Use Effective Business Systems to Free Up Hours of Valuable Quality Time Daily

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 to say the least. Without systems in order, your business will be unruly, unpredictable, sporadic, and chaotic. Even if it is profitable it will take far more energy and time to manage. There are systems that can be adapted for every type of business imaginable. Let’s look at business systems from two different perspectives: the customer and the business owner.

The Customer

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 for the tasteful bread to stay warm. You order the house wine and a steak and the wine is absolutely delicious and the steak cooked to perfection. The chocolate desert is to die for and the hand made decorations add that special unique touch. All is well with the world. Two weeks later you return to the same resturant. This time you bring several of your friends because you just have to share this incredible experience you had with everyone you know. This time, the maitre-de is wearing a wrinkly un-pressed shirt with a stain on it and his shirt tail is exposed. He’s also in a bad mood, which he does not hesitate to share 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 a vinegar taste and of the four steaks that you and your guests order, one is too rare, one is overdone, and one appears to be left over from the previous night. This time the desert is literally to die for, and at least two of your friends almost do. Same restaurant, same owner, and same employees. What’s the difference between these two experiences? Systems. In the first example, there were systems in place to ensure that absolutely 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 and makes you want to return for more.

The Business Owner

Let’s assume that this is 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 and acquaintances. 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 pressed and dry-cleaned. The person you hired on the spur of the moment is clueless; it turns out he never worked in a restaurant before or had the adequate training. 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.

Real Life Experience

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 which, is worth the effort as long as they system delivers the service your customers deserve.

Where to Start

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?

Key Systems

Product Development

Product Creation

Production

Testing

De-bugging

Rollout

Marketing/Lead Generation

Advertising
Internet
Joint Ventures
Affiliate Programs

Sales Lead Conversion

I.D. Problem
Can we help?
How Can we help?
Ask for Order
Follow up

Business Development

New ProjectsBusiness Ideas
Business Plan-financial model
Decision process

Systems

Development
Testing
Feedback
Re-development
Implementation
On-Going Re-Evaluation Operations
Front End
Speaking
Seminars
Day to Day
Phones
Emails
Financial
Teleclasses
Writing /E-mailing Newsletters
Scheduling Guests

Quality Assurance

Complaints
Feedback
Solutions

Personnel

Attracting
Interviewing
Hiring
Training
Managing
Compensating
Correcting
Firing

Financial

Accounts Receivable
Accounts Payable
Book Keeping/Reporting
Documentation
Tax Deductions

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 that has no system in place. Sincerely, Drew Miles, The Tax Saving Attorney