This is the second part of a two-part series on the areas of waste commonly found in coaching, consulting, and service-based businesses.
In the previous post, we included an overview of all ten areas of waste, drawing parallels with manufacturing and software development practices. We also delved into the first five areas of waste, so if you haven't already, I recommend reading Areas of Waste that Impact Scalability - Part 1 to get the most out of this post.
Today, we'll round out the list by discussing the remaining five areas of waste and their profound impact on businesses.
Five (additional) Areas of Waste in Online Service-Based Businesses
Searching
Searching, exactly as it sounds, involves spending excessive time searching for various items, especially digitally. This can include documents, templates, tools, and more. The impact of this often underestimated waste is significant. As businesses grow, the time spent searching for essential items increases, leading to what I call "Can't Find Sh*t Syndrome."
Underutilized Resources
The second area of waste, underutilized resources, involves not effectively utilizing the assets at your disposal, such as human resources, financial resources, time, tools, and technology. When you underutilize resources, you not only waste time but also eat into your profit margins. This waste can occur when you have the wrong people in the wrong roles or fail to automate tasks that should be.
Knowledge Depreciation
Knowledge depreciation happens when you invest time in acquiring or generating knowledge that goes unused or becomes outdated. It occurs when you purchase training programs or create content that you never use or that becomes irrelevant before implementation. Knowledge depreciation can be a hidden cost, causing relearning, rework, and decision fatigue.
Fragmentation
Fragmentation occurs when your business lacks a holistic, end-to-end solution, resulting in disconnected and fragmented parts. This waste can manifest as multiple people in multiple roles, misalignment with your customer's journey, or the piecemeal integration of various strategies.
New vs. Optimization
The final area of waste is the constant pursuit of new and different things over-optimizing what already works. This can lead to a revenue roller coaster and cash flow challenges. Constantly reinventing programs and services, trying new strategies, and spending more time on creation than improvement are signs of this waste.
Get Rid of That Waste
Now that we have covered all ten of the most common areas of waste within consulting or service-based businesses, it is hopefully clear how much time money, and energy you may really be able to save by addressing your business's top three areas of concern.
If you haven't already, I urge you to take the Uncover Hidden Time & Profit In Your Business Guide (linked below) as a first step to reclaim not just your time but also your freedom, enhance those profit margins, and streamline your efforts.
by Crista Grasso
Crista Grasso is the go-to strategic planning expert for leading global businesses and online entrepreneurs when they want to scale. Known as the "Business Optimizer", Crista has the ability to quickly cut through noise and focus on optimizing the core things that will make the biggest impact to scale a business simply and sustainably. She specializes in helping businesses gain clarity on the most important things that will drive maximum value for their clients and maximum profits for their business. She is the creator of the Lean Out Method, 90 Day Lean Out Planner, and host of the Lean Out Your Business Podcast.
