Every business owns assets. These may be physical, such as property, equipment, and stock, or intangible, such as intellectual property, data, or brand reputation. The key challenge for decision makers is often the same: how can you get the most value from your assets? Managing assets well does more than preserve their worth; it helps organisations cut costs, drive efficiency, and create new growth opportunities. In this post, we will explore practical steps businesses can take to maximise asset value, supported by clear examples.
Understand What Assets You Have
You cannot manage what you do not know. Start by creating a clear register of your assets. List each item, its purpose, condition, and current value. In the private sector, many companies underestimate the worth of intangible assets like data, patents, or customer relationships. These often contribute more long-term value than machinery or buildings. Having a complete picture of your assets helps you identify what drives your business forward and what could be underutilised.
Measure Your Assets’ Performance
To get the most value from your assets, you need to track how well they perform. Use measures such as return on assets (ROA) to compare profitability against the value of your total assets. For physical assets, maintenance records and performance data will reveal whether equipment is efficient or wasting resources. For intangible assets like software or brand reputation, look at customer engagement, licensing revenue, or intellectual property usage. Regular measurement means you can spot underperforming assets quickly and act before they become liabilities.
Optimise Usage and Reduce Waste
Maximising asset value often means improving how assets are used. For example, consider whether equipment is sitting idle or if office space could be repurposed to support hybrid working. Review contracts to ensure licences or subscriptions match actual use. For stock, apply demand forecasting to reduce waste and free up working capital. For digital assets such as data, use analytics to unlock insights that can improve decision-making. By optimising usage, organisations extract more value without increasing costs.
Extend Your Assets’ Life and Plan Replacement
Another way to get the most value from your assets is to extend their life through proper care. Preventive maintenance for machinery, timely software updates, and training for staff can help assets deliver more for longer. At the same time, do not cling to outdated or inefficient assets. Have a clear replacement strategy that considers not just the cost of a new asset but the long-term benefits it brings. Balancing care with timely renewal ensures you avoid both early disposal and wasteful overuse.
Unlock Value Through Innovation
Finally, think creatively about how assets could deliver new value. Can intellectual property be licensed? Could underused buildings be rented out? Can surplus data provide market insights? Innovation in asset use can create entirely new revenue streams. The most successful organisations constantly look for ways to leverage assets beyond their original purpose.
Conclusion
The question of how I can get the most value from my assets is central to every organisation’s success. The answer lies in knowing what you own, measuring performance, optimising use, extending life, and finding new opportunities. By taking a structured approach, businesses can ensure their assets support growth rather than drain resources.
To discuss how your organisation can maximise the value of its assets, contact us at Whittier Consulting today.