Operations
With some rare exceptions, it's not easy to run a business. Most require an effective business plan with an effective business system, which even if successful, must constantly be checked and adjusted to respond to competition and other changes in the market. Not every employee will be an entrepreneur, yet they should be able to follow the system without continual training. This usually means some level of empowerment is needed to make decisions, but this is going to affect revenue and costs. Related, employees must be trustworthy, but also trusted.
Waste not, want not. It's not that anyone really argues for inefficiency, but that waste inevitably creeps into the operations of even the best business systems, and in fact is almost impossible to fully eliminate. The real question is, at what point does the cost to improve efficiency equal or exceed its expected benefit? And perhaps just as importantly, how was that point calculated, and does it change periodically?
Quality and efficiency would seem to go together, yet it's possible for the opposite to be true. The reason is cost. Many production managers have learned the old adage, "Is it good enough?" because it can be impossible to get anything perfect in reality. We tend to like perfecting a thing or service in terms of process, and then afterwards finding ways to drive out costs. Other quality systems try to do this too, but over time, can start to drive out the quality itself. Before driving out all costs, include the customer to see what is essential to them, and what isn't. Sometimes their answers are surprising.
It doesn't matter if you are the king of your industry, or fighting to get there. The outwitting never stops, and it often involves thinking not only about competitors, but customers, suppliers, service providers and regulators. There are also internal challenges, like workflows, accidents, training, sickness, breakdowns and the occasional 100-year incident, which strangely occur more frequently than that. The best plan of action is...to have several plans of action, both what you want to do, and what you may have to respond to.
