth exploring. The fit and baseline assessment turns these numbers into an agreed starting point. If you'd like to understand how they feed into a written agreement, read how to read a performance agreement.
To share your numbers, call or text (604) 632-4959 or email Ali@Sedighi.ca. The contact page has a template you can copy.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an accountant to work these out?
Not for a first conversation. Most can be estimated from your invoices and bank records. For a written agreement, it's sensible to have your accountant confirm the margin figure.
What if I don't know where my customers come from?
That's very common. Start asking every new customer how they found you, and record the answer. Even a month of that data is far better than a guess.
Which number matters most?
Gross profit per customer. It decides how much you can afford to spend to win one, and it's the anchor for any fair performance arrangement.