A regional manager sees the group growing and the southern branch at the bottom of the sales table. Does the branch need help selling? First the manager needs to know whether it sells less per open hour, opens for fewer hours, or offers a different mix of services.
A multi-site report has two audiences. The owner wants the whole group's result. A branch manager needs to see which differences can be addressed locally. Giving them the same league table tends to leave both questions open.
Show group growth alongside like-for-like performance
Suppose two branches each earned SEK 1 million in a particular month last year. In the same month this year they earned SEK 1.9 million between them. A newly opened site added SEK 400,000. Total sales grew from SEK 2 million to SEK 2.3 million, or 15%. The two comparable sites saw sales fall by 5%.
Keep both figures. The first tells the owner how much expansion contributed. The second alerts the regional manager to a decline at existing sites. Specify which branches qualify in both periods and how relocations, extended closures and changes of ownership are treated. Show openings and closures separately so readers can explain the movement in the total.
Choose a denominator that suits the decision
Sales per open hour and sales per staffed hour answer different questions. The former helps with a decision about Saturday opening. The latter helps review staffing. If you have scheduled hours rather than actual hours, label them clearly.
| Branch | Sales | Hours open | Sales per open hour |
|---|---|---|---|
| North | SEK 90,000 | 60 | SEK 1,500 |
| South | SEK 72,000 | 40 | SEK 1,800 |
| Both branches | SEK 162,000 | 100 | SEK 1,620 |
Give the branch manager a question worth investigating
A site handling short routine jobs may have a very different average sale from a site doing long specialist work. Show each service's share of sales or staff time. Then compare the same kind of job across sites. A change in average sale can come from what customers bought even if the price of every service stayed the same.
Start with two sites, one calendar period and a shared metric. Ask each branch manager to reconcile the total against their local report and explain an actual difference. Make missing opening hours or a late sales extract visible. Withhold an hourly rate when its denominator is missing.
A first delivery might combine a group total, a like-for-like view and a branch breakdown by opening hours and service mix. The regional manager can then decide whether the next conversation should be about opening hours, services offered or demand.
Common questions
Can we compare branches that use different systems?
Yes, if sites, periods and business events can be mapped to a shared definition. Agree how returns, internal transfers and closed days are treated. Reconcile each branch with its own system before using it in a comparison.
How do we handle a site that opened midway through the period?
Include it in the group total from the opening date. Identify its first complete period and include it in the like-for-like group once it meets your documented inclusion rule for both periods.