In fact, systems are vital for all businesses but if you’re running a massive corporation you can’t avoid them whereas they can sometimes seem like an optional and time consuming extra for small businesses.

But believe me when I say “this just isn’t true”

Systems are essential for the smooth running of all businesses and they will save you time and money in the long run.

So what exactly is a system?

Webster’s dictionary defines a system as;

“A regularly interacting or interdependent group of items forming a unified whole; an organised set of doctrines, ideas, or principles usually intended to explain the arrangement or workings of a whole; an organised or established procedure; an harmonious arrangement or pattern”

In the context of small business I would define a system as a provider of order in your business that saves you time and money, and means you expend less energy. It is an organised, established procedure that produces results.

And systems are invaluable.

An easy way to remember the value of a system is the acronym Robert Allen and Mark Victor Hansen coined in their book The One Minute Millionaire …

SYSTEM = Save Yourself Time, Energy and Money.

Sound pretty good when you put it like that, doesn’t it.

What systems have you put in place in your business? And have they made a difference? We’d love to hear from you.

Don’t forget if you are looking to implement systems in your business, ProcedureAssist is a great way to gain this knowledge.

I understand this position, but I also love and understand procedures, so let me explain why I think this is a misguided excuse. Whilst procedures are about streamlining your everyday tasks, smart procedures are about streamlining the business overall, not just the tasks.

When you work by yourself and conduct the same tasks day in and day out, can you be sure you are doing something the most efficiently it can be done or do you do it that way just because you always have?

Taking a step back from your business and analyzing your procedures overall not just individual tasks will allow you to identify new ways of doing things, perhaps even combining tasks to save time.  Procedures are also about identifying areas where mistakes are often made, which eat up valuable time in correction, increase stress and often damage one’s reputation.

Procedures aren’t just about management of others, they are also about smart self-management. They’re about making your work seamless, finding more time and minimizing errors within your business.

For me the best part about this award is that the judges, all highly-respected business professionals, agree with me that having procedures in place is an essential part of business success.

This win has enhanced my passion to help small business owners with their systems and processes and confirms to me I’m on the right track by doing so.

So if you are still umming and ahhing about getting procedures in your business and either enhancing them, recording them, upgrading them or even just starting them – then get started today, it will be easier than you think.

And if you are curious about my winning entry – here it is:

My most important business tip is to start documenting systems and procedures in your business. Having procedures in your business allows you to have more time, allows you to manage your staff more effectively and allows you to have a holiday from your business and still make money during that time.

Procedures are the tasks you conduct every day in your business without thinking about them. To get a great procedures manual all you need to do is identify them, record them and review them to make sure they are the most efficient they can be.

What was the last task you did that made you resent your job, life or your decision to launch your own business? Photocopying? Mail? Responding to generic emails asking you for information already available on your website? Maybe it was explaining something to a staff member again, even though you think it’s self-explanatory?

That frustration comes from the fact you know you’re wasting your time. Procedures are all about systematising the tasks that eat up hours of your time that you could spend meeting new clients or planning a new product or service. As the business owner and heart of your business, you are the best at this, and have the passion and commitment to get it done.

But do you have the time? Does your mind have the time to roam around the challenges and opportunities in your business, and come up with new ideas, or are you trapped in the minutiae of the day-to-day admin?

Procedures are the most effective and sustainable way to get more time in the day. Like everything, they take time. That’s why I created ProcedureAssist, so that the time you invest in creating procedures is targeted. In 6 modules, I walk you through which procedures to create, how to do so, how to implement them and most importantly, how to review them and get the most out of them.

Find out more information about ProcedureAssist here. And if you still don’t believe me that procedures are important for your business, I’d love to chat about the specific nature of your work, and see if there aren’t some procedures that would turbo-charge your work that you’re not aware of yet!

Leave me a comment below and we’ll discuss.

Most business owners are flat out most of the day. So inessential details can get glossed over or forgotten without realising you need that info until you have to send an urgent email to the new client. Urgent emails are part of business, but best avoided because they make you seem like you’re not on top of your work.

Having a process that you follow each time a new client comes on board with save you time, money and allow you to appear more professional. Here are some suggestions that could be included in your procedure:

Establish what you need to know

Before the first meeting or report, take 30 minutes to sit down and think about your new client and why they’ve hired you. Think through what they’ve said they need, what you think they need and any extras that would add to their experience with you. Make a list of everything you need to know about their business for all stages of your work together. Giving yourself the time and space to think through all possible contingencies will help you put together a thorough list. Yes, this could be done in 10 or 20 minutes, but 30 minutes will give you a bit of extra time to focus on how you can do the best possible job, and if you need anything from your client to do so.

