It’s been a while since we touched on the 80/20 rule, but thankfully, it’s no less powerful in boosting your business growth in 2026.
Also known as the Pareto Principle, it’s a helpful system that empowers you to discern which tasks, clients, services and employees in your business contribute an outsized amount of your profits, growth and productivity.
The best part is that you can use the 80/20 rule for almost any part of your business (or personal life) to see even more results in 2026. Here’s how:
A Brief Recap: What Exactly Is The 80/20 Rule?
Here’s a quick primer for you: the 80/20 rule is the idea that roughly 20% of your work is responsible for 80% of your results.
Put more simply, Pareto’s Principle believes that a small amount (20%) of your daily tasks, clients, employees, products or services contribute to a huge amount of your profits and business success. The rest is either noise, busy-work, or mundane, repetitive tasks.
Before we dive deeper, we know that the 80/20 rule is a confronting idea to accept. It means that many business owners may actually be wasting their time on things that really don’t move the needle for their business.
But the good news is that this simple, albeit powerful rule, means if you focus on your top performing 20%, then that’s all it takes to improve your business success dramatically. Here are some examples of how you can apply it to your business:
20% Of Your Clients May Deserve Most Of Your Attention
One thing you’ll want to always be tracking is the total amount of time you spend on each client, per month. When you cross-reference that to how much they’re paying you, then you may find (roughly) 20% of your clients account for (around) 80% of your business profits.
Obviously, these percentages don’t have to be exact. But what you will notice is that a handful of your clients will be responsible for a large, outsized share of your profits.
You may find that other clients who aren’t in this category actually require the same amount of time from you, or even more, but don’t contribute anywhere near the same amount of profit.
This is normal in business, and we’re definitely not saying to ignore this second group of clients. But common sense dictates that you should double down on your time spent with high-return clients (the 20%) to really move the needle for your business in 2026.
Review Your Products Or Services For That Golden 20%
Likewise, if you are a service-based business, you should consider documenting which services are your most popular vs which are your most profitable.
An important note here: don’t just count dollars earned for “profitable”. Also consider which services end up getting you a referral, upsell or repeat business further down the line.
What you may find is that certain services have a high profit per hour spent for your business. And that a large portion of your business profits are most likely originating from one or two sources of services, even if you are offering a diverse list of services.
What could help your business is focusing less on the other services for the sake of having a wide range. Instead, double down on the services that you know generate profit for your business.
Can You Apply The 80/20 Rule To Your Finances?
Now that you know more about the 80/20 rule, it’s important not to put pressure on yourself to make drastic changes. Remember, the best thing you can do for your business is to be aware at all times: are you focusing on the right thing?
As chartered accounts, our bookkeepers and accountants can help ensure you’re on the right track in both your finances and strategic growth for years to come. Talk to our team today to learn more.