Case study · Services business
From fixed overhead to aligned performance
Removed a fixed monthly burden
Focus: Cost structure · performance-linked pay
The situation
The business was paying a fixed ₹20,000 every month, plus vehicle and running expenses, for a role that had been created years earlier and never revisited. In a good month the cost looked reasonable. In a slow month it was the difference between a profit and a loss.
The deeper problem was not the amount. It was that the spend had no relationship to what the business earned. Nobody could say what the money was buying, and because it was fixed, nobody was asking.
What we did
- 01Looked at what the role actually delivered against what the business needed, month by month, rather than at the job title.
- 02Priced the outcome instead of the presence: a 15% share of the value generated, calculated after expenses.
- 03Wrote the arrangement down — what counted, how it would be measured, when it would be paid — so both sides knew where they stood.
- 04Agreed a review point so the model could be corrected rather than argued about later.
The outcome
- A fixed monthly burden and its associated running costs came off the books.
- Spend now moved with performance, so a slow month no longer carried the same weight.
- Both sides had a written basis for the arrangement instead of an inherited assumption.
What this shows
Most founders look for costs to cut. The better question is which costs should be fixed at all. A cost that moves with performance stops being a risk and starts being an incentive.
This case study is based on Deepak Warrier’s professional experience. Client names and identifying details are withheld or anonymised to protect confidentiality. The outcome reflects that engagement’s particular circumstances and does not guarantee a similar result elsewhere.
© Dyuti Advisory Services — read-only. Please don't copy or redistribute.
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