One of the best ways to feel less stressed in business is to create business systems and processes that allow our business to be more streamlined, more productive, and ultimately, more profitable. When we are able to streamline and create systems in our business, a huge portion of our business is allowed to run without supervision and we take the time to do that CEO work which allows us to grow our business. Having the right business systems allows us to do things in the most effective and efficient way based on whatever our business goals are. And it just helps us work smarter, not harder. But, how do we find the best systems and processes that work for our businesses? Here’s the easy way:
Define Your Systems
The best way to improve and refine your systems is to define them. Most business systems fall into general business functions: Operations, Sales and Marketing, and Finance. Operations are the activities that typically are behind the scenes – goal setting, project, and email management, having meetings, website maintenance, etc. Sales and marketing activities include those things we do that attract and convert customers and clients like content and email marketing, sales funnels, affiliate partnerships, ads, product launches, etc. And of course, finance activities are those things like bookkeeping, taxes, payroll, etc.
Break Down the System
Once you’ve defined the systems in your business, it’s time to break them down into their actual structures. Determine the process, tools, people, and strategies needed to complete the systems from start to finish. The process is pretty self-explanatory. It’s the step-by-step sequence of actions done in the system. Tools are all those devices, apps, software (or even low-tech things like paper), you use in the system. Of course, the people are who are in charge in each step of the process, which of course for a lot of solopreneurs is just us. And lastly, the strategies or tactics, tips, or techniques we use to complete the process.
Look for Ways to Improve
Now that you’ve defined your systems and broken down the way your system works you can more easily see where there’s room for improvement. Ask yourself, what do you want this system to do for you? Do you want it to be faster? Does it need to be streamlined or perhaps automated? Maybe you just want it to reduce your workload and free up more time. Look at your systems and see if there are areas where you can delete steps, defer aspects to a different portion of a process, where there’s room for automation, delegate to another team member, or consolidate steps so you can batch process or work more quickly.
Refine
You made it to the best step! All of the previous work has hopefully shown you how your current systems are working and what can be done to improve their functionality. Make changes, test the updated systems, and then continuously refine and improve. This is always going to be a recurring process in your business. Looking at our business systems, looking at the processes that we have in our system, it’s not a one-time thing. Does the process still work? Does the tool still work? Are the people right to be doing this? Systems are meant to adapt and evolve with whatever’s going on. So, it’s important to continually reevaluate and refine those systems to make sure they’re working in a way that makes sense for your business.
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