In part one of this topic, we talked about how just giving a little bit extra may be the key to groundbreaking success.  Now let's apply that philosophy to reducing production costs and improving product design.

In 1987, American Airlines was looking for a way to cutcosts.  They eliminated one olive fromeach passenger's salad.  One singleolive.  That doesn’t sound like a lot,but do you know how much they ended up saving? $40,000 per year!  Look forincremental small changes you can make that may add up to a bigdifference.  You don't have to totallyredesign your company, but look for places where you can tweak the process,making small changes here and there that will improve your bottom line.

So many people believe that in order to succeed inbusiness, you have to have a unique idea or a unique approach or a uniqueproduct.  But generally, the productsthat are best sellers are big sellers because they work!  You don't have to invent a new wheel, youjust have to make your wheel fractionally better than the other guy's.  And you can do that by just putting forththat small incremental extra effort.

If you are selling the same products as your competitor,consider small ways in which you can make yours better.  Can you make the package easier to open?  Think about the change when medicationsstarted coming without that big wad of cotton in the top of the bottle.  It was much easier to get to the pillswithout having to pull out all of that cotton first.

Can you make the colors more bright and appealing?  Remember when computers came in only black orgrey?  Now they can be purchased in anumber of designer colors that appeal to many different people.

Can you make your product easier for differently-abledpeople to use?  Not everyone in the worldhas two good hands or strong muscles. What do you think would be the impact on the pickle market if someonecame out with a jar that was easier to open? Similarly, the inventor of left-handed scissors must be making a hugeprofit because he found something that a niche minority of people would finduseful.

Many people are extremely sensitive to price points andwill choose a brand strictly based on saving a few pennies. Can you reduce yourproduction costs by reducing your scrap through a change in your process?  For example, if you are cutting two trianglesout of a piece of cloth, you can really improve your yield by turning onetriangle upside down. 

Can you add a product line that makes use of yourscrap?  If you are currently makingblouses, you likely have some fabric scrap. Have you ever considered making quilts or rag rugs?  It beats paying the trash man to haul yourscraps away.