What Does it Actually Cost You to Grow? Do the Math

Steve Whittington breaks down the three ratios that reveal whether your revenue system funds growth or bleeds cash.In part one of this two-part series, Steve Whittington, President of Roadmap, walks through the unit economics that sit underneath every revenue decision in a traditional B2B business. If you run a manufacturer, distributor, dealer, or professional services firm in the $5M–$55M range and set next year's targets by adding a percentage to last year's number, this episode is the reset. Steve calls that a "hope cast" — and shows you how to replace it with math.In this episode:• How to calculate your true cost of growth ratio (total acquisition costs divided by gross margin) and why anything under 100% means your growth is actually funding itself• The full customer acquisition cost formula — including sales salaries, commissions, CRM software, trade shows, and association memberships most operators forget to count• Customer acquisition cost payback period and the 3:1 LTV-to-CAC benchmark that separates sustainable growth models from unsustainable ones• Why cost of retention is almost always invisible in traditional B2B, and how to split shared costs like trade shows between acquisition and retention• How to tier your book of business into strategic, growth, and transactional accounts — and why 20% of customers almost always drive 80% of revenue• The expansion vs. contraction ratio math that forecasts where your book is heading before the year endsSubscribe to Driving Growth wherever you get your podcasts — new episodes drop the first and third Wednesday of every month. Part two lands next.Download the Revenue Factory Toolkit at roadmapagency.com/podcast and start turning your forecasts into predictable growth!Subscribe today wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes are available on the first and third Wednesday of each month.LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/weareroadmap/Instagram: instagram.com/weareroadmap/Facebook: facebook.com/weareroadmapYouTube: youtube.com/@roadmapagencyDriving Growth is produced by Morreale Digital.Follow Steve Whittington on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sbwhittington/