b'FEATURET H E S E E S AW O F RISK AND PROFITSBY DOMINIC RUBINOT heseesawofriskandprofitsasHeres what I mean. Chaos in a busi- So what is the ancient Sumerian trick balancesagainstchaosandnessshowsuplikeatrailofcookiefor taking your business from chaos to predictability. crumbs to a napping dog. It shows upprofits and predictability? The answer is No,thatsnotsomeancientaninconsistentproductorservice,simple systems.Sumerianquote.Itsjusttheeverydaystressed-out front line staff, a revolvingIf you feel like your business seesaw reality of the construction industry. door of people and a place where no oneistiltedtowardsriskandchaos,here Peopleliketothinkthatbusinessis taking responsibility.are a few simple systems you can put in owners are risk takers. It might look likeOntheotherside,predictabilityinplace quickly.that. But we hate risk. We love predict- a business is also easy to spot. It feels ability.Predictabilitymeansprofits.like you can actually see systems andSimple systemsProfits mean getting your life back.processes that work. The staff is calm,Knowthevalueofyourtime.Asa Risk is stress. All The Time. and the product or service is consistentbusiness owner, youre responsible for all In reality, the most successful businessandreliable.Thinkofhowbusyyourthe operations of the company. Its easy ownersonlyplaytheoddswhentheylocal Starbucks is.all those crazy drinks,to get pulled into low-value tasks. On a know theyre going to win. thedrive-throughishumming,andwescrap of paper, figure out your Revenue ResponsibilityperHour(RR/h).Just Successful, profitable business ownerssnicker when they spell our name wrong!divide last years sales by the number of know that the simplest way to do that isBut you rarely see Starbucks where thehours you worked in a year. For example, to avoid chaos and use predictability tostaff is stressed out. And, of coursea business that has top line sales of $1 manage risk and profits. Starbucks is profitable. millionwheretheownerworked2000 28lROOFINGBC l SPRING 2020'