A Proven Method to Stop the Business Bottlenecks in Your Company
You’ve put years of blood, sweat, and tears into your business.
You continue to devote everything you have—time, freedom, and money—to ensure that things get done exactly the way that you want them done. Your blood, sweat, and tears might have been crucial to getting things started, and even now, you feel like you donate a pint of each on a weekly basis. However, to stop giving too much of yourself, you must move outside of your current perspective and get out of your own way.
How do you accomplish this? Systemize. This is my proven method as a business coach and mentor to stop the business bottlenecks in your company.
SYSTEMIZE EVERYTHING
In my years of CEO coaching and business coaching and mentoring in San Diego, I’ve found what really works. If you’re wondering how to stop business bottlenecks in your own operations, let this be your guide.
Your goal is to find that happy place where you have a solid and growing business that doesn’t need your blood anymore because the workflow is pumping just fine on its own. You can walk away guilt-free to focus on more important things, while your team oversees the execution. But it will only work if everything is properly systemized.
In order to take action on tasks that lead to growth, you need powerful systems in place that accomplish the following:
- Free you up to work on your Big Picture Vision strategy.
- Enable your team to get from point A to point B in the most efficient manner possible, without sacrificing quality.
- Allow for new team members to step in and get into the rhythm faster with less on-boarding time.
- Limit the number of mistakes, redos, and general churn.
- Save your company money—unless the expenses lead to faster scaling and/or greater financial reward.
- Rely upon as few touch points—i.e., checks and reviews—as possible (again, without sacrificing quality).
- Make more money by selling and providing more products or services faster.
- Get a higher valuation on your company when it’s time to sell.
The good news is you don’t need to hire Six Sigma or Kaizen experts to identify improvements in your company or clear up financial bottlenecks. Sit down with your team leaders (freelance or in-house) for quarterly planning days in which you outline existing processes, identify problems and roadblocks within those processes, and then make the pivotal decisions about which steps can be improved, replaced, shortened, or removed entirely.
THE SYSTEMIZER
Once you have worked with your team to create a new and improved system, you don’t want to lose the threads of everything that has been accomplished or you’ll end up reverting backward and wasting time. This is where the Systemizer comes in. This system helps direct, structure, organize, store, edit, and simplify all of the actions of your daily business. The Systemizer is the glue that holds everything together. Here are six steps to systemize your company:
Step 1: Create systems for every division and operation of your company. Here is an example:
- 1.0 Onboarding
- 2.0 Administrative
- 3.0 Sales Process
- 4.0 Marketing
- 5.0 Financial
- 6.0 Legal
- 7.0 Client Training
- 8.0 HR/Team
- 9.0 Operations
- 10.0 Events
Step 2: Pick one of these areas and break it down into three to five subcategories and then break those subcategories down even further. This is how you determine every ongoing process, or Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), needed in your business that you can create a system around. For example:
- 4.0 Marketing
- 4.1 Marketing Funnels
- a. Webinars
- b. Facebook Ads
- c. Referral Program
- 4.2 Social Media Posts
- 4.3 Event Posts
- 4.4 Allie & You Show
- 4.5 Metrics
Step 3: Make a folder for each category. Drop in all of the tools, photos, files, and processes you already have so that you keep everything in one place. Only save items in this folder that you will continue to use. Archive old materials that you do not plan to use again.
Step 4: For each project or company process, write each step that needs to happen from start to finish and file that in your online folder.
Step 5: Create a document that lists each system, folder, and the titles you have given them so that you and your team can easily access them.
Step 6: You may also want to make a hard-copy binder in case there is ever a technology breakdown.
ONE CAVEAT: DON’T OVERSYSTEMETIZE
As much as I am screaming from the rooftops about systemizing, let me say that oversystemizing will have the opposite effect of what you are going for.
If you have too many SOPs, they can have the reverse impact of slowing people down, confusing them, and overwhelming them. If your employees must check off, document, and report every single breath they take, they may not miss a beat—but it will take them ages to complete the task, which translates to lost time and money. Watch out for employees who realize they have a knack for churning out system and process improvements and go a little bit overboard, especially if they have been rewarded for them.
Let me repeat: While new systems and processes can revolutionize your company, they should always simplify—not overcomplicate. If you and your team execute the Systemizer properly, everyone will reap the rewards of saved time and be able to focus on more exciting, creative tasks that drive the business forward.
To be sure you have the right people creating and implementing your new systems and processes, watch Allison’s free video training on Super Pros to get clear on who you need on your team. Get access to your complimentary video and companion worksheet now!
LOOKING FOR BUSINESS COACHING AND MENTORING?
The Systemizer is a great way to transform your business for the better by defining and improving key processes. But what if you’re not sure where to start? That’s where business coaching and mentoring comes into play.
It’s very easy to hit a wall as a business owner, even when you have plenty of past success under your belt. If you need some support, business coaching and mentoring from the experts at Pinnacle Global Network can help!
WHAT IS BUSINESS COACHING AND MENTORING?
Business coaching and mentoring brings together engaged and eager business owners just like you with experienced experts who have plenty of their own past successes to draw on!
You already know something has to change to keep finding success and take your company to the next level. We can help you with the specifics, drawing on our deep knowledge of what works and what doesn’t. With a combination of ongoing private direction, intimate powerhouse mastermind calls, and our live and virtual events with fellow Network members, you’ll have plenty of options to find the path forward that’s best for your business and yourself.
ARE YOU READY TO SCALE YOUR BUSINESS?
Start working smarter, not harder! Download our 17 Ways to Scale Your Company Fast. This includes a free Download as well as a video training with Allison Maslan. Want to learn more? Contact us today!
