Efficient business systems and processes can put more money in your pocket, but increasing the speed of a process may not be what you think!
When it comes to business operations, the RIGHT speed is most important. Very often, the right speed means FAST! In a recent TV ad, Comcast invites business owners to “make your small business a fast business.”
Photo: by flickrfavorites on flickr
Every small-business owner should seek to deliver products and services as fast as required to exceed customer expectations and to be a market leader.
To customers, fast sometimes means “on schedule,” or “by a deadline,” but it always means, “I want it when I want it.”
The Internet has become popular in part because most products are shipped the same day or within one business day. A few years ago, a construction company in my area built a house from the ground up in twenty-four hours. A company that could build a house in even thirty days would become a market leader!
Speed in business systems and processes, however, does not usually mean that workers have to work faster; they can only work so fast without creating quality problems.
Delay is the Speed Killer
Your greatest impact on speed will come by reducing the wasted time—delay—that exists in most of your business processes.
Take notice of the work going on in your operation. Get rid of the idle time that things are just sitting around waiting to be worked on! Are in-baskets full? Are widgets stacked on a pallet to be processed later? Are customers anxious for you to get to their order?
By eliminating delay and improving efficiency, you will have happier customers and more profit at the end of the month.
For some advanced ideas, check out 7 Strategies to Boost Process Speed.
