The Kaizen Business

So when do or when should you start making continuous improvements to your business? That’s a good question. Let’s break it down into a very simple method.

To even start making improvements you have to have some sort of system in place and having it “in your head” won’t cut the mustard. I am a big believer in business systems and procedures for a lot of reasons all of which can only lead to success and more profit. So first you will need to start by documenting the tasks used to run your business.

This really isn’t as daunting a task as it seems, if the tasks for your business are done on a computer you have an awesome tool that is going to cut your time to way down. Simply record yourself performing the process with Camtasia Studio or if your scraping nickels together you can get the no frills Camstudio program for free.

Once you have the processes documented then implement them, you have to ensure the people performing the tasks are following the procedures to the letter. If they don’t are do something that is critical to the success of the task but not documented then revise the procedures and include the specifics. Keep in mind that the goal of good documentation should allow anyone with the minimum set of knowledge be able to pick up the procedure and perform it without asking questions.

It’s not good enough to be good enough, most people stop at this point in building a business system. Bad idea! You need to take it a step further and monitor the outcome or data results of the procedures that have been put in place.

Is the procedure for traffic generation working as planned? Are mistakes and rework being reduced? Have conversion rations improved? You won’t know unless you track the results from the established processes, but remember to give it some time to get a good sample size.

Only after putting formalized documentation in place, gathering data results and checking those results is it time to start doing kaizen. Start with one specific task by evaluating it and seeing how it can be done better with less waste and inefficiencies, you may even find that the metric you use to measure the process is flawed and needs to be revised… That’s OK, make the corrections one step at a time and always go back and check your results.

Once you go through this continuous improvement cycle a few times it will get easier. Just stay the course and keep making improvements along the way and you will create a highly successful business.

-Jim Sansi