Your company has a life cycle.  Your industry has a life cycle.  Your other operating costs need to fit what stage you are in.  What fits at one part of the cycle can be a disaster at another.
•    You may be running too far ahead of your stage.  You may have a dynamite marketing program but your industry is not ready yet. 
•    You may be running too far behind your stage.  You may be running a tight ship while your industry is exploding.  You miss out on grabbing market share while the going is easier.  You may have a better bottom line now, but it will be skinny compared to what it could be later.
•    You may miss a big turn coming up.  You do not prepare ahead and it becomes too late to catch up.  You do not build the skills needed for the next stage.
•    You may never think about this at all.  You just run on one gear, regardless of the circumstances.  You keep plugging along like you have always, even though the market has declined.  You wonder why your bottom line is suffering.