February 3, 2010

What are you doing to build and manage your business systems as early as possible? I'm talking about systems that are visible, documented and easily replicated.

"Umm, hold on a minute," you're saying. I know. I know. Starting systems is a huge hurdle. It's easy to get hung up before you even start. I get that. I've experienced this myself. It feels like there are so many things that you have to do that it's almost mind-boggling to try to articulate the list, let alone document everything that you do. It's a massive project and you barely have time to brush your teeth or clean your desk.

Perhaps it's unrealistic to spend the hours and hours needed to first identify everything that you're doing to run your business and then document it all and then, on top of that, to work on improving each and every process. But, you must do it. You can do it. There is no choice in the matter.

Do it yourself or have your team do it. Hire someone to help you (or even do it for you). But, whatever way you choose, this must be done if you want to get more business, be booked solid and go even further beyond booked solid. There is no alternative to systematizing your business. There is no alternative to eliminating waste in your business and life. Simply put: If you don't do this, you don't move ahead.

There are 6 major systems categories in just about every business:

1. Financial systems
2. Administrative systems
3. Communication systems
4. Sales systems
5. Marketing systems
6. Client support systems

Creating apparent, documented systems in each of these categories is essential for you to:

• Stay competitive
• Improve productivity
• Cut costs
• Reduce time to market
• Respond to customers changing needs

Building and managing your systems is an iterative process. A system is not forever. It is for as long as the particular system continues to provide the elegant solution. Over time, businesses grow and change. Their systems may no longer meet the information-processing requirements of the business. The current systems must be improved either by making changes to the existing systems or by replacing what exists with new systems.

• What can be done in my business without me?
• How much time and money will I save when I automate these processes?
• How can someone else can easily replicate my delivery process?
• When am I going to build this system?

Systems can help you build something bigger that you still run but don't have to work so hard in any more. At a minimum, systems will help you stop doing the stuff you don't like and get back just to serving clients, doing the work you love. Not so complicated, is it?

Related Topics

• Managing

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Michael Port, Article, entrepreneurs, managing

Join the conversation ( 1 )

• Jill Fehrenbacher 2 years 3 months and 27 days ago

  

  This is a concept every SMB owner needs to embrace. It's so easy to feel that you or certain employees are truly indispensable, but in reality, it's the processes executed by employees that are most important. As businesses grow, these processes are created in a largely organic environment, and they're so rarely documented that replication is a nightmare. A business must stand independent of any one individual. This means one must account for even the smallest processes in order to quickly communicate tasks and roles to new hires as founders depart.