If you could only track one number for your business, it should be revenue per person.
It tells you more about whether your business is actually healthy than any other single metric. Here's why.
What It Reveals
Revenue per person = Total Revenue / Number of People in Your Business
This ratio captures:
- How efficient you are — how much of your time actually converts to money coming in
- Whether you can grow — can your business take on more work without hiring more people
- Your margins — higher revenue per person generally means more profit
- Where automation could help — low numbers often mean too much time spent on unpaid admin
Benchmarks for Trades and Small Operators
- Solo plumber or electrician: $150K-$250K potential
- Small trades team (2-5 people): $120K-$200K per person
- Contractors with subcontractors: $100K-$180K per person
- Service businesses: $100K-$200K per person
A solo plumber billing $120/hr for 30 billable hours a week has a potential of about $187K a year. If you're only doing $120K, the gap is admin eating your time. A 3-person electrical contracting firm billing $130/hr should be pulling in $400K+ combined. If you're at $280K, admin is the gap.
How Automation Moves the Needle
When you automate repetitive tasks, you're increasing your earning capacity without adding headcount or working longer hours.
A sole operator saving 10 hours a week through automation gains the equivalent of an extra working day. No wages, no super, no management overhead.
Over a year, that 10 hours a week adds up to roughly 500 hours of recovered capacity. At $120/hour billing rate, that's $60,000 in potential earnings you're currently leaving on the table.
The Compounding Effect
The real benefit builds over time. As you automate more of the admin:
- You spend more hours on billable work
- You can take on more clients without burning out
- Your profit goes up because your costs stay flat
- Your business becomes more valuable if you ever want to sell
This is the fundamental advantage of automation over hiring: it improves your profit per hour permanently.