Introduction
You’ve probably heard the expression, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” It’s true. Without a solid system in place, your company won’t be able to operate efficiently and effectively over time. If your goal is to grow your business and spend more time working with customers, then it’s essential that you create an effective system of operations. Here are steps that will help you get started:
- Understand the benefits of systemizing
- Increased customer satisfaction
Customer satisfaction is a key component of business success. It’s not just about the product or service but also how you meet your customer’s expectations.
Customer satisfaction is measured as the difference between what a customer expects and what they experience when interacting with your company or brand. If you exceed their expectations, then you’re likely to see increased loyalty from that customer base in future purchases. If you fall short of those same expectations (or worse yet, exceed them), then it could be time for some serious re-evaluation of how things are going within your organization!
- Increased profits
Systemizing a small business will increase profits for the following reasons:
- You spend less time on customer service, so you can dedicate more time to yourself (and your family). This means less stress and more self-care.
- You’ll be able to give your customers what they want by knowing what works for them and why. Increased customer satisfaction means increased sales, which equals increased profits.
- More time for self.
Benefits of systemizing your small business
- More time for self. If you systemize your business, you will have more time to spend with friends and family. You can also spend more time on hobbies and other interests that are important to you. You may even find that some of your favorite things, like exercise or meditation, become easier to fit into your daily routine because they’re part of a routine that works for everyone involved in the company (including yourself).
D. Less stress.
When you systemize, you don’t have to worry about what’s already happened or what will happen in the future. You can focus on the present moment and do your best to make it as stress-free as possible.
The benefits of systemizing small businesses are many. In fact, by caring more about your customers, yourself, and profits, you can increase customer satisfaction and profitability while reducing stress levels. There are many ways to do this, but one thing is clear: it starts with you!
- Steps To Systemize Your Business
- Research
The first step to systemization is research. This is where you figure out what systems you need in order to run your business more efficiently. You should research what other businesses are doing, what they’re using, and how they’re using it. Try to get as much information as possible so that you can make an informed decision on what approach would work best for your business.
- Make a game plan
Once you’ve done your research and figured out the best ways to implement a system, make a plan on how you’re going to do it. Ensure that all your employees know about the new system and how it will affect them. It’s important that everyone understands how this change will affect their job because if there are any issues with implementation, it’s best if they come up now rather than later when it could cause serious problems for the entire company.
The second step in systemizing your small business is to develop a detailed process map. A process map shows each step of the process from beginning to end. This is a visual representation of how your business works and how different departments interact. You can also use a process map to show how customers move through the sales funnel or how leads turn into customers.
The third step in systemizing your small business is creating an action plan based on the results of your research and analysis and then taking action on it. Create an action plan by breaking down each part of the process and defining what needs to happen at each stage so that all stakeholders will know their responsibilities within each level of the organization.
- Document
Now that you have a plan in place for implementing systems into your business, kindly document everything! Write down exactly what each system does and how it affects other parts of your business in case there are any questions later on down the line.
- Team Involvement
To systemize your small business, you need to involve all members of your team. You can’t do this alone; you need other people’s input and perspectives. The more people who are involved, the better the system will be. There are many ways to involve your team in this process:
• Have meetings to discuss ideas and gather feedback.
• Hold brainstorming sessions where everyone contributes their thoughts on how to improve processes.
• Present your ideas and ask for feedback from each employee before moving forward with any changes.
It’s important to assign specific people to the tasks.
- Identify the people who will be doing the tasks.
- Assign specific people to specific tasks.
If you need to hire someone, make sure they can do the task and that they have experience with it already (or, if not, can learn quickly). If no one on your team has any relevant skills or experience in a particular area of your business, consider hiring someone externally or outsourcing that task altogether. Don’t assume that anyone is capable until you’ve given them an opportunity.
- Measure
Measure the success of your system by tracking metrics that are important to you and your business. This will give you an idea as to whether or not it’s working for you or not. For example, if customer satisfaction is important to you, track customer satisfaction scores so that when there’s a dip in customer satisfaction scores, you’ll be able to see it right away instead of waiting until after something goes wrong with the customer.
