We have all heard many times that we need to systemise our business and build a turn key operation in order to grow and scale quickly.  Well while I do believe that this is true, it sounds a lot easier than it is in reality.

Many business mistakes and frustrations can be tracked back to inadequate systems or no systems at all.  Many business owners rely on their memory/experience together with the talent of the people they employ to get the day to day done.  This strategy will work for a short time, however as the business grows and there are more people involved (clients and team players) it becomes near impossible to manage. And, everyone does things their own unique way which makes consistency of delivery near impossible.

Now if you want to grow and scale fast, then you need your business to be a well oiled machine that runs efficiently with minimal disruption.  Every minute wasted on fixing errors, solving problems or managing mistakes costs you time and money and slows down growth.  Every time a client presents an internal problem or challenge in their business, I will often ask these questions:

1. Is there a system? If yes, then ask Q2
2. Was the system followed? If yes, then ask Q3
3. Does the system need updating/upgrading?

Simple but effective.  In almost all cases the problem lies in answering No to question 1 or 2.

The question is “If systemising my business fast tracks my success and ability to grown and scale my business fast, why don’t we prioritise it?”

Systems aren’t a priority until they are a priority.  Unpacking systems and documenting what you and others do seems time consuming and a waste of time.  It may also be deemed as non-dollar productive.  I strongly disagee.  If most challenges come from not having a system and/or and the system not being followed, then spending time to create systems will make you money – just not in the immediate moment you are creating them.

There will come a time when you will need to systemise your business, and the longer you wait, the bigger the task will be.

Here is a simple way you can quickly and easily systemise your business.

• Create a table of contents of all the areas you need systems for. Think about the following areas and unpack the systems/processes that exist under each heading:
  – Marketing
  – Sales Process
  – Operations/Delivery
  – Human Resources – including recruitment & onboarding
  – Finance
  – Administration
• Review what you may have already documented
• Choose a media you are going to create your systems in i.e. Written, Video, Audio or a combination of all.
• Allocate processes to the team for them to document.
• The title should always begin with ‘How to’.
• Always give short, clear and concise written instructions that communicate the steps to take, including screenshots where Whenever possible provide a video walk-through. (It should not take longer than five minutes to explain in a video; if it takes longer than that, consider breaking up the video into two parts.)
• Include:
  – even the most obvious steps
  – where to find usernames and passwords
  – clickable links to relevant
• Before finalising the system, have a staff member review the system and go through the
• Incorporate the feedback, editing, adding or removing any steps.

Start systemising today – you will thank me later!