Fixing tiny inefficiencies in a business can yield big results over time, according to a specialist SMSF stakeholder.
Citing a recent presentation at the Financial Advice Association Australia (FAAA) conference, SMSF Alliance practice principal and specialist mentor David Busoli referenced Amazon’s ‘paper cuts’ process, which he indicated can be applied to any business.
“Amazon recognised that most businesses spend their time chasing the big wins while ignoring the hundreds of tiny inefficiencies that drain time, money and morale,” Busoli noted.
“Each paper cut on its own is harmless, but if fixed consistently, they yield tremendous benefits to the business.”
He pointed out while the maths of solving one tiny inefficiency may save only a minute a day, fixing 60 such inefficiencies can recover an hour a day.
More importantly, he recognised eliminating ‘paper cuts’ can support psychological flow and remove avoidable obstacles for staff, improving goodwill and patience among employees.
“The overall operational rhythm becomes smoother and more scalable. There’s also a cultural shift. When you demonstrate that every small piece of feedback is welcomed and acted upon, team members become more observant and more invested in improving the business,” he said.
He suggested businesses start by asking their employees questions about what slows them down each day, what they dread doing because it is so inefficient and where they see clients get repeatedly confused.
Businesses might then look to categorise those problems into areas such as fix in under 10 minutes, fix in an hour, fix in a day or fix in the future. Then they could look at how they could fix those issues, Busoli explained.
“Just focusing on the 10-minute fixes could deliver surprising results. Announce when a fix has been implemented and encourage further feedback. Amazon’s genius wasn’t inventing the concept of incremental improvement – it was making it systematic, valued and relentless. Every business can benefit from the same mindset,” he noted.
