Rule 5: Maximize Revenue, Minimize Expenses

Level: Beginner Module: The Twelve Management Rules 2 min read Lesson 5 of 94

Overview

  • What you’ll learn: The foundational financial logic of amoeba management and why both revenue and expenses demand equal attention.
  • Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Introduction

The Grand Historian observes: The formula is simple enough for a child to understand and difficult enough for a corporation to consistently execute. Unit time profit equals revenue minus expenses, divided by labor hours. Two levers. Both must be pulled simultaneously, with equal vigor, forever. This is Rule 5.

Most organizations are culturally biased toward one lever. Sales cultures chase revenue and treat expenses as someone else’s problem. Cost-cutting cultures slash expenses and neglect the revenue growth that makes cuts sustainable. The amoeba system, by assigning both sides of the ledger to the same small team, eliminates this structural bias. The amoeba leader who grows revenue at the cost of ballooning expenses learns immediately, in their own unit’s numbers, why this is unsustainable.

Key Principles

  • Revenue maximization: Seek every opportunity — new customers, new contracts, internal transfers to neighboring amoebas, price improvements. No revenue is too small to pursue.
  • Expense minimization: Treat every yen as your own money. Ask before every purchase: is this necessary? Is there a cheaper alternative that delivers equivalent output?
  • Both simultaneously: Cutting expenses while ignoring revenue is austerity. Growing revenue while ignoring expenses is recklessness. The amoeba must do both.

In Practice

Review both sides of the ledger in every monthly amoeba meeting. Revenue first: what happened, why, what opportunities were missed. Expenses second: every line item, compared to prior month and prior year. Neither side gets a pass.

Key Takeaways

  • Unit time profit = (Revenue – Expenses) / Labor Hours. Both sides of the numerator matter.
  • Organizational bias toward one lever produces systematic failure.
  • The amoeba structure eliminates this bias by assigning both sides to the same team.
繁體中文

【本宗心法第二卷 — 十二條天規 · 第五條】

收益最大化，經費最小化。此乃時間核算之根本公式：時間利潤＝（收益－經費）÷工時。兩端皆須兼顧，偏廢任一皆致失敗。重收益輕成本者謂之魯莽，重成本輕收益者謂之萎縮。阿米巴將兩側責任歸於同一團隊，從根本消除此偏差。

日本語

【第二之巻 · 第五条】

売上最大・経費最小。アメーバ会計の根本原理なり。時間当たり採算＝（売上－経費）÷労働時間。両辺を同一チームが管理するゆえ、組織的偏向が生まれない。売上のみを追えば経費が膨らみ、経費のみを削れば萎縮する。

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