Can ISO 9001 Actually Help My Business? What Problems Does It Solve?

When businesses start inevitably, they use processes and systems that work at the time to get the job done.  However, as the business grows systems and process get built upon and changed to meet new needs of an evolving environment.  Over time these systems can start to overlap or retain old methodologies that are not actually required anymore but are “holdovers” from a past way of doing things.  When you combine this with informal training from existing or previous staff to newer team members, systems and processed can become inefficient.  This can lead to a business stagnating, poor staff knowledge and competence, and increased risk to the business.

Systems and processes within a business need to be agile, they have to be scalable in times of growth and times of downturn.

Have you ever asked a member of your team why you do something a certain way and been told of that’s how we’ve always done it.  That’s not to say it’s wrong, but has it ever been challenged, is there a better or more efficient way of doing things?

ISO 9001 enables businesses to analyse themselves, from overarching risks and opportunities for the business, down to ground level operational efficiencies.

That’s a great one-line sales pitch but what does it actually mean?

Firstly, when going through the ISO 9001 Implementation process, we look at the overall business strategy and its current place in the market.  Who are competitors, who has an interest within your business, who are your stakeholders?  What could possibly impact on your business within industry, national and international political impact? Where are your opportunities to expand or stabilise your revenue streams? Is there a long-term strategic plan in place? Is there a continuity plan in case something goes wrong?

All of these are important into helping a business identify potential and actual risks to the business, but also opportunities for the business to capitalise on.

Once these have been identified, we can delve deeper into the operational side of the business, how do you identify your customers, and suppliers? How do you know if they are any good for your business? Is there a way to streamline processes to make them more efficient or expand them enhance profitability?  Is there a weakness in any of it that could cause problems or complaints?

By going through this, businesses become more efficient, it reduces process/documentation duplication, quality checks your product/services, increase staff competence, ensures you are meeting your customers’ needs, and helps build stability and long-term growth of the business.

It allows businesses to function based on hard facts.  We’ve all been in a management meeting where someone has put forward an idea saying “I think we need to do this…..”, but when it comes down to being questioned it comes back to what they feel rather than what they know.  By implementing ISO 9001 and gaining the advantage of the management information reports that come with it, you’ll be able to make decisions based on the data of what is actually happening within your business and take capitalise on the opportunities you have identified.

So, returning to the original questions can ISO 9001 actually help your business the short answer is yes it can be very beneficial to any business regardless of size and/or industry.

What problems does it solve?

It can increase customer retention

It can increase tender/bid success

It can reduce duplication in process and documentation

It can reduce customer complaints

It increases efficiency

It increases quality

It increases staff training and competence

It increases management’s ability to actually manage and drive the business forward

It reduces risk to the business

It increases clarity within the business so that everyone is working towards the same goals

Gives a business better control over external providers

Performance management across the business

Ensures resources are available for quality and operational objectives

And on top of all of that it gives your business an internationally recognised status of being able to deliver high quality products and services, efficiently and sustainably.

So, the real question is why wouldn’t you implement ISO 9001?

If you would like further information on how your business could benefit from ISO9001 of for a free initial meeting and quotation for ISO implementation,

Contact us on 0333 456 5000 or email gill.welsh@compliantfm.com