Industrial Distribution

Steve Epner

BLOG Entry December 07
December 18, 2007

"Best practices" is one of those buzz-word terms that get lots of press, generate lots of conversations and end up creating a minimal amount of positive change. Why? Because most business people want a silver bullet. They want an easy and guaranteed answer. They want someone to tell them what to do in order to be more successful.

It does not work that way. First, if it were easy and guaranteed, it would already be done. Second, the answers may be hidden. So look carefully.

Learn from what others have done. There are lessons to be found in every success or failure. But success requires work—hard work. Changing can be hard work. So do your homework to make sure the effort you will put into change will pay back in positive benefits.

Start by looking at the things that the most successful around us all seem to be doing. For example, many of the vertical market associations publish a PAR or other Profit Analysis Report. In it are the numbers achieved by the top businesses in each industry. It is full of best practice information.

For example, look at the dollar value of sales per employee. If your numbers are lower, you may be paying too much for help, you may be overstaffed or your procedures may be so

Posted by Steve Epner on December 18, 2007 | Comments (0)