The First Step to 100,000,000 is One Penny

It is a simple business principle. Watch the pennies and the dollars take care of themselves. If everyone in the company is watching the pennies come and go then amazing things can happen. How can we encourage our associates to catch the vision?

*Start at the work station

Look at the supplies that are at every work station and make an inventory. Computers, paper, paper clip, pens, Kleenex, whatever the company provides to make the associates able to do there jobs in and efficient and comfortable manner. Don't miss anything.

If a paper clip cost .0004 cents then list it that way. How many paper clips can we save to get a penny or a dollar? Put a price to everything and a goal on expenditures. The key is to keep is simple and visible. Anyone can save a penny right? So if the company has 100 employees and everyone saves a penny each day, that is a dollar.

*Employee evaluation form

Mark Willes, a small business owner in Park City Utah, gave his employees an evaluation form at the beginning of the year. It included all the standard things that evaluations include like attendance, work ethics, co-workers, productivity, and then came the penny section. This is where the employee kept tract of the pennies that had made for the company that year.

It was a lot of work to keep track of the pennies and some people chose not to participate. Then at the end of the year, came the hook. Those who diligently kept track of the pennies and had payed attention and tracked the results received a bonus. They received double the amount of pennies they had saved. Some of the people made thousands.

Mark is still in business and the employees know that some type of bonus will be received each year, simply by watching the pennies.

*Publish the utilities, rent and overhead costs.

People may turn off a light once they know the actual cost. Show how it transfers to the bottom line and the stock price of the company. Encourage them to talk about and participate. Be a company that believes a penny saved is a penny earned.

*Sales up by a penny

Can simple adding a penny to the price of an item actually make a difference? Most companies sell in volume and pennies add up. Let's say the company sells 1000 units of produce a day. Raise the price by a penny. In a year there is a collection of $3,600. Will that help pay a power bill? Will it make one payment on a piece of equipment? Can the sales team add pennies and value to a product so there are more pennies coming in?

Make the goals visible and concrete. Have change jars through out the office. If we want a party or an office outing, drop in the pennies. Make giant penny presentations that are on every company communication. It is part of back to the basics that eventually turns pennies into millions.