5% More

Chapter 145 Percent More Profit = Being 5 Percent More Efficient and 5 Percent More Accountable at Work

I have friends from all walks of life who ask me for advice on business, and recently a really close friend of mine came to me pretty desperate. He has been working in the beverage industry for close to 20 years and has had tremendous success in the past, but his new business is struggling. We talk pretty often about his business, and right now things seem very busy with a lot of positive activity and hard work, but no results or high payoff accomplishments.

My friend's company markets, promotes, and sells products in the wine, beer, and spirits industry, and his company seems to be doing a lot of great things. He is signing new brands very frequently to promote and market, and he is constantly working. His employees all seem busy, too, but there is little revenue coming in. Why?

I always hear people talk about how they work 50 to 60 hours a week, even 70 hours a week. Most are not being honest with themselves, but my friend really was in the office five to six days a week, 10 to 12 hours a day. We were talking about how great things were, but also looking at why there was no money coming through the door. His phones were ringing, he had people calling on potential clients, he was sending out samples like crazy, but something was missing. We were candidly discussing how hard he was working with little payoff, and I was concerned not only with the business but with him personally ...