It's the insidious nature of expenses. Spending comes easy. When you look at expenses before your desired profit, you cover up all sorts of bad habits.

Yet when you flip the script and prize profits, it requires you to justify every one of them and look for ways to make your business work at the profit level you've chosen to target.

You'll have to justify every hire, every recurring expense, and either cut them or find replacements. The end result is a healthier business.

This won't happen overnight but it will work if you're diligent. It's also an excellent path toward innovation - creating new ways to achieve more with less.