The long winter is officially over and springtime has begun! Spring training for our favorite baseball players is in swing, longer days are here, and the tulips will be blooming before we know it. To kick off the season, I always love to attend one of my favorite events – the world renowned Philadelphia Flower Show. The show occurs in the first week of March which is technically winter, but everyone in attendance – over 250,000 of us this year – can’t help but to feel the arrival of spring, with the beautiful exhibits and fragrances at the show.  

This year, instead of just attending, I worked at the flower show. I arrived early before the doors opened to the public, and was able to get a glimpse of the event’s behind-the-scenes workings.

My particular job was to be a runner for the judges who were judging the horticultural contests. Horticulturalists work hard on their plants, primping, priming and dusting every leaf. Even the container and soil was primed and watered just right, all in the hopes of taking home the coveted blue ribbon.  As a runner, I helped to shuttle information from the pre-judging area to a data entry area, where each plant’s information was logged, then put onto printed cards so plants that qualified for the final judging area could be identified. For four hours, I was part of a team that shuttled paperwork back and forth.

Before I worked the show, I never gave much thought to how plants in horticultural contests came to be judged. I didn’t realize all the paperwork and human effort that went into judging. It’s just like any business – a lot goes on behind the scenes that customers never see.  But ultimately, how efficiently operations go behind the scenes determines what kind of experience customers will have.

At the flower show, I had to control my instincts as a process-oriented person – I forced myself to not get hung up on process improvements that could’ve been made in the judging process. There, my only job was to be a runner. Still, I couldn’t help but to think that at the show – and in so many businesses – it’s always a good idea to do a little “spring cleaning” when it comes to processes, systems and overall efficiency. With constant changes in technology and human capital, reevaluating systems regularly can reveal opportunities for growth and improvement.

For instance, think about your own business. When it comes to new clients, how does onboarding go? Is there a consistent process, so each client receives the same level of care right from the start? Think about how your employees are paid each pay period – is it a smooth process or is it a headache for them and you? Are the reports from your financial systems timely and reliable? Or is your management team spending valuable time manipulating data from various sources so they can make decisions and run the business on a day-to-day basis?  

Thankfully, when I’m working with clients on their businesses, I have the opportunity to make meaningful changes. If you suspect that there’s room for improvement in your business’ processes, give us a call. My team and I at Price Turner CFOs thrive on turning inefficiencies into efficient processes that increase productivity, eliminate wasted time and effort, and ultimately improve the bottom line.