Now that 2007 is over and last year's numbers are being compiled, the inevitable question will be: "How well did we do?"  While your sales may be up (or down), and profits may be rising (or falling), the key question really is: "Are these good numbers or poor ones; are these trends unique or similar to my industry."

Now is the time to conduct benchmarking to find out.

All companies, in fact all departments or teams, should benchmark its performance on a regular basis.  Because of the costs involved, this task usually is done every three to five years instead of the much prefered annual review.  An exclusive dashboard on business performance now available from Entrepreneur magazine can give you a very inexpensive first look.

Check out their online benchmarking at: http://www.entrepreneur.com/benchmark/.  With over 20 major categories and over 80 sub categories, you can find out comparisons on sales, profits, number of employees, and a lot more.

You cannot manage what you cannot measure; you cannot compare what you cannot find.  Get started with your benchmarking activities at this great site.