While Brown & Brown continues to earn appreciably higher pre-tax margins than its competitors, Regional Executive Vice President Ken Kirk says the company continually works to increase profitability. In late 1999, Brown & Brown introduced Project 28 -- a three-year plan to increase the company’s 25% pre-tax margin to 28% by year-end 2002.

“We believe that Project 28 will serve as our benchmark for excellence and help us achieve the next level of profitability,” says Ken. As part of the plan, managers receive a monthly report that breaks each of the company’s 125 profit centers into several different categories, ranking them according to performance in each area.

According to Ken, ranking the profit centers in terms of performance provides a means of comparing and recognizing the company’s top performers, while helping identify opportunities for further profitability. Through Project 28, each of the company’s autonomously operated profit centers can benefit from the leverage and combined experience of the organization as a whole. Monthly reports provide in-depth information that helps profit center managers examine operations and offer constructive ideas to continually make improvements.

“By providing this intricate level of information about every profit center, we feel confident that we can dramatically impact our overall margins,” comments Ken. “Even our highest-performing profit centers benefit from shared information as they identify ways to achieve even greater results.”

In addition to serving as an invaluable communications tool that focuses the organization on pre-tax growth, Project 28 encourages friendly competition among the profit centers, which further drives margins. “Just as athletes perform at higher levels with increased competition, we too benefit from the positive competitive environment that is so much a part of our culture,” Ken notes. “By vying for top positions, our strong ‘athletes’ can set their sights on achieving their goals and continually improving their performance.”

In following this formula for success, overall margins have increased throughout the company. “In 2000, we successfully increased our pre-tax margin by one point, and we are on target to reach our goal of 28% in 2002,” concludes Ken.