Continuous development and growth refer to ongoing process of improvement. Whether enterprise is small or big, constant improvements are the key to success and sustainability. The term[1] continuous improvement process is defined as “an ongoing effort to improve products, services, or processes”.

The main focus here is an improvement in such areas like business results, strategies, experience and relationship of customers, employees and suppliers. Even if digital lifestyle entrepreneur decides to have a small enterprise, it is always necessary to know how to make it effective and efficient, reduce wasted time and effort, save money and remain competitive and flexible in the ever-changing market.

There are various methods and examples of continuous improvement applied by successful enterprises. Every business has different tactics and approaches that lead to growth, it can be mix of various methods, tools and creativeness. However, there are basic and widely known techniques and steps which helps to achieve continuous development and growth.

PDCA – stands for P – Plan, D – Do, C – Check, A – Act. It is a continuous improvement model based on repeating the cycle in order to improve processes, products or services. This model derived from scientific approach hypothesis – experiment – evaluation which was transformed to plan – do – check. PDCA as a problem-solving method, can be applied in digital lifestyle enterprises during different stages. It aims to get user closer to goals, to develop critical thinking, enhance knowledge and skills by applying continuous improvement. This method enables to stay competitive in the market, because “an engaged, problem-solving workforce using PDCA in a culture of critical thinking is better able to innovate and stay ahead of the competition[2]”.

The PDCA cycle

Plan – at this step it is important to identify the key business processes and problems. To solve problems, user of this model should establish objectives and desired results.

Do – the Plan how to solve the problem should be tested. At this step user should carry out the objectives he/she established in previous step.

Check – this step is for evaluating the results from the previous phase. Data and results of Do phase is compared with expected results to see how it changed. This step (conducted multiple times) helps to see if one changes are better than other and where improvements can be made.

Act – this is the step where action is taken to improve the processes. Check and Do steps helped to identify the problems, inefficiencies that should be removed by modifying process. After Act phase is finished, the process is improved with better goals or instructions for the next cycle.

Further reading https://asq.org/quality-resources/pdca-cycle

Kaizen – Kaizen’s philosophy is a way of life that encompasses all processes and all business activities. This philosophy became popular outside the business world as well. The concept aims to improve standardize processes by eliminating waste and redundancies. Digital lifestyle entrepreneurs may use this method for various purposes – to enhance employee productivity, to improve customer experience or to reduce cost.

The key to success, according to Kaizen, is small, gradual and steady changes, instead of major change. The employees (from bottom) are encouraged to offer improvements for business as they better understand the processes and have realistic ideas. Kaizen’s methodology is more oriented to process than the result.

Source:https://pixabay.com/illustrations/change-arrows-clouds-sky-direction-948024/

Kaizen method helps to continuously improve all functions and involve all employees in businesses. There are three key features of Kaizen:

Feedback – process that involves self-reflection (dialogue, feedback and open communications helps to figure out the way to increase effectiveness)

Efficiency – identify, reduce or eliminate (less expensive to eliminate than add to process)

Evolution – depends on gradual and continuous development which is most innovative

Further reading: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newSTR_97.htm

LEAN – this approach mainly focuses on customers’ needs and wants with doing less (effort, equipment, time, space), in order to reduce waste and costs.

There can be distinguished key principles:

Define value – what value does customer want and ready to pay for?

Map the Value Stream – what activities contributes to this value? This step helps to reduce unnecessary processes and cost of producing product or service and at the same time ensure that customers are getting what they desire.

Create flow – ensure smoothly running flow of the remaining steps

Establish Pull – ensure that there is created exactly the amount of products needed and at the time they are needed.

Pursue perfection – seek for perfection by achieving the first four steps.

Further reading: https://theleanway.net/The-Five-Principles-of-Lean

General tips how to improve continuous development:

• Set clear and reasonable goals.
• Constantly collect feedback from customers, employees and stakeholders. It is useful to know aspects that can be improved or new ideas can arise.
• Create motivational environment and encourage employees to be more involved and offer solutions.

What are the benefits of continuous development strategies?

There are several reasons why continuous development strategy is beneficial to digital lifestyle enterprise:

• By continuously improving processes in business, it is easier to spot the problems and solve them in a timely manner,
• Continuous development helps to be more flexible and keep up with the competition,
• By implementing small changes, the business gets closer to its’ goals,
• Continuous development leads to simplified workflow and thus enterprise is able to work more efficiently, to save time and money,
• It may prevent overages,
• It helps to be more prepared and make better plans to avoid failures,
• And most importantly, it helps to notice opportunities and take advantage of them.

Support and funding programmes for successful enterprise growth

There are many funding and support programmes both for start-ups and for established enterprises at international and national levels. This support appears in two forms:

• Financial support – it can be grants, loans, etc.
• Non-financial assistance – in a form of programmes and support services.

The European Union supports small and medium enterprises or SEM in four categories[3]:

Thematic funding opportunities – focuses on specific objectives such as environment, energy, transport, innovation and research, education and training or culture. The EU usually covers part of the costs of the project and SME can apply directly for the programmes.

Structural funds – direct financial aid for SMEs possible in the economically less developed regions, in other regions the support appears in a form of networking, entrepreneurship training, support services, business incubators, etc.

Financial instruments – available indirectly, through national financial intermediaries (banks, credit institutions, investment funds).

Support for the internationalisation of SMEs – provides indirect funding to SMEs by facilitating access to loans, leasing and equity operations, through cooperation with international financial institutions.

Examples of the EU support programmes for enterprise growth include COSMO programme with Enterprise Europe Network. COSMO programme for SMEs works in four ways – make easier for SMEs to access finance in all phases of their lifecycle – creation, expansion, or business transfer, to access markets in and outside the EU by financing Enterprise Europe Network and other initiatives and tools; creating an environment favourable to competitiveness and encouraging an entrepreneurial culture.

Further reading: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/cosme_en

There is a useful finance tool[4] to search for funding opportunities in national countries for all types of companies of any size and sector including entrepreneurs, start-ups, micro companies, small and medium-sized enterprises, and larger businesses. This website as well helps to apply for loans supported by the EU. User of this tool can see what is the investment focus – on an early stage of business or expansion and growth.

[1]Continuous service improvement. Website: http://customerpromise.com/continuous-service-improvement

[2] Tague, N. R. (2005). Plan–Do–Study–Act cycle. The Quality Toolbox, Second Edition. Website: https://asq.org/quality-resources/pdca-cycle

[3] European Commission, Enterprise and Industry DG. (2012, February 22). European Union support programmes for SMEs. Website: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/content/european-union-support-programmes-smes_lt

[4]Access to EU Finance. Website: https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/finance-funding/getting-funding/access-finance/search/en