Inside Small Business | Small Business & Home Business Marketing

Small Business and Six Sigma: a Powerful Combination

Marcelo Cazado, New Entrepreneur

Small Business and Six Sigma: a Powerful Combination

Six Sigma is a well structured project methodology that aims to reduce variation in business processes. It is currently used in most of the major corporations worldwide. From a Six Sigma perspective, variation is evil. For instance, let’s assume you have an average of 80% customer satisfaction with your products. Depending on the business, this figure may be fair. However when you start analyzing it and breaking down the data you may find out that while sometimes your customer is 100% satisfied, for many times your customer satisfaction level is around 60%, which is pretty bad. Ideally all business indicators should exceed the customers’ expectations and also they should not present large variations. Six Sigma’s motto is “show me the data”, so it prevents a lot of unproductive discussions based on personal opinions.

For countless times I have been asked if Six Sigma is applied to small business. Some time ago, I was not quite sure if and how a small company could engage in a Six Sigma implementation. But not anymore.

Actually these days I do recommend Six Sigma as a strong and disciplined methodology which brings positive outcomes to any business, whatever size. Although Six Sigma is not the last panacea that solves all business problems, it may be applied to processes where their outcomes are expected to reach a minimum level and where their variation is not desirable.

There are many consultancies companies in the market that could help out small businesses implementing a Six Sigma mindset between entrepreneurs and their teams.

From my previous experience, I consider it a journey worth taking. Certainly quantifiable benefits will exceed the investment on training.

My name is Marcelo Cazado and I am a new entrepreneur. My business is a management consultancy company called Andoha and I may be reached through e-mail at mcazado@andoha.com.

Related Topics: Business, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Money/Finance    1 Comment    

Standout Design Improves Small Business on the Web

With billions of pages on the web, what sets yours apart? As a small business it can be hard to compete. The web seems more like an ocean; billions of fish, every size and shape, all trying to survive. Where do you fit in this ecosystem? What is your niche? What will you do to survive? How will you climb the ecommerce food chain? Fish use adaptations such as camouflage, protective coloring, and poisonous spines to protect against predators. Growing businesses use unique design and branding to get ahead of their competitors.

“A visitor will decide if they will read on within the first 10 seconds on their first visit to your website.” That’s why SmallBusiness.Logoworks.com is recognizing small businesses that look big with the “Bizignees Blog Awards.” We’re building a resource to include:

• More articles and information on starting and running a small business from notable bloggers who utilize great design
• A look at small businesses with inspirational web branding
• Your connection to the small business community

Business blogs and websites will continually be nominated and a new winner will be chosen every week. Check back for new submissions and winners. We’ll be uncovering some of the best (designed) business resources on the web.

Do you know of a site that’s designed to get noticed? Contact us to nominate a business blog with quality content and a great design. Or, submit a small business site with standout branding. The submissions will be reviewed and considered for recognition by The Official Bizignees Blog Award.

Related Topics: Advertising, Branding, Business, Design, Marketing    No Comments