The Lean starter toolkit: deck, 8-wastes checklist and 20-minute process map

In this toolkit 1. The talk deck 2. The 8-wastes checklist 3. The 20-minute process map 4. A free second pair of eyes

1. The talk deck: The Second Payroll

Every business pays one payroll to its people, and a hidden one to its waste. The six slides from the talk are yours to keep and share.

Download the deck (PDF)

The short version, if you skipped the talk: sort every hour of your week into three buckets. Value is what your customer would pay for. Necessary keeps you running but earns nothing: invoicing, taxes, scheduling. Waste is everything else, and your customer pays for none of it. Lean in one line: grow the first bucket, shrink the other two.

2. The 8-wastes checklist: which letter is yours?

The 8 wastes spell DOWNTIME. Tick the ones that showed up in your business this week, then start with the one that costs you the most hours.

D · Defects. The invoice with the wrong amount, the work you redo. First fix: a 60-second check before anything leaves your hands, written as three bullet points.
O · Overproduction. Building services, packages, or content nobody has ordered yet. First fix: sell one before you build three.
W · Waiting. Quotes sitting with clients, payments clearing, replies that never come. First fix: a follow-up rule. Every quote gets a call or email on day 3, no exceptions.
N · Non-utilized talent. Your best hours going to $15 admin tasks. First fix: list what only you can do; everything else is a candidate for a tool, a template, or later, a hire.
T · Transportation. Retyping the same client info into email, spreadsheet, invoice app. First fix: make one place the single source, and connect or copy from there only.
I · Inventory. Half-finished projects and leads you never called back. First fix: finish or kill. Pick one stalled item this week and close it, either way.
M · Motion. Hunting for files, passwords, that one email. First fix: 30 minutes of ruthless folder and password cleanup buys back hours every month.
E · Extra-processing. Polishing what the client already called perfect. First fix: define done before you start, in one sentence, and stop there.

Most founders tick three or four. That is normal, and it is money sitting on the table.

3. The 20-minute process map: no consultant required

One process, one piece of paper, 20 minutes. This is the whole method.

Step	What you do	What to watch for
1 · Pick ONE process that repeats	Quote-to-invoice, lead-to-booking, new-client onboarding.	Pick the one that annoys you most. Annoyance is data.
2 · Map it on paper	Every step, every handoff, every wait, in order.	Ugly is fine. Honest beats pretty.
3 · Star what the customer pays for	Mark only the steps a customer would happily fund.	Most people star 2 or 3 steps out of 10. That gap is your opportunity.
4 · Attack the biggest un-starred step	Shorten the wait, kill the double entry, drop the step.	One change at a time. Prove it worked before the next.
5 · Write down the better way	One page: the steps, in order, as they should run.	A process on paper is a process a VA, your first hire, or an automation can take over.

Do this once a month and you have a continuous-improvement habit. That is Lean; everything else is refinement.

4. Want a second pair of eyes on one of your processes?

The free Operations Health Check takes about three minutes: a dozen plain questions, a score, and a pack of templates matched to where you stand. No sales call attached.

And if you would rather talk it through, book a free 30-minute call. Bring your ugly process map; those are my favourite kind.

Benjamin Kobe · Provenance Advisory Group · Winnipeg · Lean Six Sigma Black Belt · services in English and French

Waste is a second payroll.
Stop paying it.

1. The talk deck: The Second Payroll

2. The 8-wastes checklist: which letter is yours?

3. The 20-minute process map: no consultant required

4. Want a second pair of eyes on one of your processes?

Prefer a 10-minute call?

Waste is a second payroll. Stop paying it.

1. The talk deck: The Second Payroll

2. The 8-wastes checklist: which letter is yours?

3. The 20-minute process map: no consultant required

4. Want a second pair of eyes on one of your processes?

Waste is a second payroll.
Stop paying it.