Market Share

Market share is the portion of a defined market's sales, revenue, or other agreed measure attributable to one business over a specified period. A lawn-care company might consider its share of recurring maintenance revenue in a particular service area, but reliable totals may be difficult to obtain. Market share is not the same as market penetration, which may describe how widely a service has been adopted among potential customers. Both the market boundary and measurement basis matter. Owners should avoid presenting rough estimates as audited facts. For many small service companies, customer demand and profitability are more actionable than an uncertain share percentage.