This is Part 2 of the three part Bottom Line Blindness post.  If you have not yet seen part one, please click here.

Many will argue that the bottom line is used as a sort of barometer of company success.  And I, for one, call bullshit.  Case and point: The “short term fix” when the economy took a dive was to layoff employees, cut costs and just about anything else to increase that bottom line for your company.  Now it appears as if the economy has improved, but has it really? You can’t rearrange the numbers forever. The only thing that matters for any organization is that they deliver on two points:

• Fulfill the needs of the community
• Fulfill the needs of the supply chain

First, and foremost, your community has to be satisfied.  If you can’t fulfill the needs of the community you are either a.) in the wrong business b.) not focusing on the community or c.) all of the above.

The other side of the same coin is the supply chain needs to remain in motion.  If you can’t manage the supply chain correctly (i.e. manage/ control the inputs to even HAVE a product to deliver to the community) you are either a.) in the wrong business b.) in the wrong career or c.) all of the above.

Focusing on the bottom line is not an essential character to either of the two points listed above. A higher profit margin is not sustainable if the basic needs of your community are not met because you will soon find yourself without a community.  And no matter what the size of the bottom line, if you are not managing your supply correctly your product will disappear, followed by your community, and finally that bottom line you were so focused on.

The think (here) Blog will revisit this concept of BLB often.  However, tomorrow’s post: “Bottom Line Blindness (Part 3)- Red Flags and what to do about them” will conclude this portion of the topic.

Did I miss something?  Do you disagree?  Would you add anything?  Let me know, leave a comment below and get in on the discussion.