In the News

There's No Need to Let Go
By Gloria McCoy
Black Enterprise, July 2001

After more than a decade of downsizing, companies around the world have experienced the repercussions of losing their best people and are now focusing on better ways to become more profitable. Typically, companies responded to the need to cut costs by laying off employees. “But,” says Perry J. Ludy, a senior executive with more than 25 years of corporate and entrepreneurial experience and author of “Profit Building: Cutting Costs Without Cutting People” (Berrett-Koehler Publisher, $27.95), “companies don’t have to eliminate people to effect short-term returns.”

”Profit Building” shows you how to quickly find appropriate and lasting solutions by offering managers, executives, small business owners, and other business professionals a step-by-step, easy-to-read road map to improving profits. The book outlines the process of stimulating employees’ thinking and problem-solving skills, generating a multitude of creative ideas and effective solutions.

Ludy’s Profit Building Process, a system designed to produce a proven method of immediate and ongoing results, employs the following five steps: (1) picking your team; (2) preparing your team and the organization; (3) brainstorming all the questions; (4) taking action and documenting results; and (5) reviewing and following up. Each of these steps plays a vital role in the process. The Profit Building Process team consists of innovative thinkers with a wide range of experience who represent a cross section of departments and skills. They have the ability to think “out of the box” and are committed to the purpose of the team.

The final steps in the Profit Building Process ensure that the proposed idea is followed through to completion and initiates the next profit-building cycle:

  • Cutting costs in all areas of your business.
  • Seeking the cost-saving opportunities available in revenue, salaries, and payroll.

    • Laying off employees should by your last resort.

    ”Profit Building” is an excellent book for businesses looking to improve profits and reduce costs without reducing their workforce.

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