The Wrong Number to Focus On
A business owner I work with recently asked me what seemed like a simple question:
“How much should I spend to find my next employee?”
Reasonable question.
The answer ended up changing the entire conversation — and her understanding of how money flows through her business.
First we need to back up.
We had spent just the previous hour reviewing her fleet. (She runs a transportation and logistics company.)
Truck by truck.
Trailer by trailer.
Trying to understand whether she had too much equipment, not enough equipment, or simply the wrong mix.
What made the analysis interesting was that not every trailer could do every job.
Some customers required a belt trailer.
Others needed a dump trailer.
Others could only be serviced by a hopper trailer.
(And I now know the difference between each of these!)
Each trailer type unlocked different revenue opportunities.
So naturally, we found ourselves discussing utilization.
How often is each trailer being used?
Which ones are earning their keep?
Which ones aren’t?
But as we kept digging, a different pattern emerged.
The trailers weren’t the constraint.
The drivers were.
After running the numbers, we estimated that one additional qualified driver could generate nearly $40,000 per month in additional revenue.
Roughly $22,000 of that would flow directly to the bottom line.
More than $260,000 per year in profit.
Suddenly, the conversation wasn’t about trailers anymore.
It was about growth.
Then I asked how much she planned to spend advertising for that next driver.
She told me about $2,000 felt reasonable.
That’s where most business owners stop thinking...
They look at the cost.
They compare it against what feels comfortable.
And they make a decision.
I pushed back. Hard.
Not because her logic was bad.
Because she was focused on the wrong number.
I pointed out that spending $30,000 to recruit the right driver would still produce roughly an 8x return in the first year alone.
That is, her $30k spend could turn into
... $480,000 increase in revenue
... $264,000 increase in net income.
(It's important to point out they currently have two trucks and trailers sitting vacant, so no new assets need to be purchased to bring on another driver or two.)
The question wasn’t:
“How much does it cost to find a driver?”
The question was:
“How much is it costing you not to have one?”
Those are very different calculations.
To her credit, she immediately understood the math.
But understanding the numbers and feeling comfortable with the decision were two very different things.
Spending significantly more than she’d ever spent on recruiting felt excessive.
Risky. Almost irresponsible.
And that’s where I think many business owners get stuck.
We become incredibly sensitive to visible expenses.
Ad spend.
Payroll.
Software subscriptions.
Equipment.
But we completely overlook the invisible costs.
The opportunities we’re missing.
The customers we’re turning away.
The growth we’re delaying.
The profit we’re leaving on the table.
A week later, we had our answer.
After running ads for just five days:
Three qualified candidates applied.
Two already have start dates confirmed.
We paused the ad campaign because there was no reason to keep spending.
Problem solved.
Or at least, problem dramatically improved.
The lesson had very little to do with trucking.
And everything to do with constraints and the ways we think about our problems (and solving them).
Most business owners spend their time optimizing around bottlenecks instead of removing them.
We become experts at working around the problem.
Accommodating the problem.
Explaining the problem.
Defending the problem.
Living with the problem.
When often the better question is:
“What would happen if we actually solved it?”
The easiest numbers to see are rarely the most important numbers to manage.
Because the true constraint in your business is almost never the thing sitting on your expense report.
It’s the thing quietly limiting everything else.
So if you’re feeling stuck right now, ask yourself:
What number am I obsessing over?
And is there a more important number I might be missing?
That question alone could change everything.
In your corner,
— Andrew
P.S. One of the most valuable parts of coaching is helping business owners identify the real constraint—the thing that, once solved, makes dozens of other problems easier. If you’d like help finding yours, I’d love to talk.
Talk with Andrew
If you want help applying these ideas to your own finances or business, we can talk it through.
Don’t miss the next edition
Margin & Meaning is published every two weeks — thoughtful insights on money, growth, and decision-making.
