Most entrepreneurs don’t think much about operating costs; they’re ‘just a cost of doing business’.

And, as a solopreneur, you get what you get. We advocate working backwards to examine what you get, but that’s another story.

Stop and think a minute about those operating costs that work for you. Are they what you want? If not, why aren’t you changing, especially in this era of AI? Are you hiring people that fit your vision for the company?

When I and a partner took over my family company, we found out we didn’t have the right people that would support growth.

We worked backward from cash flow to support growth, through revenues, to figure out what our personnel costs should be. They started our higher than objective, but by the end of the first year, and about 75% turnover, we had the right people. Even in Reno, Nevada.

We joined a manufacturer’s group, which allowed us to benchmark our manufacturing and personnel costs against those of other manufacturers. Our bank put the group together. This group was like Solutions Forum, as a peer group of owners, and generated a lot of good insight we might not otherwise have had.

Look around at groups through Meetup, Alignable and Linked in for resources. Even if the groups are online, spread out all over the country, they should be helpful. If not, keep searching.

But don’t give up on trying to benchmark your operating costs. There’s no one answer to getting and keeping costs ‘in line’ but the more information you’ve got, the better off you are.