The return on assets tells management how much profits existing assets churn out for the business. The return on assets is a very important metric for asset intensive businesses. If your return on asset is low, then it is wise to rethink of your business really needs existing assets to remain profitable. Eliminating some of the assets in your business might actually be more helpful in making a business profitable.

Some questions to ask when evaluating the return on assets are:

• Do all assets contribute to the revenue generation process?
• Can you be more profitable if asset intensive aspects of your business are outsourced rather than performed in house?
• Can you transfer some of the cost of managing assets to consumers by charging a usage fee?

The goal of assets in your business is to increase profitability. Sustaining the cost of assets which do not increase your profitable stance is not prudent.