“Tell me how you measure me and I’ll tell you how I will behave.”
― Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Critical Chain
- Analyze
After tracking your metrics, analyze them and see if they are trending in the right direction or not. If they aren’t, adjust your strategy accordingly until they trend positively again.
Metrics are the most important element of a business. Most successful businesses have one thing in common: they track and analyze metrics on a regular basis.
To systemize your small business, start by tracking the metrics that matter to you. This will help you identify areas where your business needs improvement, as well as areas where it’s performing well.
A good way to start is by tracking these six metrics:
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) – The cost of acquiring new customers through advertising, marketing, or promotional activities. This includes the cost of sales materials, such as brochures, flyers, and other materials needed to attract new customers. It also includes any fees paid to third parties who help attract customers for your business. For example, if you pay Google for ads or Facebook for posts on their platform, those costs would be included in this metric.
Customer Churn Rate – The percentage of customers who stop buying from or using your product or service during a certain period of time (usually one year). You can calculate the churn rate by dividing the number of customers who left during a certain period by the total number of customers at the beginning of that period (or at some other point in time).
- Implement
Implement your system into your daily routine so that it becomes second nature for everyone involved with running the business, such as yourself, employees, etc. This way, when something unexpected happens, there won’t be any issues getting back on track because everything has been laid out clearly from the start of implementing this new system into your daily routine.
By automating certain tasks through systems, you free up time so that you can focus on other aspects of your business. Your goal is not necessarily to scale back on your responsibilities but rather to ensure that everything gets done while still allowing yourself time for strategic planning, marketing, and sales activities.
Organizations are successful because of good implementation, not good business plans.
- Review
Review your system regularly to make sure it’s still working for you, and make any adjustments as necessary until it does work for you. This review should include all aspects of operations, such as accounting and payroll, customer service and sales, marketing and advertising, IT services, and more. A full review includes:
1. Review your current processes and systems
2. Identify what needs improving or streamlining
3. Set up a system for each process or task you identified in Step 2
4. Test out your new systems before fully instituting them
- Train employees
Provide proper training to your employees on the implemented systems and processes. This will ensure that everyone knows how to follow the procedures correctly and can contribute to an efficient workflow.
- Delegate
Delegate on the new systems to maintain efficiency. It’s important to delegate tasks that can be automated or done by someone else. This allows you to focus on more important things like increasing sales or managing employees.
When delegating new systems, make sure you’re selecting people who are capable of learning how the process works and following through consistently with the work required for each task. As your business grows, some of these processes will eventually become obsolete because they aren’t working well anymore or the technology has changed significantly since the process was created. When this happens, you’ll need someone with experience with these processes to make changes with minimal disruption to your existing workflow.
“If you want to do a few small things right, do them yourself. If you want to do great things and make a big impact, learn to delegate.”
– John C. Maxwell, American author
- Continuous improvement on small business processes
Continuous improvement is a management philosophy that aims to improve all processes, products, services, and systems. It is a continuous cycle of observation, analysis, and action to improve efficiency, productivity, and quality of outputs.
Improvement on new systems to maintain efficiency.
The main benefit of continuous improvement is that it provides a way for companies to become more efficient and productive over time. By identifying opportunities for improvement in how tasks are performed, companies can avoid the costly mistakes that occur when doing things in the same old way for too long.
Continuous Improvement Goals
To ensure your business is on track with continuous improvement goals:
Set measurable targets, so you know when you’re making progress towards your goals.
Choose realistic targets based on what’s realistically achievable by working with your team members or outsourcing some of the work required.
“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”
Bill Gates
(Founder, Microsoft Corporation)
Conclusion
If you’re looking to systemize your small business, this is a great place to start. The process of systemization can be daunting and time-consuming, but it’s worth it in the end. By systemizing your business, you’ll be able to spend more time with customers and less time on administrative tasks like payroll or scheduling staff shifts.
