
Episode #39
Know Your Real Costs Before You Measure Your Return on Investment (ROI)
A big sale, successful project, or strong revenue number can look impressive until you calculate what it actually cost to produce. In this episode of It’s The Bottom Line that Matters, Jennifer R. Glass and Patricia Reszetylo discuss return on investment and the costs business owners can overlook when evaluating whether an investment actually paid off. The conversation begins with an example Patricia encountered in a webinar. A seller described customers spending money on an opportunity and later generating substantially more revenue. The impressive-looking return prompted an important question: what happened to the travel, hotel, transportation, and other expenses required to produce those results? That question becomes the center of the episode. Jennifer and Patricia discuss: Looking beyond the headline revenue number Including relevant expenses when evaluating an investment Travel and other costs associated with speaking and consulting engagements Fixed and variable business expenses The importance of knowing the actual cost basis behind a product or service Situations where recovering part of the cost of unsold inventory can still be financially useful Measuring results so business decisions can improve over time A result can look profitable when important costs have been left out of the calculation. Understanding those costs gives business owners a more useful picture of what an investment actually produced. Tags: ROI, return on investment, business ROI, calculate ROI, small business finance, true business costs, hidden costs, cost basis, fixed costs, variable costs, business profitability, investment return, travel expenses, business expenses, inventory liquidation, measurement, financial decision making, business metrics, business strategy, Jennifer R. Glass, Patricia Reszetylo, It’s The Bottom Line that Matters, how to calculate ROI in business, return on investment for small business, business ROI, true cost of an investment, calculate business profitability, hidden business costs, cost basis in business, measure return on investment, business investment analysis

