In the early 1900’s, an Italian economist named Vilfredo Pareto noticed that 80% of the land was owned by a mere 20% of the population. Joseph M. Juran later took that piece of information and started seeing it all over. He coined it the “Pareto Principle” or as most know it today, “The 80/20 Rule”.
The principle applies to virtually every area you come into contact
with. Here are a few examples of how it might affect your business.
– 80% of your output comes from 20% of your input
– 80% of your income comes from 20% of your clients
– 80% of your problems come from 20% of your sources
– 80% of the consequences come from 20% of the causes
Granted, these numbers are going to vary somewhat. You may come up with 90/10, 70/30, or ever 99/1. Generally speaking though, this information can be very valuable to your business.
If 80% of all your sales come from just 20% of your advertising, take
the time to figure out which ads bring in the most money and run only those ads. Get rid of the 20% of your clients that cause you all that pain and heartache.
You can spend a lot of time being busy with the 80% of things that don’t matter, or you can use your time wisely and focus on what brings you the biggest return.
How do you want to spend your time?