Close Menu
  • News
  • Home
  • In Profile
  • Finance
  • Legal
  • Technology
  • Events
  • Features
  • Wellbeing & Mental Health
  • Marketing
  • HR & Recruitment
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Events Calendar
  • Business Wall
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • 0843 289 4634
X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
Trending
  • Do You Need To Look Through ‘The Business Lens’?
  • Enhancing Supply Chain Security: The Strategic Role of Managed Service Providers (MSPs)
  • New energy service aims to lessen strain on SME budgets
  • Meet Claudia Freed, Who Truly Knows What It Means To ‘Circle Back’
  • Dr. Karim Bahou appointed Head of Innovation at Sister, Manchester’s £1.7bn innovation district
  • Top employers 2025 announced by Working Families
  • Concrete success as Structural Repairs scoops two national business awards
  • What Does Whatsapp’s Ad Rollout Signal For Social Media And Messaging?
X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
SME Today
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Events Calendar
  • Business Wall
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • 0843 289 4634
  • News
  • Home
  • In Profile
  • Finance
  • Legal
  • Technology
  • Events
  • Features
  • Wellbeing
  • Marketing
  • HR & Recruitment
SME Today
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Events Calendar
  • Business Wall
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • 0843 289 4634
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • RSS
You are at:Home»Features»How businesses can cut their own red tape
bureaucratic red tape

How businesses can cut their own red tape

0
Posted By sme-admin on October 30, 2024 Features
Consider Solutions’ CEO, Dan French
Consider Solutions’ CEO, Dan French

Following Sir Keir Starmer’s pledge to rip out the bureaucracy that blocks investment, Consider Solutions’ CEO, Dan French, explores how businesses can set their own agenda for removing the roadblocks to efficiency and growth:

“The phrase ‘Red Tape’ is enough to send a chill through the veins. The unnecessary policies, rules and activities that delay progress are still sadly present in many companies, big and small. The Prime Minister sees these processes as a barrier to economic growth, and seems hell bent on removing them sooner rather than later.

Red tape exists in our individual interactions with government and consumer brands, but also very much within the operations of businesses today. Some red tape makes sense when it clearly helps to avoid fraud, waste and loss, but over time we often over-engineer these checks and balances.

Consider business practices, for example, when confirming a supplier for goods or services on an agreed budget. This can result in a labyrinth of workflow approvals to fully commit to an order. It is not uncommon to have five or six approval steps after the budget holder and procurement responsible have already authorised the spend. These steps are often necessary only to share information rather than seek genuine approval. This takes excessive time, causes delay in business operations, and creates frustration for all concerned.

Experience of customers AND colleagues together with its foundation, simplicity, are fast becoming recognised enablers for superior business performance. We can eliminate unnecessary red tape by taking a good look at our end-to-end processes for revenue (customer to cash), spend (source to pay), people (hire to retire), product (plan to produce) and so on.

At each stage, ask the question “where are the root causes of downstream defects, errors, waste and frustration?”

Elimination can be even more powerful than automation. This is the core of the “ESSA” sequence of process improvement: Eliminate, Standardize, Simplify, and Automate.

To paraphrase former Apple CEO Steve Jobs: “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. You have to work very hard to get your thinking clean to make things simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”

The phrase originated in the 16th century when the King of Spain used actual red tape to bundle important documents that needed immediate attention. He had to physically cut through the red tape to read this vital information.

If businesses take the time to consider how to streamline their own processes, in many cases they need not wait for Government intervention to boost their productivity and profits. Like the Spanish King, they must take ownership of a simplified system that helps them achieve their objectives.”

For more information, please visit consider.biz

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

Related Posts

Meet Claudia Freed, Who Truly Knows What It Means To ‘Circle Back’

Top Tips for Dealing with Common Commercial Disputes

SMEToday Goes To Las Vegas!

Comments are closed.

Follow SME Today on Linkedin and share all the topics you find interesting
ISO/IEC 27001 roadmap: A practical guide for UK SMEs
ISO/IEC 27001 roadmap: A practical guide for UK SMEs
Are you a Company Director?
Are you a Company Director - Verify your identity
Personal Pension offer
Events Calendar
    • Marketing
    October 14, 2025

    Do You Need To Look Through ‘The Business Lens’?

    October 10, 2025

    What Does Whatsapp’s Ad Rollout Signal For Social Media And Messaging?

    • Finance
    October 14, 2025

    New energy service aims to lessen strain on SME budgets

    October 8, 2025

    An Online Test For Trying Out An Employee-Ownership Trust

    • People
    October 13, 2025

    Dr. Karim Bahou appointed Head of Innovation at Sister, Manchester’s £1.7bn innovation district

    September 30, 2025

    Allergen Free For The Win: Ceo Of Inclusive Food Brand Announced As Best Business Woman

    • Health & Safety
    September 18, 2025

    Lessons From Grenfell Are Still Being Learned

    September 2, 2025

    1 in 3 employees anxious about lack of first aiders at work

    • Events
    October 10, 2025

    Nominations Now Open for UK’s Top 100 Businesses – EB100 2026

    October 8, 2025

    The Solopreneur Awards 2025: The Audacity Era

    • Community
    September 18, 2025

    ClearCourse appoints new Chair of the Board, Simon Black

    September 18, 2025

    Raising Money Where It’s Needed: Westspring Pledges To Raise £50,000 For Charity

    • Food & Drink
    October 9, 2025

    Leading Allergy Campaigner Supports Call For New Food Allergens To Be Added To Uk’s ‘Top 14’ List

    October 3, 2025

    Small Teams, Strong Breaks: The SME Guide to a Better Coffee Point

    • Books
    September 3, 2025

    New book on conquering fear of public speaking

    August 7, 2025

    Learning to Leave a Legacy in Business

    The Newsletter

    Join our mailing list for the best SME stories, handpicked and delivered direct to your inbox every two weeks!

    Sign Up
    About

    SME Today is published by the same team who deliver The Great British Expos’. We have been organising various corporate events for the last 10 years, with a strong track record of producing well managed and attended business events across the UK.

    Join Our Mailing List

    Receive the latest news and updates from SMEToday.
    Read our Latest Newsletter:


    Sign Up
    X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    Categories
    • Books
    • Community & Charity
    • Education and Training
    • Environment
    • Events
    • Features
    • Finance
    • Food and Drink
    • Health & Safety
    • HR & Recruitment
    • In Profile
    • Legal
    • Marketing
    • News
    • People
    • Property & Development
    • Sponsored Content
    • Technology
    • Transport & Tourism
    • Wellbeing & Mental Health
    • ABOUT SME TODAY: THE GO TO RESOURCE FOR UK BUSINESSES
    • Editorial Submission Guidelines
    • Privacy
    • Contact
    Copyright © 2025 SME Today.
    • ABOUT SME TODAY: THE GO TO RESOURCE FOR UK BUSINESSES
    • Editorial Submission Guidelines
    • Privacy
    • Contact

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.