Tax season always seemed a little bit like Christmas morning to me. Not!

I hated the tax season surprises. Additional taxes due. Surprise. No refund. Surprise. And the worst of all? When my accountant would congratulate me on posting a profit in my business… yet there was no money in the bank. Surprise! Enjoy your lump of coal, Mike.

Then one day it hit me like a ton of bricks. Instead of focusing on sales (more of it) and expenses (less of it), what if I focused on sales (more of it) and profit (more and more of it)? What if, for every deposit that came in, I took the profit first?

With that realization everything changed for me. At first blush, it sounds like a simple shell game. I mean expenses are expenses, and profit is what remains. But by declaring what my profit will be in advance, and then taking it the moment the deposit(s) comes in, I was forced to become extremely critical of my expenses. I was forced to become uber-efficient.

It is the simplest change you can make, yet it will have the most profound impact on your business. Start taking your profit first, and force your expenses to be last. You’ll be amazed at how profitable you become.