by MHolland | Jun 13, 2025 | Business Tips, Remote Work, Systems
I really like what I learned from Tim Ferris…
You know, the 4 Hour Work Week guy? The title for that book sounds like so much hype, doesn’t it?
Yet it is good. Very good. Why? Because it is chock full of practical advise, not just grand ideas.
Many I put into place immediately and have never stopped doing them.
Here is an oldey blog yet still “plays” well:
The Not-To-Do List: 9 Habits to Stop Now
If you want to check out the 4 Hour Workweek for yourself, here is a link to download the first 50 pages:
The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef – PDFs
by MHolland | Jun 6, 2025 | Business Tips, Cash Flow, Systems
Lately I have been truing my client’s thinking to focus on one Key Performance Indicator as the grandaddy of them all…
True, it is not a leading indicator, it is a results driven indicator. Once we calculate it, it is too late to change. It is done.
It is an indicator that I see as the great equalizer. It can apply to all businesses and used to compare results across varied industries.
The one KPI that rules them all is…. (drum roll, please) …
Net Profit Before Tax (NPBT)
Not revenue. Not gross margin. Not EBITDA.
Net Profit Before Tax is the ultimate scorecard for your business.
Why NPBT is King
Net Profit Before Tax is brutally honest.
It shows what is really left after you have paid everyone else — your staff, your suppliers, your landlord, your bank, and even yourself.
In the calculation I include interest, amortization, and owner’s market-based salary (even if only accrued as a reversing journal entry).
In other words, it includes all expenses up to taxes. Taxes is a distribution of profits, so we exclude that.
To be clear –
We’re talking net profit after paying the owner a fair market salary, covering interest, and recording amortization. It is your true business performance before the taxman takes his cut.
The New Reality – 5% is Break-Even
Today, 5% net profit before tax is the new break-even.
Why?
Because if you are only producing a 5% return, any bump in the road that is beyond your control (tariffs as an example) means you have no leverage to react.
It is doubtful, if you have been doing only 5% NPBT that you have much, if any, savings to meet a crisis, correct?
For the owner, as a person separate from working in the business, 5% is not enough to mitigate the financial risk of being in business.
10% = Solid. Sustainable. Smart.
At 10%, you have a bona fide business.
You have enough margin to:
- Invest in your team.
- Ride out a rough quarter.
- Sleep well at night.
Now you are not just surviving — you are building.
15% = Elite Territory
When you consistently achieve 15% net profit before tax, you have enough left over to:
- Pay your taxes when due.
- Save money.
- Pay down debt.
- Pay dividends to the shareholders.
15% NPBT is a benchmark of an extraordinary business. You have a business that has many things right:
- Correct, value-based pricing.
- Lean operations
- Strong leadership
- Loyal customers who value what you do
Why This KPI Works for All Businesses
Whether you are selling software, growing flowers, managing buildings, or doing construction work — NPBT works as a comparative KPI across every business.
It cuts through all the differences in industries, and gives you a simple question to answer:
“How much profit does this business really make after everyone gets paid?”
In Conclusion
Track your Net Profit Before Tax. Make sure to deduct interest expense, amortization, and a market-based wage for the owner.
To determine the market-based wage, calculate what it would realistically cost to replace yourself.
Hit 10%, and you are doing well.
Push to 15%, and you are building a business with swagger.
If you are sitting below 5% — it is time for a serious tune-up.
Look at your pricing first, then margins, fixed costs, and whether you are providing awesome service!
By the way, I am indebted to the Greg Crabtree a brilliant CPA who wrote the book, “Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits!” for many ofg the ideas shared above.
Thanks for reading…
by MHolland | May 30, 2025 | Business Tips, Systems
All right, no one reading this wants to think of their business like McDonalds’s, right?
Yet, what is admirable about McDonald’s?
Their awesome systems. I mean, think about it.
Could you, hiring teenagers, make a hamburger taste the same in Vancouver as Vienna?
Their systems run like a well-oiled machine, and that is what makes them, as a business, a money-making machine.
Their system is the business, not the burgers.
The consistency is stunning and it is not magic — it is the systems.
And any business, from a property management firm to a cross-border customs broker, can learn from it.
What exactly defines a workable system? Let us explore…
The Outcomes Repeat
In a workable system, the outcomes are identical, every time, and here is the key – the system runs independent of who is doing it.
A Big Mac in Toronto tastes exactly like one in Tokyo because the process never changes.
An example in our online, virtual business is invoice processing.
It does not depend on who is in the office even. We use Plooto and ApprovalMax to create repeatability, which builds trust and avoids surprises.
Simple Over Clever
Complicated systems break. Simple ones scale.
McDonald’s does not hire gourmet chefs. It hires students and trains them with timers and visual cues. The brilliance? Anyone can follow it.
If your people, in your business cannot explain your systems, then they are too convoluted, or worse, non-existent.
Plug-and-Play Training
A workable system should train people — not depend on them.
New hires at Starbucks do not “figure it out.” They follow a playbook, make drinks in a specific order, and learn through repetition.
How do you know if your systems are being followed?
Am glad you asked!
The answer is amazingly simple – by the outcomes.
Consistent outcomes, as you defined them to be, are the test of workable systems.
The key here is to build your systems backwards, starting from your committed outcomes.
Everyone Knows What Success Looks Like
A great system does not just do the work — it makes expectations crystal clear.
Shift managers at McDonald’s track drive-thru times, order accuracy, and cleanliness — every hour.
How can you replicate?
Set measurable targets in each department in your company.
For example, “Invoices paid every Thursday,” or “Vacancy reports updated monthly.” Then make performance visible — with dashboards or simple KPIs.
Backed by Tools (Not Just People)
The best systems do not rely on memory. They rely on tools that keep things on track.
From grill timers to digital order screens, McDonald’s builds automation into the workflow.
Do not wait for someone to “remember” to do something.
In our business we use software to keep everything on track and consistent.
Our procedures are documented in Keeper.
We use tools like Xero, HubDoc, Plooto, and ApprovalMax to automate the routine.
Same Experience, Anywhere
A workable system creates consistency, even when people or locations change.
Starbucks does not leave it to chance. Whether you are in Saskatoon or Seattle, that flat white will taste the same — and take the same three minutes.
Built to Improve (Without Breaking)
Good systems do not get stale — they evolve without creating chaos.
Think CANI – Constant And Never-ending Improvement.
McDonald’s tests new menu items constantly — but within the existing system. No reinvention needed.
For your business, build in feedback loops. Meet monthly to review what is working and what is not.
“What is clunky? What is unclear? What is being skipped?”
Then tweak. No overhaul required — tweak. That is how you grow without breaking the machine.
Final Thought
If you must be there to make it work, it is not a system — it is a dependency.
You do not need to run a billion-dollar empire to benefit from better systems. Whether you are managing a church budget, running a cross-border logistics team, or juggling cash flow at your construction firm, systems are the key to growth without burnout.
We help businesses just like yours put those systems in place — and keep them humming.
Thanks for reading…
by MHolland | May 23, 2025 | Business Tips, Systems
I am a big fan of Tim Ferris’s book called The 4 Hour Workweek…
It changed my life, and no, I do not work only 4 hours a week. Haaa!
What the book will do is show you how incredibly unproductive most of us really are.
It is not a book of theory. It is a book chock-a-block filled with practical wisdom and tips.
If you only implement a few it will change your life.
I just read a blog on the Freedom website. You know, that app I keep talking about – Freedom. Another life changer.
The blog was about Tim Ferris and how he recommends the Freedom app. (He is very picky about what he endorses).
Here is the link:
Freedom and The 4 Hour Workweek
Another great Freedom blog is all about information overload. And, today, in our wired, digital world who cannot relate to that problem?
The mantra here is “less is more”. And, what is included in the “less”. Endless doom scrolling (is there any other kind these days?) should not be included in the “less”. Maybe reading a Classic novel would be a good thing to include.
Here is the link:
Digital Overload
Okay, I think you are getting the theme for this week’s blog – Freedom! Yahhh!
Lastly, and this is a good one, so, please read this. It is all about a Weekly Review. Sounds boring, doesn’t it?
It is a good one as well. It might even change your life.
Take a read:
Weekly Review for Personal Development
Feel free to email me with what you got out of this weeks Blog.
Thank you for reading…
by MHolland | May 15, 2025 | Business Tips, Systems
Business (and life!) is full of exciting ideas, clever strategies, and grand visions…
Sorry to be blunt – none of the above makes your business special. Slide up to any drunk in any bar on the globe and that person will regale you with equally grand plans and ideas!
Failure to Implement is what stops a great idea from sprouting. It is when the buzz, the high, of the idea begs for action and boom, something else takes priority. You know, those annoying urgent daily tasks that continually crop up and get in the way.
And those great ideas die untried, unproven.
None of the above applies to you. You are in business. You had a grand idea, and you implemented it.
So, what is the problem?
The problem is that there is something worse than not getting started…
You Have Systems
You started. You created systems. Process maps. Standard Operating Procedures, commonly known as SOPs.
You have documented your systems, so what could be missing?
Failure To Implement
Wait, you are thinking, did I not just say that Failure to Implement is what stops people from getting started? And did I not say that you all got started because you are in business.
True. Okay, so what exactly is the problem?
Monitoring and Managing Adherence to Your Systems
To prove to me, in your business, that you have not failed to implement you must demonstrate two things:
- Your written, or software-based systems. I need to see what is documented.
- Then, and this is critically important, I need to see your systems in physical reality being performed (or not performed).
A Simple Example
You have a documented system for evaluating quality control after your business manufactures a particular product.
There are detailed steps involved in this process. You even documented who in your company is responsible.
Step (1) – documented systems are done. Great!
Now, I am looking for Step (2) – implementation. I need to see a checklist, either physical, or virtual of a signed Quality Control Audit checklist. The items on the list need to be perfectly corelated to the documented process maps and systems.
Without being able to observe a system being followed in action then there has been a Failure to Implement.
Another example is a company like McDonalds. They are clearly very systematized. (How else could they have spanned the globe selling a lowly hamburger, of all things?)
The system is that each server at the counter, must ask each customer, “would you like that meal super-sized?”
It is easy to test adherence to the system to determine easily and quickly whether there is a Failure to Implement. Just observe them in action.
Outcomes Must Be Defined
First, outcomes must be clearly defined.
The step-by-step systems must be designed to produce the planned outcomes – excellent products/services delivered on-time with awesome service.
It is obvious that beautiful systems, terrific outcomes, and simple documentation are not enough, right?
Without implementation and management of adherence to the documented systems, no predictable outcomes will ever happen.
That business is living inside of chaos, even with brilliant systems.
Test Your Processes
To ensure that your desired outcomes are achieved, you must test your processes and practice CANI. Constant And Never-ending Improvement.
In Summary
- Ideas are as common as beer in a bar.
- Implementation, getting started is hard.
- Failure to Implement at the systems/process level leaves you with managing semi-organized chaos.
- Test your processes.
- Practice Constant and Never-Ending Improvement.
- Your adherence to your systems must be seen in physical reality – audit reports, things being done or not done by witnessing the processes.
Thanks for reading…
by MHolland | May 9, 2025 | Business Tips, Cash Flow, Systems
If you want a thriving business, it is not just about hard work, talented people, or even brilliant ideas. It is about systems.
Systems are the hidden engines driving your business forward (or holding it back). Here is why they matter — and how they can supercharge your performance.
Your business are the systems; the systems are your business. No systems equal semi-organized chaos.
Systems Eliminate Chaos
Without systems, every task becomes an ad hoc scramble.
- Who is doing what?
- When is it due?
- What is the process?
A solid system gives your team clarity, reduces firefighting, and makes work smoother. Less drama, more results.
Systems Make You Scalable
You cannot grow on hustle alone.
Growth needs repeatable, reliable processes — ones that do not break when you add new customers, hire new staff, or open a new location.
Think:
✅ A sales process that works without you in the room
✅ An onboarding process that does not depend on memory
✅ A reporting system that shows performance at a glance
Systems Improve Accountability
With clear systems, everyone knows the rules.
It is easy to measure performance, spot bottlenecks, and fix issues before they explode. No more finger-pointing.
Good systems shine a light on:
- Where time or money is leaking
- Which tasks are stuck?
- Who needs help to hit targets?
Systems Unlock Profitability
Disorganized businesses bleed cash — through wasted time, errors, missed opportunities, and inefficiency.
Tight systems mean:
💰 Lower costs
💰 Faster turnaround
💰 Happier customers.
Bottom line? More profit.
Systems Free Up the Owner
Here is the big one: without systems, you are a bottleneck.
Every decision, every approval, every fix runs through you.
With systems, you can step back and lead, not micromanage.
Final Takeaway
Businesses do not rise or fall just on effort — they rise or fall on systems.
Want to improve performance?
Start by improving your systems.
Thanks for reading…
