Don’t count the pencils

It just doesn’t matter. 

In my last post, I talked about numbers that are too big to be helped with data. 

Now, I’m going to talk about numbers that don’t really matter. 

As in how much you paid for the copier. Or how many color copies you made.  Or how big the cell phone bill was. 

I’m not for wasting money. And yes, you should never use color when black and white is just fine (or electronic is all you really need). 

But, I’ve been on too many committees and worked with too many accountants who really love this stuff. When it just doesn’t matter. 

Or, as I say, you can’t save the business by counting the pencils.    

Let’s take an example. I was the treasurer of a local Y. Every new gym member meant $700 per year with no expense.  The total copier telecom bill was somewhere around $10000. So, maybe, with the best deal, that bill could go down to $9000.   Which is about 1.5 new members. 

Yet, some board members would talk endlessly about that bill and not ask how we were getting new members. 

You only have so much quality thinking time during the time. Focus on numbers that actually make a difference.