Did Some Consulting for a Friend's Business…

Welcome to the Dave vs. Startups.

"That's just the way we do it" might be the six most expensive words in business.

I learned this while helping a friend optimize his manufacturing process, where I discovered he'd been wasting 45 minutes of production time every single day for 20 years.

The crazy part is his business was already profitable.

He just never questioned established processes.

Here’s how you can apply this thinking and find areas to improve:

My friend's company makes this specialized product that prevents asphalt from sticking to truck beds.

Super niche but profitable.

When I asked him about his production process, he explained they mix the product for 90 minutes.

"Why 90 minutes?" I asked.

"That's just how we've always done it."

Red flag number one. When someone tells me "that's just the way we do this," it's a really good indicator of something that hasn't been challenged in a really, really long time.

This phrase is like a neon sign pointing to potential inefficiencies that could be costing thousands.

I dug deeper.

Turns out they've been mixing for 90 minutes because that's what they started with 20 years ago.

They just know it works, so they keep doing it.

But here's the thing, if they could validate they only need 45 minutes, they could literally double their productivity.

The testing process would be ridiculously simple too. You can “MacGuyver” a small test.

All you need to do is run the mixer and take a bottle every 10-20 minutes.

Label each bottle, then test them on actual truck beds with asphalt to see which ones work.

You don't even need a chemist, just basic trial and error.

What kills me is this isn't just about the 90-minute mixing time.

I found other expensive assumptions throughout the facility.

They wash their shipping containers in the middle of the building instead of near the door because "when we started, we didn't want to ruin the water line."

Twenty years of extra labor for every single wash.

I use a Socratic method when I consult.

I usually ask questions that I might know the answer to, but I let them come to the conclusion themselves.

Sometimes just having someone there asking "why do you do it this way?" gets people thinking about improvements they've never considered.

The pattern I see everywhere:

Founders get so busy working IN their business that they never step back to work ON it.

When people give me phrases like "that's the way it works" or "that's what somebody told us one time," those are signs something can probably be improved.

The scariest part:

This business is actually profitable and successful.

They're making good money despite these inefficiencies.

Imagine how much more profitable they could be if they just questioned a few basic assumptions about their processes.

Here's my challenge for you:

Walk through your business and listen for those six deadly words.

When you find a process that exists because "that's just the way we do it," you've probably found your next big efficiency gain.

The most expensive assumptions are the ones you never question.

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AI Startups are everywhere BUT they are incredibly vulnerable to the natural expansion of the big LLMs (ChatGPT, Claude, etc).

So, how do you create a moat for your startup? Chris and I took this on in our latest episode.

Tune into the Startup Different Podcast