I was first exposed to the idea of kaizen (pronounced “k-eye-zen”) through a trading card game in the early 2000s, where I learned that the word meant “continuous improvement.” It wasn’t until I got my MBA that I learned that it’s also a Japanese business practice, aimed at improving an organization continuously. Great idea in theory, right?
One thing I’ve seen over and over again is that it can be actually quite hard in practice. For many of the business owners that we work with at the Owatonna Area Business Development Center, finding time to do things beyond running their business is simply not feasible. They’re too busy working “in” their business – meaning that they’re not working “on” their business. Instead of continuously improving, their businesses are maintaining at best, or struggling at worst.
To make things even more difficult, while they’re maintaining, the world around them is constantly changing (although not always improving). In a worst-case scenario, their competitors are managing to continuously improve, while they’re stuck. Does this sound like your business, or a business you know? This is why it is so important to stay on top of all the latest tools and skills - to make sure that you can continue to improve, in order to compete and to stay relevant.
The good news is that there are quick and easy tools to help you immediately improve your business – to begin working “on” your business again, instead of treading water “in” it. By embracing new technology as it becomes available, you’ll be able to keep your business up to date with what customers (and potential customers) expect. The added benefit of staying up to date with your improvements is that you’re not playing catch-up later, which can feel even harder than staying up to date in the first place.
Tools such as Canva (for graphic design of posters, post cards, and social media imagery) or ChatGPT (for creating a first draft of a slew of social media text, among other uses) have a low learning curve and are designed to be intuitive enough that even people not comfortable with technology can use them quickly and easily. In addition, many such tools have editions that can be free or low-cost as well, so they don’t impact the bottom line of your business as you learn to use them.
Other ways to continue to improve include signing up for free online webinars on the topic you want to learn more about, or watching tutorials on YouTube or LinkedIn. These can be watched during your lunch, without impacting the rest of your workday.
Perhaps best of all, in-person events allow you to step away from your business and focus on improving your knowledge base or skillsets. Some examples of these local opportunities include the “Non-traditional Funding” and “Marketing 101” workshops that we offered in recent months in partnership with SMIF, SBDC, Amplio, and the Owatonna Chamber of Commerce, which allowed participants to ask questions and meet with like-minded businesspeople here in Owatonna.
In the coming months, we will be offering a monthly get-together in collaboration with Owatonna Business Partnership, which will have actionable information and presentations, pitch practices, and commiserating with peers in the community. Do you need accountability to help motivate you? I know I do! Having to report back in a month to new colleagues on the progress you’ve made can help light that fire you need to get the job done. The goal of building this network of entrepreneurs is to help improve all business owners who participate, and to help you grow your business faster. Stay tuned for more info on our website, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. And in the meantime, think about areas that you could focus on to start improving your business, and then do a quick search for cheap and simple tools and trainings to start making those improvements continuous.
This article was originally published in the Owatonna People's Press.