Sometimes business people are guilty of overlooking huge opportunities for free profit because they’re too focused on saving pennies. Here’s a fantastic example of this…

You’re probably familiar with the Entertainment Book. It’s full of coupons for local businesses. As far as I know, it’s the most popular coupon book in the world. I’m actually surprised people still buy this with services like Groupon out there, but if you actually use the coupons in the book it will pay for the cost of the book many, many times over. It’s a pretty good deal.

Here’s a little story from the inside of this company. One of the biggest problems Entertainment Promotions (the company that publishes the Entertainment Book) has is this:

1. A restaurant puts coupons in the Entertainment Book. These coupons are good for one year.

2. A few months later, but before the year is up, the restaurant will come under new management. The name of the restaurant may even change.

3. The new owners will deny the customers use of the coupons when they come in.

4. The customers get pissed and call Entertainment Promotions to complain they’re getting ripped off. Of course, none of this is Entertainment Promotions’ fault. They’re reasonably powerless to do anything other than perhaps refund the cost of the Entertainment Book, which I believe they will do if the customer screams loudly enough.

Do you see the problem in the above scenario?

These new restaurant owners are INSANE. They are throwing away free customers who want to spend money in their restaurant! More than throwing them away, they’re actually pissing them off, creating negative buzz about the “new” restaurant these new owners want to be successful. I don’t have to tell you that the entire point of coupons is that companies know you’ll spend more money than just what the coupons offer.

Moreover in the restaurant industry, it’s a widely known fact that people don’t go to restaurants alone; they always bring people with them. That’s instant profit from the coupon-bearer.

But no. These uptight restaurant owners somehow think they’re getting “screwed” by one paying customer out of a group of two or three who might get a free dessert with their meal because of some coupon. Ridiculous! If anything, these new owners should do the opposite. They should announce that all coupons for the prior restaurant are now worth double their discount value, and encourage everyone to come for additional coupons that will be handed out in the restaurant.

Be very careful that you’re always making decisions in your business and career based on all the possible profit-making ramifications, rather than the possible slight losses currently in front of your face.