The cornerstone to building a successful business is developing effective systems. There should be systems for each different facet of your business and the business must be driven by these systems.
With systems, your business will be orderly, professional, predictable, profitable and successful.
Without systems, your business will be unruly, unpredictable, sporadic, and chaotic. Even if it is profitable it will take far more energy and time to manage.
Systems can be adapted for every type of business imaginable. Let’s take a look at business systems from two different perspectives: the customer and the business owner.
Imagine that you go to a restaurant for the first time. You are greeted warmly by the impeccably dressed maitre-de and shown to your table. He pulls out your chair and seats you and a waiter immediately appears and offers you a drink along with the menu. The bread is warmed and there is a napkin laid over the basket to keep in the heat. You order the house wine and a steak and the wine is delicious and the steak cooked to perfection. The death by chocolate desert is to die for and the hand made decorations add that special touch.
All is well with the world.
Two weeks later you return. This time you bring several of your friends because you just have to share this incredible experience with everyone you know. This time, the maitre-de is wearing an un-pressed shirt with a stain on it and his shirt tail is exposed. He’s also in a bad mood, which he freely shares with you. The table has crumbs on it from the previous patrons and it seems like an hour before the waiter takes your order. The house wine has turned to vinegar and of the four steaks that you and your friends order, one is too rare, one is overdone, and one appears to be left over from the previous night. This time the desert is really to die for, and at least two of your friends almost do.
Same restaurant. Same owner. Same employees. What’s the difference between these two experiences? Systems. In the first example, there were systems in place to ensure everything from the apparel for the employees, to the proper greeting, to ambiance, the service, the selection of the wine and meat, its preparation, etc. Systems not only improve the quality of the service, they make it dependable.
Let’s assume the same scenario, this time from the perspective of the restaurant owner.
In the first example, the systems had been designed, tested and re-worked for years. The personelle had been hand-selected and trained on everything from showing up for a dress rehearsal each evening to the most minute details. The food had been purchased from the list of pre-approved markets and the chef know how long to cook each side of each steak depending on the customer’s preference. The employees are like family, and the customers offer their complements and indicate that they will return soon and recommend your establishment to all of their friends.
Without systems: Everything is in the state of chaos. Three of your waiters failed to show up, again, and your maitre-de couldn’t find time to get his suit dry-cleaned. The person you hired on the spur of the moment is clueless; it turns out he never worked in a restaurant before. The wine was left out in the sun without being corked, and the meat had to be purchased from the local 7-11 because you forgot to place your butcher order in advance. And the desert – forget it. You ran out, so you had to send someone over to the local diner and see what they had left over. You get the idea.
What part of the system should you systemize? Every part of your business. But, it takes time. So, the question really boils down to when and where do you start?
When is easy. Start now. It will take a minimum of one year to fully systematize your business, longer if it’s particularly complex. In fact, you may never be done because as the business grows technology changes and your products and services evolve, your systems will have to be adapted.
Michael Gerber, the guru of systems, developed something he calls the key frustration process (I highly recommend his book The E-Myth Revisited). He says that a good place to start is where you are feeling the most pain. It might be sales are lagging, maybe operations are suffering, perhaps customer service needs work. I suggest that you select ONE problem area and start there.
If you have employees, schedule a meeting with them and ask questions that are designed to get at the true source of the problem. Let’s say it’s an operational issue; your sales have gone from 10 widgets a week to 50 widgets a week and last week you actually produced 30 widgets.
Here are some of the questions you’ll need answers to:
a) What is our current production maximum given the existing equipment and facilities?
b) Would having more employees increase current capacity?
c) What kind of employees do we need to add? Managers, workers, technicians?
d) How long will it take to meet current demand?
e) What will it cost?
f) What can we do in the meantime to bridge the gap?
Note that your goal is to start a dialogue and get your team actively brainstorming. Be careful not to point the finger at anyone, or lay blame. Try not to make anyone of your team feel defensive. Instead, elicit proactive solutions. You’ll also notice that what seemed like one problem might actually consist of several smaller problems. It may also uncover others that you hadn’t yet thought of.
Let’s suppose you perform the brainstorming process and implemented a new solution(s).
But, it still doesn’t work!
Its not uncommon for the expected solution to only be a partial solution. Heck, it may even cause some new problems. Don’t despair. Just re-do the key frustrations process with the new facts. You may have to do it several times until you feel that you are making real headway.
Don’t freak out. Don’t get too emotional. Just keep working the problem.
I’m reminded of an interview with an Apollo astronaut back in the early 1970’s. A reporter asked him “Suppose you’re on the moon sitting in the Lunar module and it won’t take off. You only have six hours of oxygen left, what would you do?”
The astronaut paused briefly and responded “I guess I’d spend the six hours finding the solution to the problem”.
Business is filled with problems. In fact, business itself is a problem. Use the key frustration process to develop systems to solve your problems. You’ll sleep better, your be les stressed and you’ll probably make more money. Here is a list of some of the key systems you’ll want to develop.
Product Development
Marketing/Lead Generation
Sales Lead Conversion
Business Development
Systems
|
Operations
Quality Assurance
Personnel
Financial
|
By implementing and coordinating these systems in your own business, you can maximize profits and be prepared to deal with the problems that will inevitably arise in a timely and efficient manner. This will save you the stress and frustration of trying to fix an unorganized problem.
Sincerely,
Drew Miles, The Tax Saving Attorney
To learn more about developing business strategies, please see our Entrepreneurs page.