You’ve learned how to use the 80/20 principle for your own productivity, but now let’s explore how the 80/20 rule can be applied in a business context. One of the most crucial ways to use this principle in business is by optimizing your product range. Start by analyzing which product groups bring in the most profits. When you rank all your products by profit and sales, you’ll likely discover that the top products make up only 20 percent of sales but generate a whopping 80 percent of the profit. For instance, in a study at an electronics company, the top three products accounted for just 19.9 percent of total sales but contributed to a significant 52.6 percent of total profits.

Once you identify this 80/20 split in your business, the next step is to maximize the potential of that profitable 20 percent. Give top priority to these products and concentrate your resources on selling more of them. In the case of the electronics company, the author encouraged the management to focus on doubling the sales of those top three products, disregarding everything else. This way, the business aimed to make the most of the products that were already performing exceptionally well.