success - Turbo Coach, achieve breakthroughs - Brian Tracy
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Maximize Profits<br />
189<br />
staff according to the most pressing need at the moment.<br />
Once a person has been hired, often she or he can become a<br />
permanent fixture, even when needs change. Many entrepreneurs<br />
are too busy creating products, designing services, and<br />
generating revenues to pay close attention to employee performance.<br />
Over time, the result can be an inefficient and ineffective<br />
staff and a bloated payroll.<br />
From an accounting perspective, payroll is an expense.<br />
We regard it as an investment and, as such, it must yield at<br />
least an acceptable rate of return. But the goal should be an<br />
optimal return. What is acceptable or optimal? And how can<br />
it be measured? This varies by industry and even by size of<br />
company. A general rule of thumb is that each employee<br />
should contribute three to six times her salary in gross revenues.<br />
Stated differently, revenues in your business should be<br />
three to six times your payroll. And if you head up your own<br />
small business, don’t forget to include yourself in this calculation.<br />
Although you may not draw a salary, you still represent<br />
a cost to the business. If you were not there, how much<br />
would you have to pay someone else to perform your role?<br />
A common mistake made by many entrepreneurs is to forget<br />
the cost of their own input when calculating the profitability<br />
of their business.<br />
Customer Profitability<br />
As we have discussed, some customers are more profitable<br />
than others. Some may actually be costing you money. Can<br />
you identify your most profitable customers? Do you know<br />
any who are unprofitable? There is not necessarily any connection<br />
between the size of a customer or the volume of business<br />
he produces and his profitability.