You may dream of trailblazing entrepreneurism to solve problems.
Once you find the right path, however, follow that route faithfully to avoid a maze of distracting, suboptimal options.
Systems and processes may seem boring, but they also lead to many benefits for the business, customers, and yourself.
"𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒚, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒆." – Allan Dib
How systems and processes improve your business:
𝘌𝘹𝘪𝘵 – Determine and formalize the core functions of your business to consider an exit strategy. Future investors and buyers want to know how the business can be repeated for years to come.
𝘊𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴 – Ensure a consistent and fast process for buying and delivery by creating a shared playbook for sales, fulfillment, and support. Map the client journey and have checklists at each stage.*
𝘌𝘹𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 – Replicate best practices across teams and projects. Standard onboarding and performance evaluation processes bring employee respect and impact the bottom line.
𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 – Rely on metrics to make healthy margins repeatedly. A clear process may lower labor costs and allow experienced employees to focus on innovation and growth.
𝘚𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 – Delegate responsibilities once a system exists. Save yourself time and energy frequently explaining how things should work and focus on product and business development.
"𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒍 𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒄𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕. 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆, 𝒊𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆." – Simon Sinek
If you want to reap these benefits, then follow these steps:
𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗿𝗮𝘇𝘆
1. Prioritize areas of the business which are crucial, regular, lasting, and lengthy
2. List the objectives, processes, tools, and people involved in each system.
3. Identify all the potential ways to improve each system. You may want to remove or consolidate steps, delegate certain responsibilities to other people, and/or automate functions.
4. Test your new system to see if improvement occurred and if there are any unexpected results. For instance, you may sell more product but simultaneously earn less profits.
5. Seek feedback from many sources. The amount of feedback should equal the importance of the system.
6. Build and follow feedback loops.
After major growth, the whole system may need to be changed. New investments and major expansion should prompt major change.**
Build effective systems for productivity, asset creation, and your sanity so you can continue exploring other ways to expand.
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* Keep in mind the critical use of checklists in such important roles as surgeon, airline pilot, and rocket engineers.
** Posts on organizational change can be found here: https://bit.ly/3xIeIzO and https://bit.ly/3wT33hN