OPERATIONS IMPROVEMENT
While the scope will vary, these services can be considered “point solutions” to a specific need in your business. As with all of our services, we emphasize developing people to achieve new levels of individual and business performance.
Process Improvement
If your process is not providing the desired results, or you just want to see what it is capable of, we can help. Our approach to process improvement combines a proven set of tools with input from the experts inside your business.
Waste Elimination
Every business has wastes, like it or not. We work with your team to understand and identify the different forms of waste in your business, which is a great first step to reducing or eliminating those wastes and unlocking higher performance.
Standardized Work Development
Understanding existing work using a proven and methodical approach is critical to driving daily incremental improvements, as well as preparing for more significant changes like expanding capacity, taking on new work, or reorganizing existing operations. We are fortunate to have received training from some of the world’s foremost experts on standardized work and are enthusiastic about continuing our learning in businesses like yours.
Team Leader Development
With every successful team, you can find a capable and resolute Team Leader. Being a successful team leader is less about management and corrective action, and more about supporting the team and problem solving. We offer one-on-one coaching for team leaders, development of “leader standard work” to help structure the many daily responsibilities of team leaders, and education on tools for daily management and improvement.
Continuous Improvement
A Continuous Improvement System requires certain elements to function well, however there is significant flexibility in HOW these elements are applied to fit your unique business. We can support you in developing a Continuous Improvement System from scratch, examining your existing system, or facilitating specific improvements in an area of need.
COACH & TRUSTED ADVISOR
Forming an ongoing relationship with an experienced and trusted advisor can be a highly effective way to build long term value. We maintain complete confidentiality and assist in analyzing decisions as if they were our own.
Partner in Strategic Analysis
Completing a strategic planning exercise, such as a SWOT analysis, can be an informative and valuable step for your business. All too often, these exercises are buried in a binder somewhere instead of providing ongoing value. We work with our clients and partners to keep their strategic analyses updated in a fast-paced and chaotic world and use that information to inform key decisions along the way.
Gain Clarity on Key Decisions
While we can support critical decisions with objective analysis such as ROI calculation, sometimes what you really need is a confidential sounding board to hash through various scenarios one on one. We believe gut feelings are powerful forces and exploring them in an environment of trust can be invaluable.
Assess New Opportunities
New opportunities come in many forms and can be overly exciting, but can also be game-changing, distracting, and sometimes both. Opportunities must be considered in light of your business’s strategic positioning, the capabilities of your existing people or processes, or a myriad of other possibilities. Having a partner you trust to explore such opportunities can be invaluable.
Team Building
Team Building typically starts with a look at the team’s current and desired performance levels, as well as the individual strengths and opportunities of the team’s members. From 360-degree feedback sessions to aligning roles and responsibilities for team members, Long Run Business Services has the tools and experience required to assess and elevate your team’s performance.
Succession Planning
Succession Planning is one of the most IMPORTANT processes you conduct in your business, but rarely falls into the URGENT category until it is too late. It also requires leaders to be vulnerable and to consider outcomes for themselves and others that are uncomfortable, to say the least. Long Run Business Services is here to support you in succession planning, a process which only you can lead.
DISCOVERY & ASSESSMENT
Do you ever wonder if there is additional value in your business just waiting to be unlocked? Or perhaps you have an idea but need “another set of eyes” to assess benefits and feasibility.
Business & Functional Assessments
Do you wonder about your business’s capabilities against accepted standards of excellence? Are you curious about a specific process or functional capability in light of a new opportunity? We can assess your entire business, specific functions, or even detailed processes against currently accepted standards, and can provide feedback and suggestions for improvement as well.
Future State Development
Businesses are always changing, and oftentimes the environments we operate in are changing even faster. Every business deserves a well thought out and well-articulated future state vision, which can be used to inform current day priorities and actions. Long Run Business Services can help you craft a Future State vision, and more importantly, keep that vision updated with the latest information.
Opportunity Analysis
With opportunities around every corner, sometimes the difficult part is knowing when to say ‘No!’ We collaborate with you and your team to understand new opportunities considering existing capabilities, plan and conduct analysis to inform decisions, and help you make the best possible decision on when and when not to invest in the “next big thing.”
Operations Due Diligence
The conversation around a business purchase usually focuses on sales price, terms, financing, and timeline. We help businesses and investors look under the proverbial hood to identify how operations are impacting REAL long-term value of the business. We look at the life expectancy of critical assets, scrub contracts to identify margin risks, and review process capacities to understand capability for growth. This information can provide valuable leverage in negotiations, but most importantly gives you a leg up on maximizing the return on your investment from Day 1.
Roadmap Development
Having developed hundreds of roadmaps for clients over the years, we can help you connect your business plans with your vision. An effective roadmap requires a solid understanding of the current state and future state, as well as an ability to identify and plan for the areas requiring the most change. We also work to identify and recommend other service providers or resources in areas in which we do not specialize.
FRACTIONAL OPERATIONS LEADERSHIP
An outsourced, part-time COO can be an effective way to fill an operations leadership need in your business. Fractional Operations Leadership is flexible, budget-conscious, and allows CEO’s and Owners to remain focused on long-term vision while confident in the day-to-day operations.
