Mark-up or Margin, are you confused?

I am sure most of my readers check the search words used by visitors to their website. I do almost every day, and there are some very revealing and frankly shocking facts which emerge. Perhaps the most shocking is the fact that the commonest type of search which finds my site goes something like "What markup do I need for a 25% margin?"

"Why", you ask, "do you find that shocking?" The answer simply put is that it shocks me that business owners are struggling with the concept of margin when it is the basis of almost all business analysis, and if they don't understand it, they are putting their business at serious risk. To understand why let me give you a real life example. More

Accountability: The Rim of the "Wheel of Management".Here is the full article!

There has been so much interest in my latest article that I have reproduced it here.

This is the final article in the series entitled "The Wheel of Management". In previous articles we talked about organization, delegation, measurement, evaluation, communication and discipline, each critical components of an effective management system, and we saw that all of these processes had a common theme:

- Tell your people what you expect them to do;
- Measure their accomplishment;
- Give them feedback; and
- Reward or discipline them as the case may be based on that accomplishment.

Now we must ask ourselves whether all of the processes also had a common objective and a little thought will tell you that the answer is a resounding "Yes!" Unquestionably the common objective is the fostering of a climate of accountability among our employees. Accountability, the attribute that makes the organization run smoothly, the thing that absorbs the potholes along the way, yes accountability is truly the Rim of the Wheel of Management. And accountability happens because of the way we manage!

Perhaps this comes as a surprise because the common misconception is that we look for employees who are accountable. Looking doesn't work! We have to make them accountable, and making them accountable means that it is our job! This is what managers do. So, sorry guys and gals, those of you who lament that your people are not accountable, well, suck it up because it is your fault!

Now this may seem harsh, and it is. It is because it is not hard to do all the things we have discussed, it just takes a little resolve to really be a manager, and a little effort to get the small amount of knowledge necessary. The worst part is that it is actually easier to manage well than it is to manage badly. If you take the time to master the skills that we have discussed, it will be a weight off your mind because the things you have always wanted will really start to happen.

The greatest reward about doing what I do is when one of my clients comes to me and says, "You really gave me my life back. I was beating myself up the wall, making less money than when I was employed, and you changed all that." I don't correct him even though I know that it was him who actually changed all that, all I did was provide the knowledge that he needed.

The best part about all this is that accountability also means profitability. This means that any investment you make in gaining the knowledge to become a better manager is repaid several fold by improvement in your bottom line. This must be one of the most unique of all opportunities, make your job easier, and make it more profitable. Boy what a deal!

To find other articles in the series go to my website.

The Wheel of Management series is complete!

I have just uploaded the final article in the Wheel of Management series to my website. The article ties it all together and shows that accountability of our employees arises from the way we manage. In other words we make them accountable by what we do. This is somewhat of a revelation. Read more now!