Profit First

• Use small plates: When money comes into your main operating account, immediately dispense it into different accounts in predetermined percentages for profit, owner pay, taxes and, consistently operating expenses
• Serve sequentially: Always move your money to the profit account first, then to your owner pay account, then to your tax account, with what remains to expenses
• Remove temptations: Move your profits account and other accounts out of arm’s reach to make it difficult for you to access your money
• Enforce a rhythm: Do your payables and pay your bills twice monthly.

A great business is one that has healthy profits. And as business gets healthier, taxes will increase.

Profitability isn’t an event. It’s a habit. Profitable habits practiced consistently cause a company to be financially healthy. Forming the right business habits from scratch prevents you from forming bad habits that can be difficult to break in the long run.

• Paying yourself should always be your priority even if you’re in debt.
• Practice the one more day technique. Hold off on purchasing something and test how much you need it. You’ll feel rewarded when you see yourself saving more by going without certain items.
• Modern-day success is not about earning the most revenue, hiring more employees, and having the biggest office spaces. It is about generating the most profit through the fewest employees with the least expensive office space.
• You cannot add new debt as you pay the old debt off. Pay your smallest debt off first.

• 95% of your company’s profitability depends on what goes on beneath the surface (after the sales), and not the sales themselves.
• Serve your clients with the same or very similar problems, using your one consistent solution to solve the problems.
• The key to being efficient is repeatedly serving a consistent core customer need.
• The more you focus on improving efficiency, the closer you’ll get to achieving double the results in half the time.
• Focus on one area of your business that benefits your best customers and challenge yourself to figure out how to get twice the results for half the effort.

The benefits of accountability groups:

• Having accountability partners can make a potentially challenging experience bearable
• Enforcing a plan or a system with others ensures that you are more likely to do your part
• When you regularly meet with an accountability group, you get into a rhythm that makes it easier for you to stay the course ad achieve your goal
• Keep the accountability groups honest! Let your accountability partner(s) not be your friends.
• You must be accountable for the process by any means necessary.

Innovation in business and efficiency comes from big, bold questions.