It all looks good on paper. Your product or service is up there with the competition, you can fend off new entrants to the marketplace, the demand is stable and your suppliers are solid. Then it happens. Profits start to fall. You may have seen it coming. If you’re on the ball you will have identified the threat. The cause may be legislative changes for employers, or increasing legal protection costs, or the need for increased customer support. The crunch may even stem from something as simple as a key member of staff leaving your employ. Yes, we’re talking about that ever-present bane of business – Overheads. In the face of increasing costs, profit margins can be sustained in only three ways – 1. Increased product price – could be death to your competitive edge. 2. Decrease in quality or professionalism – while the process may take a little longer, this will kill you just as surely as pricing yourself out of the market. 3. Increased efficiency. No prizes for guessing th...