This morning I realized that I’m able to have a latte at home by merely using my Nutribullet to froth my soy milk and heat it in the microwave.
While it’s not as fancy as a coffee house latte, I can still enjoy the latte in my home without a fancy coffee machine or milk frother.
This simple concept can be applied to business. As I grow my own business, I try not to listen to all the fancy new things out there or stories about how people became overnight successes. What I do know what works are the concepts I learned a long time ago through Lean Six Sigma. The simple tools to improve or create business processes with my own business do work. After my processes become standard, then I can apply the automation.
If your business is struggling or you do not know how to grow, think about your business process. Business processes range from marketing to sales, all the way to operations. Are these processes serving your customers or clients? Are these processes providing a great customer experience? Without your customers and clients being happy, you will not be able to become successful.
What are some ways you can improve your business to help your customers and clients?
Over the past few weeks, I had the pleasure of working with a unique small business that has seen tremendous growth in the past few years. This business has an exciting niche that needs their expertise. What was even more interesting about this business is that they had some excellent core values and exceptional people that work there. The business owners recognized that they are growing faster than they anticipated and are experiencing growing pains. They knew they needed help in order to get to the NEXT LEVEL! This is one of the many reasons why this business realized that they can use Lean Six Sigma (LSS) to help get them to the next level.
This business is a perfect example of how small to medium businesses (SMB) do need some type of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) to help them through the growing pains so they can progress to the next level. However, these SMBs may feel overwhelmed, alone, and they are on a downward spiral. But how can LSS help? There are several different things that these businesses can do that doesn’t require a separate LSS, Quality Improvement, or Business Process Improvement organization.
Business Process
Let’s first talk about business processes. Most SMBs do have processes, but these processes are not scalable for them to grow correctly. By not having the right processes in place, the following problems start to appear:
Business owners and leadership are unsure how the business is genuinely performing
The client is starting to complain, especially the more prominent clients
While revenue grows, so does cost
Confusion or lack of transparency between all groups within the business
Different types of work are not in the right place
People’s talents are underutilized, or they are not performing because they are in the wrong position
Everything has become inefficient through the organization
Business owners or leadership are lacking direction and leadership growth
How to apply Lean Six Sigma
There are several different things that these businesses can do that does not require a separate LSS organization. Below are a few small and quick ways to implement this into the company. Remember the key is to start small and then build upon these steps.
By teaching Lean to the Store Operators, this allows Chick-Fila employees to incorporate the different aspects to Lean throughout the entire organization
Identify the processes that need improvement
Two ways to identify the problem processes:
Use the KPS that was created to determine what parts of the businesses are doing poorly
Use the Lean Wastes to identify the areas that need to improve
Involve everyone within the entire company along this journey
This requires the buy-in on all levels to ensure success
Once everyone starts to be involved, I’ve seen businesses and organizations move beyond using the simple tools to becoming a successful business that grows year after year
Do you find the ideas listed in this article helpful? What are some of your ideas to implement the ideas from this article within your business?
If you would like to learn how I can help you grow with Contact me to see how we can work together.
