To decide what part of the existing business needs the most attention in order to achieve our goals, it is best to see how this functional area is performing, and how it should perform. If your goal is to increase earnings, then there are a finite number of actions you can take in order to do this. If your end goal is to sell the company for a profit to another company, then you must identify ways to increase the inherent value of the company, such as by efficiently using cash, productively using people, properly managing expenses, taking care of employees and clients, increasing sales or repeat business, managing taxes properly, and/or patenting or trademarking.