Our city (and province) finds itself in a unique situation.  The local economy is booming thanks to high global oil prices, and the proximity of the Fort McMurray oil-sands, one of the largest oil deposits in the world.

Property values are up, retail sales are up, unemployment is way down, people from coast to coast are coming here to find work. Unfortunately, this leaves many small businesses scrambling to find staff.  It seems that everywhere you look in the city, you'll see a "Now Hiring" or "Help Wanted" sign.  In fact, the MacDonald's restaurants have taken to posting their pay rates on those portable roadside signs, and they're pretty competitive.  Our business is no stranger to this--- we're recruiting aggressively, advertising in numerous mediums.

One thing that a small business can do to be more efficient with what staff they do have is something the big guys have been doing for a while now--- Business Process Analysis.  Understanding what your company does and how it does it, and then documenting it in detail is the first step to improving efficiencies.

This series of posts will highlight some simple techniques that a small business can use to analyze, understand, and improve its business processes.  Please stay tuned.