
Does your company earn just enough to cover operating costs? Then it's time to make some changes with the lessons that Bob Fifer, the Fortune 500 Corporate Financial Advisor, brings in the book "Double Your Profits".
There are many cases of entrepreneurs who don't think about the expenses of their company. This ends up reflecting on the profits, which are low.
But this reality can change, so keep reading this summary and see how to increase your sales, cut costs, and improve results!
Written by Bob Fifer, the work "Double Your Profits: In Six Months or Less" is the bedside book of one of Brazil's greatest entrepreneurs, Ambev's founder Marcel Telles.
In this book, Bob Fifer discusses in 78 steps how to reduce costs, increase sales and improve results clearly, and objectively.
Bob Fifer is the founder and chief executive of the management consulting firm Fifer Associates. He is also a partner of Kaiser Capital Fund, LP.
He holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Harvard College and a master's degree in business administration from Harvard Business School.
He is a consultant to large, medium, and small businesses, including some of the most valuable in the world, according to the magazine Fortune 500 rating.
The book "Double Your Profits" is indicated for business people, directors, entrepreneurs, and managers who care about the profitability of their business.
Here are some insights from Bob Fifer:
In this summary, we will highlight the main points of "Double Your Profits". Let's go!
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The author Bob Fifer starts the book discussing the importance of creating a culture for the organization. Most companies define their mission in a broad and unclear way. As he affirms in the book "Double Your Profits", the mission of every company must be to become the best in what it produces, offers, or sells.
For Bob Fifer, the best way to give credibility to culture is through attitudes that yield good results. So, keep reading to see how costs, time, and product and service differentiation can help a company.
One of the expressions of an organization's culture is the way it manages costs. According to the book "Double Your Profits: In Six Months or Less", the role of the manager is to make the company spend more than competitors on strategic costs and minimize non-strategic costs as much as possible. Explaining:
It's critical that time management is explicit in the culture of an organization. The author Bob Fifer points out that more working hours don't necessarily mean higher productivity.
It's important to maintain a sense of urgency, setting short deadlines for important tasks, and increasing the use of strategic time while non-strategic time decreases. Conceptualizing:
The author's main tip regarding product and service differentiation is to only offer customers the elements of differentiation they are willing to pay for.
The best for the customer, for you, and for your company's profits is to distinguish between the type of differentiation the customer pays for and those other things that are nice to have, but the customer doesn't pay for them, as he says in the book "Double Your Profits".
Bob Fifer teaches that a cost should only be maintained when we are sure that it is necessary. One way to check the need for a cost is to reduce it, even before asking questions to who will be affected by it.
He ensures that employees will adjust their routines and expectations to cut costs.
If there are complaints about the cut, wait a moment to adjust to the new routine. If the cost really proves to be necessary, make the act of spending a difficult process that must go through several procedures to be justified.
Don't be afraid of being a bad guy! Be firm and competent in what you do and they will respect you.
Examine even the small costs. All costs must be proven necessary. This includes people, office supplies, hardware and software, bonuses, and suppliers.
Strictly manage the prices paid to suppliers for goods and services.
Designate someone, other than the buyer, to cut costs and bargain with suppliers.
The buyers, having frequent contact with suppliers, develop friendly relationships, so we cannot expect them to negotiate the best possible value.
Decrease freezes and cuts. Send a note to all suppliers saying that times are bad and that, from now on, you will not accept price increases.
Every price increase that you accept without resorting to a price quote is lost money. In the book "Double Your Profits: In Six Months or Less", the author advises to promote a rigorous competition.
Convince the supplier's vendors that selling depends on a price reduction and the price will be reduced.
Eliminate excess paper spending by reducing reports, statistics, and copies of letters. Focus your priority on information and numbers that really help you make decisions.
Reduce spending on acquiring new software and hardware unnecessarily and ask scientists to rate the R&D projects they work on. This will make them clarify the project and reflect on it in commercial terms.
Don't be afraid of firing employees who perform below the standard you want to keep in your company. In this way, low-level employees will redouble their efforts. Meanwhile, seniors will be encouraged to realize that poor performance does not go unpunished.
Establish generous and well-balanced wages. Compare the compensation offered by other companies to the same positions and be more generous than them.
Any reward or bonus that becomes automatic ceases to have motivational value and becomes an instrument of mismanagement.
Bonds cost nothing and have the same motivating effect as a pay raise. Distribute them if you are hesitant to give a pay raise.
The author Bob Fifer presents in the book "Double Your Profits" ways for you to motivate your employees:
The sales process is your best way to show the customer what your company is capable of.
Selling is a matter of attracting consumers. Always make the customer tell you the real reason why they want to buy the product or service you are offering to improve your sales.
The author Bob Fifer gives a step by step on how to close a sale:
Bob Fifer recommends in the book "Double Your Profits" to have enough salespeople and make sure they spend time with customers, not administrative tasks.
To keep them solely in charge of sales, allow lower-wage clerks to do the administrative work for your salespeople.
Establish a variation in compensation according to the profits made by each salesperson.
When hiring, choose salespeople who know how to sell and how to generate profits.
In this last part of the book "Double Your Profits", the author Bob Fifer advises about life outside of work, which, according to him, has a direct impact on your performance as a good manager.
He affirms that successful entrepreneurs are persistent and adopt an optimistic attitude towards the challenges. They are also firm in their convictions and allow nothing or anyone to stop them from achieving their goals.
Besides, it's important that you enjoy the work you perform and set boundaries on hours and place of work.
Work hard and have fun! Take pleasure in doing what you do and enjoy the eternal journey of improvement.
In the book "Traction", the author Gino Wickman explores how successful entrepreneurs have an attractive and well-defined vision for their business. Also, they know how to communicate this message to employees. From this, a guideline is created to be followed by everyone within the organization, always used to develop solutions and guide strategic actions.
When it comes to layoffs, Ben Horowitz, author of "The Hard Things about Hard Things" suggests that if you need to cut staff, start layoffs as soon as possible after deciding to do so, as news of layoffs can cause additional and even bigger problems.
Another tip is to have managers deliver the news to their own people, never outsource it to Human Resources.
Finally, in "Developing the Leader Within You 2.0", John Maxwell addresses the importance of leaders demonstrating that they care about their team and developing new leaders among them. Also, he works with the idea that 80% of your efforts should be channeled into 20% of your most important priorities to reach your goals.
After reading this summary, you will surely be more excited to increase your company's profits and you will find it is simpler than you thought.
Here are some things we learned from the author Bob Fifer:
Remember that doubling profits doesn't require high technology, it's simply a matter of resolution.
Are you ready to be a successful entrepreneur by adopting the tips shared by Bob Fifer? Don't forget to leave your feedback in the comments!
Also, if you were interested in the book, you can buy it by clicking on the image: