A bottleneck is a capacity constraint which restricts an entity, project or system, such as a manufacturing or decision making process, from achieving its potential. 

Uncover the bottlenecks

Finding bottlenecks in industry is relatively easy – in manufacturing you look at an assembly line and see where things are piling up. In small business however, they are harder to find. A good place to start is you! Is there a situation that regularly causes you stress?  This suggests that a bottleneck exists somewhere.

Ask yourself:

• Do I always have too much on my plate?
• Am I unable to get the really important things done?
• Are details and small tasks dominating my time?
• Are people always waiting for me to get back to them?

Share the load

If your answers to the above were mostly yes, it’s time to start delegating – for most small and medium business owners, this means outsourcing. Outsourcing allows you to build a team of skilled professionals without adding the expense of full-time employees and getting bogged down with tasks that can be completed without you. The right time to outsource will vary and depends on your business, but commonly outsourced tasks include proofreading, data entry, market research, bookkeeping, website administration and so on. 

Regardless of the nature of your business, it is critical to follow one simple rule: you can outsource almost anything except responsibility! Your core business should not be outsourced – nor should you outsource something just because you don’t want to do it.

Other may include:

• Long wait times – work is delayed whilst you wait for a product, more information or other people 
• Backlog – there’s too much work piled up at one end and not enough at the other end
• High stress levels – a symptom we see all too often amongst small and micro business owners!

In these instances, it can be helpful to create a flowchart detailing every step in the process, in order to identify where bottlenecks are occurring.

Use resources wisely

Given their limited manpower - and sometimes capital - small and micro business owners must be especially careful of using their resources wisely.  In the case of outsourcing, this means identifying the performance metrics that are most important to each task being outsourced – a challenging task if you are too close to the subject!  Being both personally and professional invested in your business is a powerful influence, so be mindful and consult a third party if necessary to help you view the matter objectively.  Once you are able to step back and allow your extended ‘team’ to do the job you’ve hired them for, you will free up valuable time and energy to focus on growing your business.