Chapter 157 – Commerical Success Equation

In our carriage, Robert MacLeod stares at the guinea in my hand, tales side up, “We need to improve the cost side of the equation. You have the right intention by doing everything possible to reduce cost and not sacrifice quality. Quality is the boundary we will never cross.”

“You are going to help?”, Robert asks, “But you are busy.”

I politely ignore the question: actions are better than words, “Leave this dilemma in Alexander Campbell’s capable hands, which is what I pay him to resolve. We will create you a margin, which provides the contribution required to recover our investment.”

I turn over the guinea, “On this side, what do we have?”

Robert looks up, straightens his back and takes a deep breath, “We have the revenue from the sales of the map. But,”, he looks out the window exasperated, “they have set the price, and we cannot change it.”

“Indeed. We have agreed on a ceiling sales price in the contract, which was a calculated gamble on my part to win the contract. However, we have one ace up our sleeve.”

I witness how anxiety, worry and fear of failure, has clouded Robert’s judgement.

“I never agreed to the other revenue we will generate from this map. My ace of diamonds is our route to making our profit.”