Your Competition is Your Costs

Remaining profitable in business is a simple equation — sales revenue exceeding operating costs. In this episode of The REWORK Podcast, 37signals’ co-founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson explain why controlling costs should be a bigger focus than what your competition is doing. They share some simple strategies for analyzing costs and share why operating without a formal office space might be worth considering.

Key Takeaways:

• 00:37 – Why you should stop worrying about what everyone else is doing
• 02:26 – Focusing on the things within your control
• 06:58 – Analyzing your business' cash cows, dogs, and shooting stars
• 11:21 – Budgeting doesn’t always mean being frugal
• 12:24 – Weighing cost against value
• 16:16 – What the company gained by letting go of a physical office space
• 18:31 – Aesthetics of a well-run, profitable business
• 21:06 – The biggest expenses entrepreneurs often overlook

Links and Resources:

"You only compete with one thing" from Jason Fried's HEY World

"Our cloud-exit savings will now top ten million over five years" from David Heinemeier Hansson's HEY World

37signals' meet-up expenses

Books by 37signals

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HEY World | HEY

The REWORK podcast

The Rework Podcast on YouTube

The 37signals Dev Blog

37signals on YouTube

@37signals on X