What kind of info should I ask for?

This information might not just be stats or details, it could be the best day to contact them for longer conversations. Another key question is when do they expect deliverables for you, and they need to know from you if these dates will work. But it can also be their preferred communication method; whether they prefer phone calls or emails.

Reflect on areas of confusion you’ve had with previous clients and refine these procedures. Why did they get confused? Did you communicate what you needed and expected clearly enough? Did you get all the information you needed from them? Did you both agree to deadlines that would realistically work for you? Did you agree on how many revisions were to be made or did you have a discussion about deliverables you were willing to offer?

Take the time to learn from earlier confusions to save time, effort and goodwill with new clients.

Ask for the required information

Take your list of questions with you into the meeting, and tick them off as you go. Create a standardised new client form containing the similar questions you ask each time with space to insert the specifics for a particular client. You can do this as a word doc, or you could do it on Survey Monkey. Survey Monkey could be useful if you want to compare projects across clients. It also means you just email them a link, rather than creating and attaching a fresh document for them each time.

If your client seems a bit surprised at the extent of information you’re asking for, don’t be afraid to explain why you need it. Most business owners will appreciate you taking the time to really get to know their business, and discussing their business and passion is a great way to build rapport and trust.

Review this process

Like most things in life, the more practice you get identifying and getting the information you need, the better and faster you’ll be at it. Keep reviewing how you’re going, and if you have the same issue more than once, ask yourself if there is a way you can avoid it. A review is also worth doing to ensure you’re not asking for information you actually don’t need.

This process may feel like a time waster, but trust me, it can save you hours of back-and-forth later in the project. You’ll seem more on top of your game to a new client, and it will minimise stress for you as you won’t need to diplomatically chase them for any extra info, or explain why something they expected that you didn’t do/haven’t done yet hasn’t been done.

Last Saturday my father-in-law passed away, for those of you who have lost a loved one you know the emotional drain this puts on a family, whilst also coping with the organisation of a funeral. As a small business owner I found it was incredibly difficult to be there for my family whilst continuing to work in my business. I tried it for a day and it was neither productive nor beneficial to anyone. So I decided to stop working for a week.

One of the benefits to running your own business is you can drop everything and be there to support the people you love during a difficult time… and if you have proper systems and processes in place for your business its an incredibly easy thing to do.

Having effective procedures in your business means you can assign a team member or colleague to step in and hold the fort in your absence. They will have all the information to take over from you and you can leave the business and relax knowing it is running like clockwork, even if you are not at the helm.

Perhaps you don’t even need to have someone step into your business, effective systems and procedures means your team can function without you for the week. They know what is expected of them, they know how the process works and they can “hold the fort” and get by for one week without you.

A lot of small business people tell me ‘systems and processes are boring’ or ‘I don’t have time to write out my procedures’ however I don’t think these people would find them boring when an unexpected event occurs in their life and those systems and processes allow them to drop everything and leave their business with a moment’s notice.

So my question to you today is, could you leave your business at the drop of a hat? If not, then start getting your systems and procedures into a document, a manual, a video – anything you like as long as you can document your systems so anyone can run your business.

Contact us, if you need help with this process, we’d love to help you.

As a small business owner, is this realistic or just a dream?

Well I say it is absolutely realistic and it is what all small business owners should be doing. So what is the magic potion that allows you to do this?

A procedures manual

Ah, I can hear you all now (sigh): “Great, but that’s too hard”, “I don’t have the time for that”, “I know I should but…” or ”I have no idea where to start”. All these excuses are stopping you from enjoying the benefits of what a procedures manual can bring to you:

• The ability to take a holiday and relax knowing your business can run without you
• The freedom to clear your head of processes and systems for your business (allowing you to focus on the job at hand)
• Staff / contractors can turnover with minimal training and no loss of company IP (which frees up your time)
• Staff / contractors are more self sufficient and ask less questions (which frees up your time)
• Your product or service will be consistent

So if you are in the market for some more time in your business, why not have a look at our new product, ProcedureAssist to get you started. In the meantime I’ll leave you with a great quote from Max Newnham:

“The need to develop systems for a business is vital if a business owner wants to have more time available to manage the business rather than doing all the work themselves.With operational systems in place a business owner does not have to micromanage their business.“