Margin Makeover
To maximize margins, focus on products with higher markups
By Andrea Hill
Show me a business owner who is laying it all on the line—putting in the hours, the creativity, and the discipline—and still struggling, and much of the time, margin erosion is to blame. Usually, the erosion is a steady drip, drip, drip of decline, not obvious in year-over-year comparisons, but glaring when in a three- to five-year trendline. And because profit margins provide the financial resources needed to invest in a business—from hiring talent to buying inventory to upgrading equipment and technology—the knock-on effects of margin erosion seep into every nook and cranny of a company.