Since you want more clients or customers, more income, and more time off, you’ll need to make your business run like a well-oiled machine. If you are like most entrepreneurs you’re handling almost everything yourself, and so your business is probably running YOU, instead of you running your business. That means a lot of things are being left undone, opportunities are being lost, and consequently fewer clients and are coming in.
Consistency is crucial and chaos is costly, both financially and time-wise. When things run like a well-oiled machine, when everything’s organized, chaos is reduced. Ideally, you want things run on their own, or by the efforts of someone else, so you can focus on growing your business, while having more time off to enjoy yourself. For this to happen, you’ll need to systemize the processes involved in operating your business.
If you haven’t identified the one best way to perform each repeatable task or process (such as answering the phone in a consistent manner, managing your sales process, etc.) then you’re in big trouble. You need to create some systems and procedures.
Even if you don’t have help from staff, you can still make your business run smoothly.
Begin by documenting everything you do:
Start by tracking your time. Take a note pad and document the time it takes you to do the tasks you do every day. In a week you will have a good picture of where you are spending your time. It also allows you to see what can be removed from your day, and what can be delegated to your team. By keeping an awareness of your time and where you spend it, you will be much more productive. You’ll see a pattern of where you are spending too much or too little time, and which things you are doing that aren’t essential to your business. By keeping track of this, it will help you realize how you can use your time better.
Next, you want to document the process associated with each task:
Write clear instructions on how to complete each task. This will eliminate, or at least improve, chaotic situations. Increased levels of organization will enable a better work ethic and will help keep you on task generating better production throughout the day. It can be eye opening to see what you need to put into place. Once you realize what needs to be done, and fix it, your business will run more smoothly. You may also detect areas of your business that are under, or over staffed. By recognizing this you are attacking an issue before it becomes a bigger problem. You are now also able to better delegate what you need to, so that you can focus on what is the most important use of your own time. Make certain that all task instructions include the locations of all support material so that if you are unavailable your staff can easily find what they need to keep things going smoothly.
The end result should be an instruction manual for your business:
An instruction manual, or operations manual, for your business is a huge asset. It will help you and your staff to keep on track and know where to go to find the information need. It will clearly define the rules and regulations, work ethics and processes clearly. This will help you keep your employees in line, and help employees know their proper role, and what they need to do to fulfill that role. Everyone’s job is easier when the processes and procedures are clearly stated. There won’t be any gray areas when everything is right there in black and white. As you add to your team over time, having your systems documented will allow new people to integrate better, faster and more efficiently with your current team.
Ideally you will want to define your systems and document your processes and procedures before your company grows to full capacity. Then, as you approach full capacity status, you will avoid the breakdowns that cause so many businesses to fail. At the same time, you’ll make more time for marketing and for the ability to service the resulting larger client list.
A prime reason that franchises are so successful is that the operations manual eliminates all the guesswork on how to do things. It tells you “one best way”, and documents everything in a step-by-step manner.
But remember, just because the process is documented, it does not necessarily mean it’s always going to be the “one best way” to perform that task. You should challenge your employees to improve on how things are done to increase productivity and the quality of the results. That said, your operations manual should be a living document.
There are many things in any business that can be systematized. For example, each of your different marketing methods that you use to attract new clients should be well defined and documented, as should your client management, your schedule, your calendar, your email, etc. While you’re at it, your personal life could also benefit from establishing specific procedures. You can systematize your food shopping, your doctor appointments, your personal email, your dry-cleaning, your errands, your banking. You name it, and it can probably be systematized to your benefit.
You’ll be amazed to see how much of a problem-free zone your business becomes. You will have a lot more time to focus on building the business, a lot more room for new clients, and more time to simply enjoy yourself. You’ll have more time for vacations, for self-care, and for spending quality time with friends and family. And that’s what being self-employed is really about.
