7 Means of Trimming Waste and Fat in Your Company
Guest Blog Post by Hank Moore 2/1/12
1. Core Operations. Reflect carefully upon what business you are really in. Sell obsolete inventory. Determine which equipment is worth keeping, repairing, updating or replacing. Re-tool obsolete production processes.
2. Administration. Determine what can be automated, outsourced or dispensed with. Make judicious cuts at all levels. Determine who pulls their weight. Cut those who do not respond to retraining or perform according to the new organizational approach. Commit to an ongoing Re-engineering program, in concert with and directed by a Visioning program.
3. Financial. Review and update accounting systems, cash flows, payables and receivables more regularly. Keep the “bean counter mentality” localized to financial areas and not let it spread to the “higher numbered branches.”
4. Personnel, Management. Curb costs of rehiring by taking better care of existing employees…in ways beyond payroll. Investments in continuing education, empowerment, involvement and open communications enable fewer people to do the work of more…with a better attitude. Commit to an ongoing Total Quality Management program.
5. Sales, Marketing. Research marketplaces to determine which are viable and which are not. Joint-venture on marketing promotions. Continually find new ways to improve customer service. Develop, package and advocate ways to deliver Value-Added to the marketplace.
6. Studying the Company. Cease conducting studies in-house. An investment in proper consultants makes better utilization of your staff. Find creative ways to integrate the sales staff with R&D and production, into a more cohesive organization. Commit to an ongoing program of Leadership Development.
7. Company Longterm Growth. Plan to reinvest profits. Plan strategically to grow. Plan to succeed. Commit to a Big Picture focus…looking wholistically at each branch of operation.
Hank Moore, Futurist and Corporate Strategist™, is the highest level of business expert and discusses topics that one can only cover from having advised them over a long career, covered in “The Business Tree” and other best selling books.
99 Responses to “7 Means of Trimming Waste and Fat in Your Company”