Revenue Breakdown: 40% Online, 35% Retail, 25% B2B = Wildly Different Margins
Company total revenue SGD 250K. Breakdown: Online SGD 100K (40% of revenue, 40% margin = SGD 40K profit). Retail SGD 87.5K (35% revenue, 20% margin = SGD 17.5K profit). B2B SGD 62.5K (25% revenue, 5% margin = SGD 3.1K profit). Blended margin: (SGD 40K + SGD 17.5K + SGD 3.1K) / SGD 250K = 24% blended. But if you shift 10% revenue from B2B to Online: new blended margin 25.5% = +SGD 3.75K annual profit. Waterfall shows hidden channel economics.
What Is Revenue Waterfall?#
Visualize revenue from gross → net profit, breaking down costs by channel. Online: gross SGD 100K, minus payment fees (2.8%) = net SGD 97.2K, minus COGS (60%) = SGD 38.88K profit. Retail: gross SGD 87.5K, minus distributor commission (10%) = SGD 78.75K, minus COGS (60%) = SGD 31.5K profit. Shows true channel profitability.
Hidden Channel Economics#
Many businesses think all revenue equally valuable. Wrong. B2B channel may be SGD 100K (looks good) but after 15% discount + 10% distributor fee + 60% COGS = only 15% margin (SGD 15K profit). Online SGD 50K with 40% margin = SGD 20K profit. Online generates 4/3 = 1.33x more profit per revenue dollar.
Online: payment processing (1-3%), shipping (varies), returns (1-5%), ads (varies).
Margin Drivers by Channel#
Online: payment processing (1-3%), shipping (varies), returns (1-5%), ads (varies). Retail: distributor discount (5-15%), returns (2-5%), shelf-space fees (1-3%). B2B: volume discount (10-20%), payment terms (3-6% cost of capital), support costs (5-10%). Each channel has different profit profile.
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AskBiz Revenue Waterfall#
Shows gross → net by channel. "Online SGD 100K gross, SGD 38K profit (38% margin). Retail SGD 87.5K gross, SGD 26K profit (30% margin). B2B SGD 62.5K gross, SGD 5K profit (8% margin). Most profitable channel: Online (1 dollar = 0.38 profit). Least profitable: B2B (1 dollar = 0.08 profit). Recommendation: focus growth on Online, optimize B2B or deprioritize."
- Company total revenue SGD 250K.
- Breakdown: Online SGD 100K (40% of revenue, 40% margin = SGD 40K profit).
- Retail SGD 87.5K (35% revenue, 20% margin = SGD 17.5K profit).
People also ask
Should I stop B2B if margin is low?
Not necessarily. B2B often strategic (brand building, volume predictability, reduces customer acquisition cost if bundled with retail). But: price appropriately (ensure minimum 20% margin) or consider exit.
How do I improve low-margin channels?
Reduce costs (renegotiate distributor fees), reduce discounts (better positioning), or exit (reallocate effort to high-margin channel).
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Analyze Revenue Waterfall (Find Most Profitable Channel)
AskBiz breaks down revenue by channel, subtracts all costs, shows net margin per channel. Recommends channel optimization. Try free.
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