Improving Profit: Using Contribution Metrics to Boost the Bottom Line

Wholesaler Nets $2.5M in 10+ Months

A management buyout of a company, being sold for lack of profitable performance, illustrates what can happen when targets are broken into digestible proportions

During a daylong workshop with 20 clients of a coastal accounting practice, I came across a business supplying ships with provisions ranging from anchovies to anchors. The proprietor, himself an ex–seagoing captain, responded warmly to the concept underlying CBA¹ and asked if I would run a workshop for his five branch managers.

Over the next year or so, I conducted workshops every four months. We analyzed past results and planned ongoing performance, ...