Simple Ways to Begin to Systematize Your Business

When you hear “systems”, you think of complicated tech and high-level processes that might be beyond your area of expertise.  Maybe something that involves coding that you will never understand or that zap-thingy that everyone else is using to automate their tasks.

Wanna hear the truth?  What if I told you that you already have systems in your business? From the way you carry out services, you market your services, or the way you manage your revenue - all of these areas of business are considered systems.

Where the real roadblock typically occurs for many CEOs is sitting down and getting it out of your head and onto “paper”.  If you do that again and again with all the things that only you or one other person in your business knows how to do, you are taking yourself from being the roadblock to systematize your business to its biggest change-maker.  Then and only then can you put an optimized, efficient system in place that allows your business to run smoothly without your constant oversight.

So how can you actually achieve this? Start by carrying out these simple steps:

STEP ONE: Outline Departments

Start by breaking your business down into departments.  This may look a bit different depending on your business structure and what you offer.  For example, you may include executive, operations, client management, marketing/sales, and finance - just to name a few.

STEP TWO: List Recurring Activities

Make a list of each process that you carry out on a recurring basis within each department.  For example, under client management you likely have a set process for onboarding, off-boarding, and any periodical check-ins you do during your time with a client.  

STEP THREE: Document Your Processes

As you carry out each process, document it step-by-step within a written SOP or, my favorite way, record a Loom video.  If you really geek out like me, you have both the written record and the video - linking the video in the SOP.  This standardizes your workflow to help you avoid missed steps and ensure the quality of work is up to par each time!

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Once you’ve done this, you can perform an audit of each process to minimize unnecessary steps or include automations - further improving your efficiency and saving you OODLES of time! You might even realize big holes in your processes, or in staffing.  

In completing this simple 3-step process, you will look at your business through a whole new light.