Marsel TsepodayUnit economics for owners: five numbers to know by heart
You do not need a staff analyst to control your marketing economics. Five numbers are enough — but you must know them by heart and recount them every month.
CAC and LTV
CAC is what a new customer costs with all marketing expenses included — salaries and tools too. LTV is how much margin they bring over their lifecycle. The working ratio is at least 1 to 3. Below that, you are buying growth from your own profit.
Margin and ad-spend share
Margin per category, not a "hospital average": advertising a 15%-margin category and a 45%-margin one are different businesses. Ad-spend share is counted on margin, not on turnover.
Repeat purchases
The share of revenue from repeat orders is the main LTV lever. If it is below 25–30% in a niche where returning is natural, investing in retention is cheaper than buying new traffic.
How to count without fooling yourself
Once a month, by cohorts, on margin. A cohort is every customer who arrived in a given month: how much they brought in 30/90/365 days. Three rows in a spreadsheet that replace most agency reports.
Key takeaways
- →CAC includes all costs, not just ad-account budgets
- →LTV and ad-spend share are counted on margin
- →Repeat purchases are the main economic lever
- →Recount monthly, by cohorts