You can do anything … but not everything.

Many years ago I managed a fundraising unit which generated around $4.4 million in revenue. I managed four staff and numerous contractors and we produced four regular print publications, even more e-newsletters, a website, a Facebook page and documentary films. It was a relatively small yield from so much output and there were a few things that earnt a lot of money and a lot of things that earnt very little - or none at all.

If this is starting to sound familiar, read on.

Sometimes companies do things to create value, not profit. Did you know that couture often looses money? But luxury fashion brands retain their couturiers so that they can charge more for low value items like perfume and sunglasses. They make their profit on this and ready-to-wear. We are all in business to make money.

More than any other business, charities are under pressure to minimize running costs. Yet it was a struggle to convince my boss that we should be doing fewer, higher yielding activities. Almost every time I met him, he had another idea, something else that we could add to our already significant workload. Once I recognised his pattern, my standard reply became - we can do anything, but not everything.

This is something I keep having to remind myself, as a small business owner. Focus on the things that create value. That doesn’t always have to be cash, although this is the easiest way to denote value. It could be a valuable relationship, something that elevates the brand or that makes you feel good (think of that customer who spends hour chatting, who always makes you laugh but may not buy anything).

When evaluating a number of elements and deciding which ones to focus on, marketers will often use a rating system. The values can be quantitative or qualitative. If you have having trouble figuring out what is valuable, you could use a five star system. One star if it earns money, another star if it enhances your relationships and a third if it makes you feel good.

The fourth and fifth stars are for things that do none of these things but your business can’t do without, like tax or bookkeeping.