Why is the subject of LEAN important for Small Business Processes?

Small Business success relies on providing marketable services at optimum cost. For most small businesses and startups, resources are limited and thus must be managed efficiently. The adoption of LEAN and Agile processes would improve the chances of competing in its chosen endeavor.

What is LEAN?

Simply put, Lean refers to management practices aimed at optimizing/increasing value through the elimination of waste. Lean’s focus is on the reduction or elimination of non-value adding activities (waste) within the processes under consideration.

Waste, or Muda (Japanese), refers to unnecessary work that is performed due to poor organization/planning, communication, or deficiencies.

There are eight (8) main waste categories identified in Lean include:

• T – Transportation
• I – Inventory
• M – Motion
• W – Waiting
• O – Over Production
• O – Over Processing
• D – Defects
• S – Skill

Waste in Small Business Processes

Common waste found in Small Business Operations include

Some Considerations for Eliminating Waste