Profits are Patriotic

The 4th is upon us! It's one of my favorite holidays and not just because I love fireworks and parades, but because it's so "American". I have not traveled as much as I would like, but I have traveled enough to know I love to explore and appreciate other countries, but I am one lucky person to have been born in the United States. There are plenty of things that I wish were different about our country, but that doesn't mean that I'd want to live anywhere else, and I certainly wouldn't want to try and have the business I have here anywhere else.

This has been a tough couple of years for American business. We've witnessed what greed can do and it has not been pretty, but that does not mean that we shouldn't pursue profit. Quite the contrary...and there is no better time than the 4th of July to remember that profits are the American way. Profits are patriotic. Profits are good.

I speak through this column about technology and process. I do it because I am passionate about it as a business endeavor. Why? Because doing things more efficiently is good for everyone. Being efficient is good for the environment and good for the pocketbook, which lets us be good, giving people. Good Americans.

So how do we measure "profits"? We all know the answer. Two ways; money and happiness. Money is easy to define. Happiness is much too personal to be defined by anyone else's terms. And the magic combination of money and happiness, well...
So how do you measure your profits? There are probably an infinite number of ways, but here's one I'm partial...profit per headcount. The ratio helps put the focus on efficiency. And in many ways I continue to look to and into Craigslist one of the best examples of how to do this. Reports have it that Craigslist has 30 employees and does $100 million in annual revenue. That's over $3.0 million per person. It's a good benchmark, wouldn't you say? And if you care to understand that it's a company built on having both happiness and money as part of the equation, check out the Fact List on the site. Oh, and by the way, Google's gross revenue per employee is about $1.2 million. Less than half of Craigslist.

This 4th of July, run the numbers on your business or department. Gross revenue is probably the least accurate measurement but it will do if you don't know net income or profits. Be proud to be profitable because profitable companies are good for America. They are run by people who have allegiances to family, community and country. Profits are reinvested into the flow and create jobs. And even when they are used to simply buy "stuff", they help the people who build and crate the "stuff". So this 4th of July, celebrate your own commitment to be proud that you work on being profitable knowing it makes you and lots of others happy! Oh, and don't forget go see lots of fireworks, wave a flag on the sideline of a parade and eat at least one hotdog!

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