It is interesting that business owners are continuously told that they are the backbone of the economy. ‘…contributing over a third to the country’s gross domestic product, according to the latest official data.’ Source – Reuters ‘Business Bankruptcies’ Feb. 1, 2024
Yet, businesses are being hit from all sides – higher employee taxes, higher taxes period, interest rate hikes, increased cost for supplies/utilities/gas, labour challenges, rising rents, repayment of Government loans (impacting mainly smaller businesses) and on and on … It’s a perfect storm.
‘… Insolvencies rose 38% in first 11 months of 2023’ – Reuters ‘Business Bankruptcies’ Feb. 1, 2024
Owners could once believe that they truly were the backbone and felt pride in being an entrepreneur. More recently however, the smaller companies we talk to are feeling less important and excited about building the future for themselves and their employees. An overwhelming number feel that they are being attacked, left behind, and unappreciated.
The frustration for business owners and management teams is that they don’t feel they have a lot options, as most of the cost impact is out of their control, mandated by government and companies much larger than they are.
So, what are their options?
- Hope the economy turns around,
- Pray the government hands out a safety net – more funding,
- Cut already slim margins,
- Decrease the quality of their product or service,
- File for bankruptcy,
Or
- There is in fact a solution which doesn’t entail hoping or praying and could give companies a better chance to survive, and likely thrive. They could be proactive and find a way to transform their company and reduce their expenses/costs without negatively impacting their service or quality. This option puts business owners/entrepreneurs in ‘total control’. They don’t need to buy new equipment, hire more staff, or build new space; they can utilize what they currently have by learning how to analyze their existing processes and eliminate ‘waste’.
Over the past 25 years that we have worked with both public and private organizations, we’ve found that there is more waste internally than value. The challenge is for them to be able to ‘see’ the waste and learn how to effectively remove or minimize it. For instance, if you have 70%+ waste (which is the amount we have uncovered in businesses over the years) in your processes and you can remove 30% of it without hiring more staff, expanding, or buying new equipment, then you will immediately improve your bottom line. And it can be done very quickly!
The result is you will have opened up capacity and increased productivity, while improving quality, your ability to service your clients better, and lowered your cost.
You have worked hard to build the company, now, more than ever, it is time to take back some of the control and maximize your company’s/organization’s potential. Get excited, transform your business, despite the costs beyond your control – feel Success again – you deserve it!
