Monday, January 19, 2009

Startup Business Can Thrive With Six Sigma

By Craig Calvin

Many people believe that Six Sigma is only appropriate for large, multinational corporations, but immediate cost-saving results can be achieved by implementing six sigma in a startup company. For years, the most massive businesses on the planet have utilized Six Sigma to save billions of dollars through both cutting costs and increasing profit. Many believe that the implementation of Six Sigma strategies should be confined to large, public companies that employ thousands of employees and whose projects costs millions or billions of dollars to undertake. But the startup industry is a prime candidate for Six Sigma implementation, and start-up company managers especially can benefit from Six Sigma Certification. Six Sigma, at its core, forces managers to take an analytical, quantitative approach toward justifying new projects -- and no industry should be more cautious of wasting capital than the startup industry.

Considering employees, new startup managers who earn Six Sigma Black Belt certificates while at new companies with just a few employees will continue to grow as their careers progress and they eventually move on to larger companies. Six Sigma is a method of teaching how to increase profits by controlling costs, certainly two things that will never go out of style. The advantage of a startup company having managers with Six Sigma certification gives the employer the comfort of knowing that the manager is dedicated to running the company with a sharp eye toward the bottom line.

Startup companies are notorious for having lack of organized procedures with which to optimize their operations. A Six Sigma training certificate can hone those skills and can teach managers what to look for in their businesses processes and how to control their success. Implementing Six Sigma in a new startup business can be especially effective in increasing cash flow and guiding the company to profitability. Small companies can benefit from the Six Sigma influence just as much as large ones can.

Good startup managers have a good rapport with their employees, but they sometimes become so distracted by the socialization that they overlook the processes that are becoming money losers for the company. Six Sigma training trains the manager to focus on the operations with an eye toward the profitability of the project. More than managers of any other segment, startup managers need to be focused in this way, because it can literally make or break a young company's ability to become successful.

Another advantage for the manager having Six Sigma training is that as the company grows from a small one to a medium sized one, he will have the skills to manage the company at its new size. Often when a company grows, management is replaced and new, more experienced professionals with impressive backgrounds are hired on. Six Sigma certification will give the startup manager the skills to grow the small company into a larger one, while helping him to retain his job at the same time.

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