Axiom CPA, P.A. - Axiom CPA Blog

Lean business concepts are typically applied to manufacturing scenarios, but they can also help service industries gain a fresh perspective on internal business processes. Lean has been called a lot of things. Just-in-time, six sigma, value chain, all of these are lean cousins. They all share a discipline that subjects every process, manufacturing step and business interaction to the following litmus test:

Does it add value to/for the customer?

Conversations about value can quickly turn esoteric so I prefer a more relevant question.

Will the customer pay us to do this?

When you start putting your business processes and procedures through that kind of scrutiny you will find that the answer many times (perhaps most of the time) is "NO!" In a truly lean environment you simply eliminate anything the customer will not pay for. If this sounds good to you, just try it. In about ten minutes you will either break out in a cold sweat or decide this "lean" stuff is the stupidest thing you've ever encountered. But hold on a second. If you stay with it long enough you might find out there is something worthwhile here.

The challenge in working lean isn't to manage the business without all those administrative processes and procedures that keep you on track throughout the day. We all need checks and balances, systems of internal control and quality assurance. But too many of us design these systems without any thought toward added value for the customer. Embracing lean concepts means that if you are going to keep that checklist you had better find a way to make it valuable enough that your customer will be willing to pay you to fill it out. This may seem tough when the customer has never seen the checklist, but maybe that is the problem. Maybe your customer needs to see the checklist. Maybe they need to add their own items to the checklist and then get a copy of it, in real time, as soon as it is produced. Maybe they would be willing to pay for that.

The underlying concept of lean is not genius at all. It is simply the act of looking at your business through your customer's eyes. What do they value about what you do? What do they pay you to do? And what are you doing that they just don't care about? Encourage them to tell you what they value. Spend more time doing what they are willing to pay for. And find ways to eliminate the stuff they just don't care about.