The Shelves in My Grandfather’s Workshop
When I was a child, my grandfather’s workshop had only three shelves. Not four, not five. Three. One for tools, one for materials, one for the work in progress. If something didn’t fit, it meant we had too much and something had to go. There was no waste, no excess, and no question about what belonged where. He didn’t call it “lean infrastructure,” but that’s exactly what it was: a physical system shaped by necessity, clarity, and respect for the craft.
THE WHY : Why It Matters for Your Dutch Small Business
In the Netherlands, micro and small business owners operate under constant pressure: rising energy costs, tightening ESG regulations, and the looming reality that clients are asking for sustainability proof before signing contracts. Lean infrastructure is not just about cost-cutting. It’s about building a governance environment that:
- Minimises environmental footprint (ESG’s “E”) through efficient resource use.
- Reduces social strain (ESG’s “S”) by removing bottlenecks and unnecessary stress on staff.
- Strengthens governance (ESG’s “G”) by making processes auditable, predictable, and compliant.
THE NUMBERS : The Hidden Costs of Inaction
A cluttered digital or physical infrastructure silently drains profit and trust. Consider this:
- €4,500/year The average Dutch SME spends this in wasted hours chasing misplaced documents or outdated data.
- 15–20% higher energy use Common in offices with outdated IT infrastructure and poorly optimised workspace layouts.
- €1,200–€2,000/year The compliance penalty risk if ESG reporting shows inefficiencies or poor resource tracking.
WHAT NO ONE TELLS YOU : Lean ≠ Bare Bones
The biggest myth? That “lean” means doing without. In truth, lean infrastructure means keeping exactly what serves the process and the purpose, nothing less, nothing more.
The real resistance comes not from lack of money, but from attachment to “the way we’ve always done it” and fear of short-term disruption. Most ESG failures in small businesses are not because the owner didn’t care, they happen because infrastructure grew in layers, never pruned back, until the business was carrying more than it could sustain.
DECISION COMPASS : 5 Questions to Ask Yourself Today
- If a client asked me for proof of ESG efficiency, could I show it in under 10 minutes?
- Do I know exactly which processes or tools create the most waste in my business?
- Is every piece of technology I use fully in service of my current business model?
- If my office space were cut in half tomorrow, what would I truly need to keep?
- Can I measure, not guess, the resource savings of my last infrastructure change?
The Discipline of Enough
My grandfather never owned more than three shelves. Not because he couldn’t buy more, but because he understood that enough is not a compromise, it’s a discipline. For a small business in today’s Netherlands, lean infrastructure is not just an operational choice; it’s an ethical stand. It says to your staff, your clients, and the planet: we will not waste what we can use wisely. That is ESG logic in its purest form.
Co-Creator of Xtroverso | Head of Global GRC @ ZENTRIQ™
Paolo Maria Pavan builds systems that balance rules with freedom, clarity with transformation. In his third life, he writes and speaks openly about markets, governance, and risk, not as a trader chasing price, but as a reader of patterns, behaviors, and distortions. A serial entrepreneur shaped by failure and reinvention, he sees governance as a living force for trust and progress, and refuses to avoid the hard conversations that make it real.
