Track customer satisfaction. Identify with your customers.

These were the things I learned from my own SW house.

It boggles the mind that some of these CEOs are paid millions to run their companies into the ground, while the people who actually have the power to make the company successful get their ideas smacked down and are paid barely enough to make their monthly bills.

I own my own company, but I don’t have any employees — my only compensation is the profit I generate for myself. But if I owned a company that needed a CEO or other officers, their compensation would be based solely on profitability. That might not attract many applicants, but it would ensure that those who did apply believed in the company’s future success.

Being a great leader, though, does take a few more skills than being simply a great worker. A great leader must be able to inspire other workers to care (almost) as much as they do about the business and communicate a clear vision for the company both present and future. Too many CEOs of companies out there are getting compensated far too well for what they do for the people who actually do the great work at companies. If all/most company leaders were only bonused on the business results and carry smaller employee-scale salaries, I think the motivation to make company better would remain in focus.

What’s happening with the auto company CEOs is crazy. Private jets, perks, and we pay the bills. Screw that.

I wouldn’t define “excess spending” as for employee help or for equipment, however one way I’m avoiding spending for business-related costs is not buying an already built agency management system ($10,000+ USD) in place of building one myself. Might not be as shiny and have all the bells and whistles at first — and it might absorb some of my time that could be used for marketing — but we will have the ability to tweak to our precise needs.