Top Line, Bottom Line
http://www.refresher.com/mindfulnetwork/articlelive/articles/335/1/Top-Line-Bottom-Line/Page1.html
Jim Stovall
Jim
Stovall is the president of Narrative Television Network, as well as a
published author of many books including The Ultimate Gift. He is also a
columnist and motivational speaker. He may be reached at 5840 South Memorial Drive, Suite 312, Tulsa,
OK 74145-9082,
or by e-mail at Jim@JimStovall.com By Jim Stovall
Published on 11/4/2009
When you have reevaluated both the top line and the bottom line, there is one more very fertile place to look for additional revenue, and this is in the area of productivity. Adding to the top line is like putting more fuel in the tank. Cutting expenses and adding to the bottom line is like throwing cargo overboard or shortening your trip. Increasing productivity is like tuning up your engine to get more out of the fuel you currently have while taking the same trip or even traveling farther.
Top Line, Bottom Line
In these difficult economic times, everyone around the world seems to be scrambling for more money.
Traditionally, there have been two ways that most people think of when they want to have more money. People either want to do more top line or gross business, or they want to create more bottom line or net income.
The top line can be increased by generating sales, volume, or margin. During a recession, conventional thinking is that it is hard to grow the top line. Do not immediately accept this as a fact. Many organizations have gone out of business or cut back on their sales and marketing efforts; therefore, there may be more business potential laying out there than you think.
People generally think of increasing the bottom line by trimming overhead. As we hover around double-digit unemployment, it is apparent that many organizations have cut staff. Statistics also show us that businesses have cut inventories, equipment purchases, and future expansion plans.
Justifying overhead is always a worthwhile exercise. It is more important to focus on this during good economic times, because that is when organizations tend to take on unnecessary expenses; however, cutting staff and trimming overhead seems to become a major priority during bad economic times.
It is never good to cut back on sales and marketing efforts or quality personnel. If you are thinking you will replace these when the economy turns around, you may be sadly disappointed. Sales and marketing efforts have a significant lead time. If you wait until you need new business to begin your sales and marketing efforts, you will fall victim to the natural delay between cause and effect.
You can’t wait until you’re thirsty to start digging the well. If you think you can lay off quality people now and replace them during good times, you may find that--when the economy turns around--the good people have all been taken, and you are left trying to get back up to speed with mediocre talent. It is easy to underestimate the lead time necessary to get new employees trained and fully up to speed.
When you have reevaluated both the top line and the bottom line, there is one more very fertile place to look for additional revenue, and this is in the area of productivity. Adding to the top line is like putting more fuel in the tank. Cutting expenses and adding to the bottom line is like throwing cargo overboard or shortening your trip. Increasing productivity is like tuning up your engine to get more out of the fuel you currently have while taking the same trip or even traveling farther.
Productivity may simply be a matter of thinking differently, acting differently, or performing more effectively. Sometimes, being more productive is simply a matter of eliminating less productive activities so you can focus on the tasks that really make a difference.
You can take a free productivity profile that will give you an individualized assessment of how you can be most productive through motivation, communication, and implementation at http://www.ultimateproductivity.com/. There are times to increase the top line, and there are times to cut overhead and increase the bottom line, but it is always the right time to become more productive.
As you go through your day today, look at your time, effort, and energy as precious fuel, and become committed through productivity to get the best mileage possible.
Today’s the day!
Traditionally, there have been two ways that most people think of when they want to have more money. People either want to do more top line or gross business, or they want to create more bottom line or net income.
The top line can be increased by generating sales, volume, or margin. During a recession, conventional thinking is that it is hard to grow the top line. Do not immediately accept this as a fact. Many organizations have gone out of business or cut back on their sales and marketing efforts; therefore, there may be more business potential laying out there than you think.
People generally think of increasing the bottom line by trimming overhead. As we hover around double-digit unemployment, it is apparent that many organizations have cut staff. Statistics also show us that businesses have cut inventories, equipment purchases, and future expansion plans.
Justifying overhead is always a worthwhile exercise. It is more important to focus on this during good economic times, because that is when organizations tend to take on unnecessary expenses; however, cutting staff and trimming overhead seems to become a major priority during bad economic times.
It is never good to cut back on sales and marketing efforts or quality personnel. If you are thinking you will replace these when the economy turns around, you may be sadly disappointed. Sales and marketing efforts have a significant lead time. If you wait until you need new business to begin your sales and marketing efforts, you will fall victim to the natural delay between cause and effect.
You can’t wait until you’re thirsty to start digging the well. If you think you can lay off quality people now and replace them during good times, you may find that--when the economy turns around--the good people have all been taken, and you are left trying to get back up to speed with mediocre talent. It is easy to underestimate the lead time necessary to get new employees trained and fully up to speed.
When you have reevaluated both the top line and the bottom line, there is one more very fertile place to look for additional revenue, and this is in the area of productivity. Adding to the top line is like putting more fuel in the tank. Cutting expenses and adding to the bottom line is like throwing cargo overboard or shortening your trip. Increasing productivity is like tuning up your engine to get more out of the fuel you currently have while taking the same trip or even traveling farther.
Productivity may simply be a matter of thinking differently, acting differently, or performing more effectively. Sometimes, being more productive is simply a matter of eliminating less productive activities so you can focus on the tasks that really make a difference.
You can take a free productivity profile that will give you an individualized assessment of how you can be most productive through motivation, communication, and implementation at http://www.ultimateproductivity.com/. There are times to increase the top line, and there are times to cut overhead and increase the bottom line, but it is always the right time to become more productive.
As you go through your day today, look at your time, effort, and energy as precious fuel, and become committed through productivity to get the best mileage possible.
Today’s the day!