The SME guide to cutting costs, reducing waste and becoming more productive 

For many entrepreneurs, a passion project can quickly turn into a thriving business. That's exactly what happened when Gráinne Mullins first launched Grá Chocolates in 2020.  

When Covid-19 hit Gráinne poured her culinary expertise into crafting hand-painted Easter eggs for friends and family, which soon transformed into a promising business.  

But while the award-winning chef knew her way around a kitchen, the intricacies of running a business – like managing workflows and optimising operations – were a new challenge. 

“As a manufacturing company, I didn’t really know how to create workflows. I was relying on my own skills, but little did I know the way I was thinking about it wasn’t very efficient,” says Gráinne. 

Having had support early on her business journey, she turned to her Local Enterprise Office who suggested she do the Lean for Business programme. 

“I’m so glad I did the programme so early as it meant we were ‘thinking Lean’ from the very beginning and we’re now so efficient with all our processes, cutting packing time by 45% on some of our products and reducing waste by about 20%.” 

Whether you’ve heard about the principles or can guess from the title, Lean is all about delivering more value with less waste. It involves looking at every step in your process and asking whether it’s necessary and if anything could be done faster or better. 

Imagine a finely-tuned machine, where every gear turns precisely, without wasted motion or unnecessary parts. That's the essence of Lean. But it goes further than that. It’s about seeking continuous improvement, taking a structured to problem solving and focusing on efficiency, without compromising quality.  

Many SMEs think Lean practices are just for manufacturing companies, but the approach applies to any business. Take Profix for example. Experts in building maintenance, owner Stephen Hartnett describes how it helped his business.  

“We were always great on site, and, to the customer, everything looked perfect. But in the background, admin was a mess,” says Hartnett.  

“I had no office experience and as we got busier, there was too much information in my head and we had to do something to fix it.” 

Doing the Lean for Business programme “changed everything,” he says. After a consultation with a Lean expert, where they analysed all the inefficiencies together, the expert recommended creating an app to track job hours, site reports and materials, all in the one place. 

“If we hadn’t done the programme, we wouldn’t have known what’s possible. Now, everyone, all the staff are always coming up with ideas or ways to improve how we work.” 

What’s more, Stephen estimates that doing the programme and implementing the app has saved the business about a day a week in office administration.  

Yes, the 15% tariff is unwelcome, but the NEH – and the broader government support network – are here to help. Whether that’s through funding, advice, or global connections, take advantage of these resources, diversify thoughtfully, and position your business to thrive even in uncertain times.

Call us today to talk through how tariffs could affect your business and let us help you find the best support.