PART 2

One of the biggest business owner downfalls is that they think no one can do their job as good as them. They micromanage and slow down operations and efficiencies, and they prevent growth and the business to be able to operate without them. This causes a lot of business owners to micromanage and disrupt the flow of operations. This certainly happens when there is a lack of systems and a lack of confidence in the team.

Many entrepreneurs worry about losing business or who can handle a crisis in their absence.

If there's a natural "second in command" on your team, put that person in charge to run the show in your absence. When Steve Jobs went on leave from Apple, he left his right hand man in charge, and the one who knew the most about the company’s day-to-day business operations. That person was Tim Cook, now CEO of Apple.

While I was debating the possibility of a vacation as CEO of a previous company, I was given some very wise advice:

What does it mean if your business crumbles without you? If you can't take a few days off here and there, then you haven't built a business, you have built a job.

Part 2:Leveraging

Systems: Are You The Bottleneck

For Your Own Business?

Vacation is freedom,

and freedom

loves systems.

Let’s go over what a system actually is.

A system is a set of processes that can run without you. As your business grows, you’ll need to build systems and processes that can be automated as much as possible.

Systems are rules, policies, and procedures that trained individuals can repeat as your company grows and run independent of you.

You’ll need to build:distribution systemsinventory systemsmarketing systemscustomer support systemsresearch and development systemsaccounting and hiring systemsand many others.

As we went over in Part 1, you have to rally the troops around your mission and company direction. Once the team is on board with the mission and the business objectives that will allow them to get there you must set up systems and process, and then communicate them very clearly to ensure your business becomes a well-oiled money-making machine.

Setting up a sales process takes time – both to develop and then to improve over time. But the main idea is to at least get the entire process on paper so you know what exactly your team needs to have to effectively bring on a new customer.

Systems are such a big word for businesses. It has to be broken down for business owners and managers. There are different areas of the business that we base systems on, such as technology-based systems or people-based systems, etc.

The priority is to identify which systems need working on first.

For instance, perhaps before you spend time creating a sales process you first have to have a system for answering the phone.

I guarantee that if you called a company three different times, you’d get three different responses. Or if three different people answered the phone, they’d answer the phone differently each time. Because there’s no system in place for this simple, but very important, task.

Other systems that business should focus on are the HR process – hiring, firing, promoting, and providing employee benefits. They should focus on systems for customer service – scheduling gifts, arranging meetings, follow-ups, etc.

1. Define the objective and targeted outcome for each stage of the process.What is the goal and objective with each stage? What are the sales person supposed to achieve?

One of the most important systems you can set up is your sales process. The purpose is to standardize customer interaction and create scalable revenue generation.

2. Define actions for each stage.

Every stage contains small steps and actions that every sales person should do in order to efficiently move the deal to each stage and reach the targeted outcome. What are these specific steps and actions?

3. Define sales tools necessary for each stage.

What tools needs to be available for your sales team to be able to reach the targeted outcome? Do your team need a great value proposition, referrals, discovery questions, success stories, presentations, etc? Do you have these tools or do you need to create them?

4. Define marketing tools for each stage.

What marketing tools needs to be available to your sales team to be able to reach the targeted outcome? Do they need a great website, email signatures, trade show support, whitepapers, success stories? Do you have these tools or do you need to create them?

5. Continue to improve.

Once your sales process is defined you need to evaluate it and continuously improve it. Maybe some steps and actions don’t make sense for your sales team? What can you do to define them better?

Here’s what you

need to create and

leverage systems that will

allow you to get out

of your own way

and let your

business grow and

thrive without

you.

So it’s about prioritizing the systems and process your business needs. Here’s a simple way to start creating systems for your business tasks: 

1. Think about systems from day 1. Thinking about the steps and procedures of a business from the very first day is vital to the ultimate success of the business. Systems are as much a thinking process as they are an action.

2. Write it down. As you go through the daily work, take careful notes on the day-to-day processes. Take note on everything from how files are saved to how big decisions are made.

3. Be proactive, not reactive. Anticipate problems and methodically create solutions. Identify areas of concern, meticulously develop a response system, and make a note of the steps and approaches.

4. Get another perspective. Once all of the operations are recorded, collaborate with a colleague or hire an outsider to develop a manual for communicating the company’s operations.

5. Share it with the team. Once the system is created, start sharing it with the members of the company. Make sure that all employees have easy access to the information.

Your systems need KPIs.

The purpose here is to develop indicators and rewards for employee performance and the team’s ability to reach goals. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are quantifiable measurements that reflect the critical success factors of a business – as a whole or certain areas of growth, i.e.

• Sales• Marketing• Growth• Customer service• Financials

Each one of these areas should have systems and KPIs attached to them.

Why are KPI’s important: Owners are overwhelmed and

distracted with day to day activities and tasks.

Owners must make important decisions, quickly, with greater consequences, and often with limited information on hand.

Owners concentrate on the tactical decisions and neglect the strategic ones.

 

KPIs are not meant to CONTROL the business. They are used for: Communication Informing Diagnostic Learning Making decisions and taking action 

FREE template: How to Implement KPIs

The purpose of the system is to understand the decision-making process and arrive at the appropriate results on a consistent basis. DOWNLOAD

The bottom line is that a motivated team is the best way to ensure consistency in customer experience. We will go over customer experience more in-depth in Part 3.

Here are 4 things I will leave you with that every business owner should know:

1. The profitability of your business depends on how well the employees consistently perform critical activities.

2. Employees perform best when they understand how their performance affects the bottom line, and how their performance is measured.

3. Small changes in critical areas can have a great impact on the bottom line.

4. What gets measured gets done and what gets rewarded gets done again.

ConclusionThe question should not be if you’re able to take a vacation. It should be how effective is your business going to run without you present.

Again, the purpose of this white paper is to give you a blueprint on how to build a business that runs without you, so you can take that much needed time away.

If you hit roadblocks to creating or developing any of the above, or if you want to chat about how to make your business more efficient, give us a call at 702-582-7301 or visit smithdurant.com to schedule a complementary business consultation.

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