There are many ways to take your business to the next level. But what I’ve learned through decades of building businesses and coaching business owners is that one method rules all the others: putting systems and procedures in place.
This means making sure that everything in your business is systematized.
My First Business Lesson
My first business was a retail store and when we were just starting out we were doing everything ourselves. We knew that we were just spinning our wheels, but we were trapped in that chaos for some time because we thought that we were saving money by not hiring staff.
One of our suppliers was visiting one day, when she suggested putting systems into place to make our business more organized. It seemed like a good piece of down-to-earth, doable advice so decided to follow it.
Everything started to gain momentum once the systems were put in place. Within 12 months we were able to successfully acquire a competitor and take our stores from one to two.
Starting The Systemisation Process
So how did we achieve this two-fold goal of making more money and taking our business to the next level?
We followed the basic rule of writing down any task or process that was done in our business more than once.
We covered everything! From simple tasks like how to open the store each morning and how to take a phone order, to more complex processes like how to submit a weekly order to a supplier, or process a refund. (Remember this was before the Internet made systems easier and faster with just a few clicks on a computer.) We wrote down daily, weekly, and monthly systems.
Passing The Baton
When the processes were just in our heads, no one else could complete the tasks. The irony being, not even the staff we had hired to make life easier for us!
By recording our procedures, we could identify the tasks that could be handed off to our staff. We had to make sure that the lists were thorough so that our staff could complete their tasks without making a mistake.
With systems in place, we could finally work on the more important things that would enable our business to grow, and let our staff handle the regular duties needed to run a business.
Recording Systems For Your Business
Putting systems and procedures in place can be applied to any business.
Let’s take for example the common task of social media posts.
Do you have a schedule for your posts? What time do you upload your posts? What type of content do you post on a certain day?
If you put your system on a spreadsheet then you can hand over the repetitive tasks to your staff while you concentrate on more important parts like the creating your content.
Key Takeaway
As the thought leader in your business, your coaching and content creation rely on you. Your methodologies and teachings are what your business is built on, so you will make the most amount of money and create the most value in your business by spending time on these tasks.
If you want to grow your business, the implementation needs to be performed by someone other than you. There are a few different options available to you, which we discuss on episode 176 of the Thought Leaders Business Lab podcast: Outsourcing To Grow And Scale Your Business.
If you’re ready to expand your coaching business faster, then click here to schedule a Business Accelerator Call. In this quick 10-15 minute call we’ll help you discover the three greatest growth opportunities you have in your business right now.
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