Case Studies

At KAIZEN Business Development we are proud of the work we do and to give you an idea of what we've done in the past we have posted a few examples, to provide insight not only into the scope of our expertise but also into issues you may be facing in your own organization.

Our KAIZEN Business Development case studies contain a list of typical challenges some of our clients have had and examples of how we overcame them. Although we have changed the names to protect the innocent, we trust you will relate to them.

Team

Joe is frustrated with his team. He can't seem to find the right people, and ends up doing too much work himself. He spends a lot of time hiring and training people because they keep leaving him.

We worked with Joe to design and implement an ongoing recruitment system that would keep a line up of qualified prospective applicants at his fingertips. From then on, when Joe needed somone, he had a folder full of good options. Joe used to think there was a shortage of good employees. What he learned was, there is a shortage of good employers. By asking the right questions, communicating with and training his team better, Joe realized good teamates have needs and as he got better at seeing and filling those needs within reason, his staff turnover went down and down until everyone wanted to stay and continue to be part of what his business was about.

Time

Mary felt like she was on a treadmill most of the day. Like many, she became sick of the corporate life and took the "entrpreneurial leap" into something she felt passionate about turning into a business. At first it was fun, but as time went by and she got busier she soon became overwhelmed in doing the day to day work in the business.

Mary isn't alone of course. Many business owners follow this path, without the necessary formal business training and/or practical business skills. Mary heard of us through a friend and had the courage to reach out for some help, without really knowing at the time what she needed. Thankfully, we began working together and quickly identified the problem. Mary was having trouble saying no and letting go. Although she had hired good people, she was not empowering them to serve the customer. She often dealt directly with customers as she did when she started the business. Because this happened too often it consumed the time she needed to support her team, leaving them relativley ineffective and uninspired. We layed out a plan to take what was in Mary's head and create systems to free up her time. After a Business Diagnostic of where she was spending her time, we were able to identify activities she neither enjoyed, nor was good at. We systemized and delegated those first, freeing up time previously spent on routine/repetative tasks. Now Mary was in a position to invest her time in working on the business, creating a business that can eventually work without her.

Money

Bill has owned his business for many years but never made much money at it. In fact he's in serious debt and his wife pays the bills by holding down another job.

One of the first things we always look at when we begin working with a client is thier pricing model. Bill's was seriously flawed. He was bleeding every time he made a sale. He suspected it, but didn't know how to fix it. He was burned out because he couldn't afford to hire anyone and his existing people weren't very good. Bill didn't know who to talk to about his problem, he felt afraid and alone . This may sound amazing but we find it happens all too frequently. The biggest killer of businesses is running out of cash.  After an education in business math 101, Bill was able to fix his pricing model and created a new quoting tool that took him a fraction of the time to quote with. He raised his prices and created a marketing program to sell on value not price. As his strength and confidence returned, so did his vision. He became excited again and it was contagious. He grew his business, sold it, and now he is running two other businesses using the same generalized principles he learned in turning around his first business.