One of the deadly wastes that is eating up the profitability of your business is wasted movement.

Wasted movement leads to wasted time, energy, and possible damage to your products or injury to your employees.

The last time I attended a conference downtown, I parked in the city’s parking garage next to the convention center.

When you pull up to the gate, you need to push a big button on the ticket machine, pull your ticket, then drive your car forward about four feet to give the same ticket and advance payment to the attendant.

While I was waiting in line, I frequently saw cars pull staight up to the attendant. The attendant would then get out of the booth, squeeze past the car, push the button, return to the booth, and complete the transaction.

Do you see some wasted movement in this scenario?

My first thought was “Why have the button-pushing-ticket-dispenser if the customer has to always talk to the attendant?”

If you look hard enough, you’ll probably find similar wasted motion and time in your business. People will be doing something a certain way just because that is the way it has always been done.

To the outside observer, your business processes may seem as absurd as my parking garage example.

Take some time to audit your processes and see where you can find some easy things to change. Your business will, in turn, run smoother, and your customers will be processed faster.

Beware of problems with your company and product leaking from one department to another.

When issues are caused by one department’s error, it may not be detected until the product reaches another group or even the customer.

Unfortunately, the farther down the line the mistake travels, the less likely it will make it back to the original offending party to correct future mistakes.

This can put your company in a constant battle of producing errors and mistakes that are never corrected and the effects thereof constantly being felt by those “downstream.”

The last time we needed a faucet for our bathroom sink, I found a new, sealed box on the store’s shelf and purchased it.

When I got home and opened the box, I saw that the faucet wasn’t the same as was shown on the box. In fact, it wasn’t even close.

Oops.

I took the product back to the store where the customer service folks and then the department manager helped me and refunded my money.

In this case, a quality assurance problem with the product wasn’t felt by the packaging and shipping people but rather those at the end of the line: the customer and the customer service people.

Granted, not all problems will be caught before your products are handed off to the next group.

However, you need to have a feedback mechanism in place to continually refine and correct issues that are detected later in the purchasing cycle so that they can be prevented with future occurrences.

Your company may be broken into silos internally but don’t let this let you run your business inefficiently.

Identify the problems in one group or department that have a root cause in another and make changes across the board.

If you aren’t familiar with Gary Vaynerchuck, his latest book Crush It! will introduce you to why he is such a sought-after speaker, consultant, and inspirational figure.

Gary’s enthusiasm is contagious and nothing short of inspiring.

Passion

Crush It! centers around pursuing your passion and how that can lead to financial success. Gary outlines his journey as an entrepreneur and discusses how you, too, can chase your personal interests and build your personal brand as a viable lifestyle.

Personal Brand

Granted, the slant of this book is to prepare you to do your own thing, leave your job, and live your passion. However, the author has very important points about building your personal brand. This brand can be transferred anywhere and used not just in your current job or company, but anywhere your expertise is relevant.

Gary outlines how he moved from running his family’s wine business to becoming an online star and entrepreneurial icon.

Tools

Crush It! steps you through some of the online tools you can use to build your personal brand and, in turn, your personal success. While this isn’t a step-by-step guide on how to use social media and online technologies, it does point you in the right direction on how to get started.

Hard Work

As the core of this book revolves around cashing in on your passion, it will help you identify what your passion even is. This isn’t a get-rich-quick book. To the contrary, Gary is very honest in how much hard work it took him to get where he is and how hard you’ll need to work to achieve your dreams.

Inspiration

If you have a day job, this book will inspire you to reach for greater heights. You can be an expert and go-to person for whatever you are passionate about. That may or may not be related to your job.

If you own your own business, this book will help you realize that you probably aren’t working hard enough to achieve the success and potential that is waiting for you.

At a minimum, Crush It! and Gary’s exuberance will inspire you to take action. After all, you have to take a first step sometime if you hope to get anywhere.

Recommendation: Listen to this Book!

Gary actually “wrote” this book by speaking it and then had a ghost writer put it together for print. By doing this, his voice and animated examples come to life in the written word.

I listened to the audiobook version of Crush It! and would recommend you do the same. Gary himself recorded the audio version and interjects “off script” commentary as he goes along.

Read or listen to Crush It! and you will be motivated and inspired.

You can find Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion on Amazon.com.

This year, 2010, is the year of the Tiger on the Chinese calendar. More specifically, 2010 is the year of the Metal Tiger.

According to ChineseZodiac.com, the Metal Tiger is:

Assertive, competitive and sharp, once Metal Tigers set their sights on their goals there’s no stopping them. They’ll always do what’s necessary to remain at the center of attention. Metal Tigers tend to jump to conclusions; a behavior they need to work at improving.

Your business would be wise to learn from these attributes of the Metal Tiger.

Attack Your Goals

Imagine what would happen if you actually accomplished all those New Year’s Resolutions you set. Your company probably also set goals for this new year that, if reached, would bring some success to your business.

Don’t leave your goals symbolically on your paper or in that Powerpoint presentation. Break down the steps that stand between you and your goal and get to work.

The tiger is unrelenting in attacking its goals and you should be likewise. Success will surely follow.

Center of Attention

The tiger likes to be the center of attention. Granted, while nobody likes a selfish company, your business needs to be ever present in your customer’s mind.

When a prospective or current customer thinks about the problem you solve, you need to be the first one that comes to mind to solve that problem for them.

The tiger has a solid marketing plan for communicating how it solves a customer’s problem. The tiger is also hanging around where customers are talking and is able to offer its expertise to help and assist others.

Don’t be selfish, be helpful. You’ll be the center of attention because everyone will respect your advice and will seek you out to solve their problems.

Resist Jumping to Conclusions

Tigers tend to jump to conclusions. This can be a deadly sin.

One way to prevent jumping to conclusions is to rely on more data and analysis. Supplement your hunch or gut feeling with some data that show the way things currently are. Do they corroborate each other? If so, you may be jumping to the right conclusion.

Another way to combat jumping to conclusions is to take time to listen to customers. Listen to understand and you will make money.

Be a Tiger

Take a look at how you are running your business and interacting with customers today. What can you do to be more tiger-like?