<p>There’s no doubt that <B>the cost of water is rising</b> and it’s only going to get <B>more expensive</b>. How can a produce company begin to figure out what areas of its business should be optimized and still keep in line with its Key Performance Indicators (KPI)? There’s several metrics to consider, and many of them may not even be relevant to your overall goal. That’s why I developed C Suite.co and the 5<I>e</i> Process – a way to make organizations more <B>Effective, Efficient, Economical, Ethical, and Environmental.</b> Last time, I introduced the 5<I>e</i> Process to show how we can help companies find exactly which metrics can and should be improved. Today, let’s take a closer look at the process to see how one real world example changed their operations to significantly improve their business.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="http://www.andnowuknow.com/quick-dish/improving-your-business-metrics-5e-process-james-kafieh-c-suiteco/10858/james-kafieh" target="_new"> Previous Story from James Kafieh</a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>More often than not, these massive Fortune 500 companies and of course, the smaller companies, are under the impression that <B>nothing is wrong</b> – their overhead and administration costs are perfectly fine, cash flow is at normal levels, the list goes on. If you’re a grower, what if the financial or operational effectiveness of your business isn’t your forte? Who do you go to when your real estate expenses are falling through gaps you can’t see? Typically, you would go to the Chief Financial Officer, VP of Purchasing, or some other financially-oriented person within the company. This person is your <B>Champion</b>; he or she is someone who agrees with what you’re trying to do for the company from a theoretical perspective and is also the person who agrees upfront with your customized Key Performance Indicators (KPIs); i.e. agreement with your target or goal.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>In terms of water allocation, let’s take a look at an actual example. One Rite Aid business was renting space in a building and also happened to be the biggest tenant. Rite Aid’s Champion did not even know that they had an issue since their <B>expenses were trending at historical levels</b>, historically very high but consistent over time. C Suite.co looked through the company’s finances and saw that the company was paying a substantial amount of money for water. Think of it as a patient/doctor relationship. The Champion is the patient that knows something could be made better, so he goes to a doctor or some other professional for an educated opinion. It was clear that the Actual vs KPI relationship wasn’t in line with how much was being spent on water, so we worked with them and found that <B>they could be spending 90% less</b>. In fact, they were paying for water use in the entire building, 90% of which was not theirs.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Ultimately, we negotiated a lump sum settlement for the past overpayments (the retroactive recovery over the past four years) plus stopped the bleeding going forward. The expenses being paid going forward became the new benchmark. In summary, we helped Rite Aid find which metrics could be improved in terms of <B>Efficiency, Economy, and Environment</b>, set up an overall financial goal for the company, and helped establish a more standardized KPI.<img src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacyWriterImages/5es_2.jpg" alt="cropped Images 040714" /></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>As I said previously, the process works because the 5<I>e</i> Process model never changes for any company, from the big to the small, to the farmer to the retailer. Moving ahead, especially as the cost of water rises, it’s going to be increasingly important to make sure your operations are as efficient as possible.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://csuite.co" target="_new"> C Suite.co </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
