Guides & Resources
Practical knowledge for the people who run operations, production and finance.
Quality
Root cause analysis: choosing between 5 Whys, fishbone and 8D
When each method is genuinely the right tool, one real problem walked through all three so the difference is concrete, and the discipline that separates problem-solving from completed paperwork.
Manufacturing
Takt time, cycle time and lead time: the three numbers people mix up
Three numbers that sound interchangeable and answer completely different questions. Precise definitions, a single worked example carried through all three, and the repeatability test to run before you balance anything.
Manufacturing
How to calculate OEE (and why most OEE numbers are wrong)
The three OEE factors worked through end to end with numbers you can check yourself, followed by the four specific mistakes that make an OEE figure wrong while it still looks entirely plausible.
AI & Automation
How AI is actually changing small-business work in 2026
Where generative AI genuinely saves a small operator time, where it fails in ways that look like success, what happens to client data in hosted models, and a short adoption checklist you can finish this week.
Privacy & Security
Keeping your business data private: a practical guide for small operators
What actually happens to your data inside cloud tools, why local-first software matters for client confidentiality, a high-level tour of the main privacy regimes, and a checklist a solo operator can finish in an afternoon.
Operations
Why your spreadsheet keeps breaking — and what to use instead
Spreadsheet errors are one of the best-studied problems in business computing, and the findings are uncomfortable. Here are the specific failure modes, why review does not catch them, and a decision framework for when a spreadsheet is fine.
Pricing & Finance
Pricing your work: the small-business guide to rates, margins and getting paid
Cost-based versus value-based pricing, the margin-and-markup confusion that quietly costs money, why utilisation wrecks freelance hourly maths, payment terms that actually get honoured, and pricing psychology done without tricks.