Why Systems Are So Important in Your Business

Do you have a great system foundation for your business?

What are Systems?

What the heck are systems and why do I need them in by business?

Systems are the essential building blocks of any business.  Every facet of your business is part of a system or process that can be managed or improved by automation.  Any repetitive task or process performed in your business is a system and should be documented and maintained.

I am all about systems and automation!  I love to produce SOPs and believe every business should have their SOPs in an Operations Manual for themselves and their employees.  It is so helpful when you have new team members come onboard, when you have investors looking at your business, or maybe when you need to do a task that you may not be familiar with yourself.  Systems really do run your business!

Why Do I Need Systems?

Let’s say one of your team members wants to go on vacation.  Great!  She deserves a vacation, has been working hard for the last year, way to go.  But wait!  She does all the social media for your business… does that mean no social media will get done while she is enjoying that Margarita on the beach?

Not if you have proper systems in place and documented with SOPs.  Anyone should be able to step in and follow the step-by-step procedures in the Social Media SOPs to continue with your social media postings while she is on vacation.

This is just one example of the importance of having systems in place and documented in your business.  Training new employees would be another, being able to link the SOPs to the tasks in your project management tool to ensure the person knows how to perform the task is another.  No more asking, “Do you know how to do that?” Or “Let me go over what you need to do?” It’s all right there in the task, step-by-step in the SOP.

Top 10 Benefits of Systems

1. It builds a valuable asset. If you decide to sell your business down the road, investors can buy your company and knowing they have a solid foundation and a set way of doing things.
2. It allows you to leverage and scale your business more rapidly. Once you have your systems in place, you can focus your time on creating new products that cater to your different customer base, increasing your profit margins.
3. It provides consistency in many ways, which is so valuable in today’s competitive world.  Your company brand and voice will be consistent throughout, the way the processes are performed will be consistent, creating a top-notch, state-of-the-art customer experience.
4. You are not re-inventing the wheel when duplicating tasks or processes (i.e., a new product launch, onboarding clients or team members, creating blog posts, etc.).
5. It prevents gaps in processes using workflows in your systems, no emails are missed, follow-ups and performed when necessary, etc.
6. It reduces expenses and increases revenue.  Many processes can be automated with today’s technology, meaning less staff hours.
7. It reduces the risk of errors, which improves team efficiency, increases business performance, and provides a better client experience.
8. It creates an easier transfer of business knowledge between team members and an easier / quicker training of new team members onboarding.
9. It provides an increased opportunity for continued improvement of processes, improving efficiency, and increasing profits.
10. It gives the business owner peace of mind that the business has a solid foundation.

“Systems run the business and people run the systems.”

– Michael E Gerber

Solid Business Foundation

A good solid business foundation is one that has good systems in place, documented, assigned, and maintained in a central location for all team members to access.  This is essential for company growth, process consistency, brand consistency, and business owner’s peace of mind!

Top Systems Needed in Small Business

• New Client Onboarding Process
• Product/Service Launch Plan
• New Team Member Onboarding Process
• Help Desk Manual
• Product Release Calendar
• Social Media Editorial Calendar
• Key Performance Indicator (KPI) Tracking and Reporting
• Lead Generating / Capture Process
• Sales Call and Post Call Tasks

^{(Source: Melissa Ingold)}

How to Create Systems that Help You Work Smarter

1. Identify your business activities
   1. Operations
   2. Sales and Marketing
   3. Products / Services
   4. Finance
2. Break down each activity
   1. Purpose
   2. Policy
   3. Person Responsible
   4. Person Accountable
   5. Process
   6. Procedure Step-by-Step
   7. Revision History
3. Identify ways to improve your process
   1. Eliminate
   2. Defer
   3. Automate
   4. Delegate
   5. Merge (Consolidate) Processes
4. Track – Document Control
5. Evaluate, Maintain, and Improve

Documenting Systems

Systems are documented in Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).  SOPs are normally kept in a central location for all team members to access.  I personally prefer to keep my SOPs in a Google Drive, and I link them to my project management tool, which I use ClickUp, in a Library as my Operations Manual and able to link the individual SOP to the applicable task.  Works like a charm!

If you are looking for a template for your SOP, I have a free SOP template for you to get started with your library. 

I also have a great blog post on SOPs that you can access here, giving you all you need to know about setting up SOPs for your own business.

Systems and automation are my jam and I would love to help you if you are in need of that service in your business.  You can find my contact details below.

If you need help with systems and automation in your business, please schedule a FREE Discovery Call with me.  You can schedule via my website at http://www.sharonblalockobm.com.  I would love to hear from you and learn more about you and your business.  I am an Online Business Manager, managing the overall process, turning your chaos into orderly, logical calm through systems and automation with SOPs and strategic planning. 

I hope I have been able to sprinkle a little happiness on you today! 😊