You know gross margin impacts your profit, but have you considered the impact it has on the value of your company?
You know gross margin impacts your profit, but have you
considered the impact it has on the value of your company?
When
assessing your company’s value, acquirers and investors will often scrutinize
your gross profit margin. Gross profit margin is the difference between a
company’s revenue and its cost of goods sold. In other words, it’s the profit a
company makes from each unit of product or service sold after accounting for
the cost of producing or delivering that unit but does not include other fixed
expenses. For example, if a company sells a product for $100 and it costs $70
to produce and deliver it, the gross profit margin would be $30, or 30%.
A
high gross profit margin is a crucial factor for investors and potential
acquirers as it indicates that a company has established pricing power through
marketing differentiation and possesses a competitive advantage. A strong
competitive moat is an indicator of a company’s long-term sustainability,
making it more appealing to potential investors.
When
a company’s gross margin shrinks, it indicates to investors that the company
may be competing on price. This is typically a sign that the business lacks a
unique value proposition or marketing differentiation and that competing on
price is the only way to attract customers. A shallow moat leaves the company
vulnerable to competitive threats and makes it less appealing to potential
acquirers.
24
vs. 6 Times Earnings
To
illustrate the impact of gross margin on a company’s value, let’s compare two
companies: Apple and Dell. Apple has a strong competitive advantage and a
healthy gross margin, whereas Dell’s competitive moat is weaker and its gross
margin is lower. In 2022 Apple’s average gross margin was 43%, compared to just
23% for Dell.
Apple
has a highly differentiated brand and controls the buying experience through
its Apple Stores. Additionally, Apple has invested in a range of high-margin
subscription offerings, such as Apple TV and Apple Music. The market is willing
to pay more than 24 times Apple’s 2023 earnings forecast, and the company has a
market capitalization of over $2 trillion.
By
contrast, Dell offers commoditized technology products, which puts them in a
weaker competitive position, requiring them to compete on price and resulting
in a lower gross margin. The market is only paying around six times Dell’s 2023
earnings estimates, giving it a total market capitalization of around $30
billion.
Just
as gross margin impacts the world’s largest publicly traded companies, it also
impacts smaller businesses. Ron Holt started Two Maids & a Mop, a
residential cleaning company, in 2003. Holt ran a lean business and enjoyed
healthy gross margins and a net profit margin of around 30%. Holt invested his
earnings in differentiating his business from mom-and-pop cleaning services. He
built a network of 12 locations across the southern U.S. and had plans to
expand across the country.
Holt
was curious about franchising as a business model and attended a Las Vegas
conference where he had a chance encounter with Subway founder Fred DeLuca.
Subway had more than 40,000 locations around the world at the time, so Holt
asked DeLuca for his expansion advice.
DeLuca
cautioned Holt about actioning every idea from his employees as his company got
bigger. He told Holt, “Most of the time, employees bring you ideas to make
their life easier, not to make you more money. Every time you make your
employees’ lives easier, it comes at a cost.”
Armed
with DeLuca’s advice, Holt grew Two Maids & a Mop from 12 to 91 locations
and $40 million in revenue without seriously compromising his gross margin. In
2021 Holt sold his business to JM Family Enterprises for over ten times
EBITDA.
Taking
Action
Apart
from raising prices or reducing input costs, an often overlooked approach to
improving gross margin is to invest in carving out a point of differentiation
for your business in the minds of your customers. When your customers see your
business as unique, you are less likely to have to compete solely on price.
Charge a premium for a differentiated product or service, and you’ll beef up
your gross profit margin—and the value of your company.
Find out how you score on the eight
factors that drive your company’s value by completing the Value Builder
questionnaire:
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