Not in the files and storage room sense. Not in the set up of the lobby or the layout of the office furniture. Those are good ideas but that’s not what I’m shooting for here.

I’m talking about recreating a new business model that works in a down economy. Reducing expenses, streamlining processes, organizing digital tools, empowering employees, repositioning marketing dollars- that’s the ticket in this economy. More with less.

Now if you’re lean and mean and flexible, you can move and adapt quicker than the competition. Even if there is no competition you can adjust to your customers demands. Instead of building products and figuring out how to market them, you can listen to what people are asking for and give it to them. You can create a more compelling story.

Instead of focusing on up-sizing revenue, profits and cash all the time, how about a few years  of breaking down current fat business models and making them lean. Costco and Zappos come to mind.

The road to wealth lies in augmenting our means or diminishing our wants, either will do, but the quickest way is to do both- Ben Franklin