Start Ups: Learn from the Big Boys before you play

The one thing that I learned a number of years ago is that you either learn from your mistakes or learn from others and their mistakes. Learning from other costs them, not you! So it was nice to read that some of the SMB market is getting the message of process improvement. Those that don't will be in this global market will go the way of the dinosaur and extinction. And for these companies it's not a marketing ploy, although some may believe it is. Some companies even market it, but if you really get down to brass tacks, they're just as phony worth as much as the paper their marketing materials are written on. While I was doing some consulting, a supplier was told by the company president that they were going to a Process Improvement program and they wanted each of their suppliers to come on board to help reduce costs. The president of the supplier company thought they were only using it as a ploy to get a better deal and were not realistic about it. Well, along came a year and their customer asked to see what they had and they didn't provide it. This company then lost their largest customer! Needless to say, they embarked on a program and hired a Big 8 Accounting firm spending big bucks to give them the low down, but it was too much for them. The president never really understood what it was and never believed in it and never fully recovered from the loss.

Bottom line: It just makes good sense to improve your business. It's OK to be skeptical to new things, just don't be a cynic!