Rough figures for a service business. Use them to know whether you are in the right neighbourhood, not as targets — your own trend over quarters is worth more than any of them.
Money
Gross margin — 40% to 55% on service work, lower on installs where materials dominate.
Net margin — 10% to 20%. Below 5% is fragile; above 25% is either excellent or means the owner is not paying themselves. See profit margin.
Cash runway — three months minimum, six is comfortable. See cash runway.
Days to get paid — under 45. Residential should be under 15 with card payment.
Overhead — under 25% of total expenses. Above that, growth gets harder.
Sales
Close rate — 35% to 60% depending on trade and lead source. Above 90% almost certainly means underpricing. See close rate.
Missed calls — under 10%. Above 25% is the most expensive problem in the business.
Quote turnaround — same day. This moves close rate more than price does.
Operations
Technician utilisation — 75% to 90%. Consistently above 110% means jobs run longer than they are scheduled, which under-prices every quote built on them.
Multi-visit rate on service work — under 15%. Installs are different and legitimately higher.
Appointments per route — three to six for service, one to two for installs.
Customers
Largest customer — under 15% of revenue. Above 25% is a business risk rather than a customer. See customer concentration.
Recurring revenue — anything above 20% changes the character of the business.
Why these are only a starting point
Trades differ enormously. A roofing business and a maintenance contractor have different everything, and a number that is alarming in one is normal in the other.
Two things beat any benchmark:
Your own trend. Improving from a bad number is better than sitting at a good one.
Your own break-even. The only number that is objectively right is the one that covers your costs — see break-even.
Your own numbers
This article explains the general case. For what is actually happening in your business — which customers, which jobs, which period — ask the assistant in the Command Center, which can see your workspace. The wiki cannot: it is public, and it has no access to anyone's data.