Process improvement tools such as Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma have been developed by large companies for large companies. 82% of the Fortune 100 companies use Six Sigma, and over half of the Fortune 500 companies embrace some form of process improvement. But can these principles be applied to their smaller business counter parts as well? Well, for the small business owners, Process Improvement enthusiasts, or those of you just wondering, the answer is a resounding “Yes!”

Have you ever been in a position where you needed to yield results quickly? Perhaps you’ve finished the last 2 quarters over budget and over schedule, you’re off track for an important project, or you simply want to make every day processes more efficient and less time consuming. Before you do Complex Regression Analysis, A3 diagrams or Value Stream Maps, you should first pick the low hanging fruit. Picking the low hanging fruit is a term for going after the quick fixes and c