A typical home improvement store here in the United States is more than 100,000 sq ft in size, and costs almost $20 million to build and $5 million to stock. Other big box stores would be similarly equipped and valued.

With shelves fully stocked, all well-managed businesses conduct periodic inventory counts. From the smallest mom-and-pop corner market to a large retail outlet to a manufacturing facility, owners, leaders, and managers all need to know what they have to properly value the business, determine what supplies or products will be needed and when, and curtail shrinkage due to theft or damage.

Strangely, however, few businesses ever formally look at the most valuable asset they possess. Indeed, every business that employs people almost always overvalues material goods and undervalues the people who handle those goods.

I once asked the manager of a big box store to name the most valuable asset in his store. He immediately listed the products that sold at the highest margins and those with the highest volume.

It never once occurred to him to consider producers over product.

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