Six Sigma Blog: Small Business, Big Gains

Small Business, Big Gains

By Priya Jestin, Staff Writer

If you are one of those who thought that Six Sigma was only for large corporations, you’re not alone. Many people believe that Six Sigma process improvement results can only be achieved by huge organizations. What they don’t realize is that small businesses too can succeed in implementing Six Sigma and reap the process improvement benefits of this approach.

Agreed, the implementation and results may vary depending on the size of your organization. For instance a small business doesn’t have access to a large pool or resources like a big business firm. At the same time, the very nature of its business – small in size – will ensure that the process flows are flexible, and the decision-making chain is shorter.

Another thing a small business cannot do is, undertake massive training programs for its employees. They also cannot afford to have full-time Master Black Belts on staff and may not have the personnel with the skills and expertise to step into the role of Black Belts without extensive training. In such a scenario, you can get a certified Six Sigma consultant to act as your Black Belt for the initial projects. Once you have generated enough savings, you can use some of this amount to train your own people. Financially, savings realized from the first set of projects usually justifies the entire cost of the Six Sigma training.