Congestion
In the book The Simple Life by Thom S & Art Rainer, the authors talk about removing congestion from your life. Some synonyms of ‘congestion’ are to block, choke, clog, jam or obstruct; pretty heavy stuff, not only for your life but also for your business.
In Jason Fried and David Hannson’s book Rework, they discuss the idea of embracing constraints. They discuss how writers use writing constraints to force creativity. They also discuss reducing your business to ‘the one thing.’ By that they mean, ‘what is the one thing your business could not be without it?’ For example, a hot dog stand cannot be that without hot dogs! Although it is not always so straightforward, by thinking this way, you begin to think about what is really important.
Here are three ways we can begin to embrace simplicity and get to what is important:
1. Focus on what is important
Simplify your process for sending cars and get down to what really matters in your daily reports. Do you really need to know your chemical cost daily? Does one damage claim require you to change how you do business? Look at the big picture and make it easy for you and your employees.
2. Less is more
If you think you need three people, two will probably do. Focus on what you really need not what you feel you need. Operate under self-imposed constraints; they will force you to be more creative with less.
3. Simplify your equipment
It’s not a question of if your equipment will break but when. If you can buy two smaller simpler pieces of equipment to do the job of one bigger more complicated, go simpler. It will be cheaper to repair and faster, allowing for more up time and fewer headaches for you. Digital pumps can give you very specific dilutions but also are expensive to replace and sometimes hard to find. Look for equipment and parts that are available in your area, so that on Friday afternoon when it breaks before a big Saturday you can be up and running.
