When is Your Machine Running?

Your business is a machine.

And like any machine, it’s designed to do a job. But here’s the question: do you actually know if that machine is running at its full potential?

Imagine owning a $300,000 Porsche 911 GT3 and not having the faintest idea whether it’s parked in the garage or tearing up the streets.

Wouldn’t that be insane? You’d have this incredible piece of engineering, capable of breathtaking performance, and no way of knowing if it’s fulfilling its purpose.

Now think about your business. Chances are, it’s worth far more than $300,000.

And unlike a car, your business keeps costing you money whether it’s parked or in motion. The expenses don’t stop just because it’s idle.

Yet, so many business owners have only a vague sense of when their machine—their business—is running and when it’s sitting still, draining resources.

So let’s change that. Let’s dial in, get focused, and understand when your machine is running and when it’s not.

In business, there are two states of being:

1. Uptime: When your machine is running.

2. Downtime: When your machine is idle.

Let’s explore these states across three different scopes of specificity, so you can start identifying exactly where uptime and downtime are happening in your business.

Scope #1: The Job

Your customers give you a job, an order, a request—something that needs to be fulfilled.

Now, as that job makes its way through your business, is it constantly progressing? Unfortunately, the answer for most businesses is a loud and resounding “no.”

There are pockets of time when the job is actively moving forward.

And then there are long stretches where it’s just… waiting. Sitting in a queue. Collecting dust.

Let’s break this down with a practical example.

Say you’re a construction company.

A client hires you to build a deck, and you start planning the project. But due to a lack of materials, that deck project sits in limbo, waiting for supplies, waiting for permits, waiting for available workers.

Is the job being worked on? Or is it waiting to be worked on?

For many businesses, this is the easiest place to start measuring uptime and downtime.

From the time a job begins until it’s completed, track its progress. Create a simple visual chart, like the one shown here, that marks each stage of the job. Is it in the “work” phase (uptime), or is it in the “waiting” phase (downtime)?

Your goal is to maximize the time that a job is actively being worked on and minimize the downtime.

Why? Because every moment of downtime represents wasted potential and an unfulfilled promise to your customer.

Scope #2: The Asset

The next level of specificity zooms in on the assets: either a person or a literal machine, depending on how your business operates and how value is added to the product.

Think of this as “focused work” or a “time block.”

Let’s say you run a creative agency.

The asset, in this case, is a designer working on a client’s campaign.

Are they actively designing the materials for this specific job? Or are they in a state of “non-value-adding” activity—like waiting for feedback from a manager or attending a meeting that doesn’t directly impact the project?

This is the concept of billable time.

It doesn’t matter if your business actually bills by the hour or not—the principle remains the same: are your assets engaged in work that drives value, or are they being diverted to non-productive activities?

Assets only create value when they’re actively engaged in producing the results your customers pay for.

Anything else—be it endless emails, unnecessary meetings, or downtime spent waiting for approvals—detracts from your business’s efficiency.

Tracking uptime and downtime at the asset level gives you insight into where your team’s time is going and helps you find areas where they could be adding more value.

Scope #3: The Process

Now let’s get granular. The third scope of specificity is the process itself.

This is where we drill down to the very steps involved in creating your product or service.

At this level, you’re evaluating whether each step in the process is value-adding or non-value-adding.

Think of it this way: at any given moment, the product is either changing into something the customer desires, or it’s not.

If it’s changing—if value is actively being added—then you’re in uptime. If it’s stuck in a non-value-adding state, then you’re in downtime.

Here’s an example: a manufacturer producing a piece of custom furniture. When the machine is actively cutting wood according to specifications, that’s uptime—it’s value-adding.

But when that same machine is down for maintenance or waiting on new instructions, that’s downtime.

By mapping out each step of your processes and categorizing them as either value-adding or non-value-adding, you can start identifying bottlenecks, redundant steps, and opportunities for improvement.

This is the most granular level of tracking, but it’s also the most impactful.

Understanding downtime at the process level enables you to make focused, intentional improvements that directly contribute to increased output and profitability.

Watch this video for a fantastic example of this level of granularity for distinguishing uptime vs. downtime.

Connecting the Dots: Measuring Uptime Across the Job, the Asset, and the Process

Now that we’ve broken down uptime and downtime at the job, asset, and process levels, let’s look at how these three scopes connect to give you a comprehensive view of your business’s productivity.

1. At the Job Level: Are your jobs actively progressing from start to finish, or are they stalling due to external factors like resource shortages, permit delays, or lack of direction? Measure downtime here to find external bottlenecks and streamline job flow.

2. At the Asset Level: Are your employees and equipment engaged in meaningful work, or are they tied up in low-value activities? Measure downtime here to find inefficiencies in resource allocation.

3. At the Process Level: Are each of your processes adding value to the end product, or are they just adding steps? Measure downtime here to identify waste in your workflow and eliminate unnecessary activities.

Building a Culture of Continuous Improvement

Let’s face it: no business can run at 100% uptime. But here’s the thing—understanding where your downtime exists is the first step toward reducing it.

And once you know where the inefficiencies lie, you can start making incremental changes that add up over time.

This is where the concept of continuous improvement comes into play.

To truly make a difference, you need to foster a culture where improvement is part of the everyday workflow.

Encourage your team to think critically about their work and look for ways to optimize the flow of jobs, assets, and processes.

If each team member spends even a few minutes each day analyzing and improving their tasks, the cumulative effect can be transformational for your business.

The Bottom Line: Maximize Uptime by Minimizing Downtime

Your business, like a finely tuned machine, thrives on uptime. But unlike a Porsche, it doesn’t just sit in a garage waiting for you to take it for a spin.

It’s always on, always costing money, and always under the pressure to perform.

By examining uptime and downtime at the job, asset, and process levels, you’re equipping yourself with the knowledge you need to make data-driven decisions.

These insights empower you to maximize productive time, deliver more value to your customers, and ultimately increase your business’s profitability.

Remember: a business that consistently delivers on its promises is a business that earns trust, attracts customers, and achieves sustainable growth.

So, is your business running like the high-performance machine it was meant to be? Or is it idling, wasting resources, and missing out on its full potential?

Start tracking.

Start improving.

And watch your business become the machine it was built to be.

If you’re new here, my name is Zack Estes. Businesses are machines. And I’m a mechanic.

This post is reflective of my work with my customers at processarb—increasing their throughput and systematically growing their profits.

Need help? Visit my website and apply for a free 30-minute assessment of your business with me!