Most small to medium businesses have only limited resources, so you and I as owners are not only busy but have to be multi-talented as well.  There is a lot to do in a day but still there has to be a sharp focus on which activities are most directly related to bringing in business.

Two common culprits that hungrily eat into high payoff activity time and stifle business building are (a) other people trying to steal or prioritise your time and (b) problem solving and putting out fires.   They serve to distract attention from the main game.

High payoff activities generally centre around three main objectives.  Although they are not always easy, doing them will generally have the following effect on your business:

1. Increase sales at healthy margins (e.g. up-sell or find new products and markets)
2. Decrease direct expenses and / or fixed costs (e.g. better negotiating, volume discounts, higher quality inputs, inventory control
3. Improve productivity (e.g. new technology, improved systems, focused hiring)

Achieving all of these objectives will consistently increase profit which in turn increases owner’s equity.  This should remain the number one financial goal of any business.

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