5 Steps to Creating a Business System
by Bruce Tannas
Ask yourself when was the last time you were away from your business and did not need to frequently check in? If you cannot think of a time or it has been a while, then the business depends on you to function properly. If this seems like your situation, then you need to systemize your business.
For most business owners, there is always allot of responsibilities including making sales, customer fulfillment, managing employees, marketing, accounting, etc. However, unless you are a solo entrepreneur, chances are that you have employee’s and/or contractors that take care of some of these business functions. But at this point if they are not empowered to do the job or do not know how best to complete the job, you’re not getting their best work from them. Also, if their role is ambiguous, they will likely turn to you to make all the decisions.
Aside from gaining some of your valuable time back, there are several advantages to creating a good business system. These benefits include improved top-line performance, consistency in meeting customer’s expectations, more consistent results, increased employee engagement, reduced costs and increased profits (What is a Business System and Why You Need One by Lean Methods). So, there is a lot of good reasons to take the time upfront to systemize your business as it will be time well spent.
Defining a Business System
A business system is a documented procedure that outlines how to do something in your organization to achieve your business goals (How To Put A Business System Together by Forbes). Think of it as standard operating procedures you give your employees so they can automate some of the business processes and decisions. Some of the best examples of good business systems are found in franchises. In fact, most people buy franchises because of their well-defined system which helps with creating consistent outcomes. For example, when you enter a Tim Horton’s you know what the restaurant will look like, the level of service given, and what the coffee will taste like. This consistency is due to their business processes.
However, some businesses can be automated more than others. Businesses with custom outcomes, such as an accountancy, may not be able to be fully automated, but some of the workflow can be systemized none the less. There is always repetitive procedures, administration, tasks, and decisions that can be foreseen and therefore automated into a procedure.
5 Steps to Creating a Good Business Processes to be Part of Your Business System
- Find common activities and routines in your business such as
- Administration (e.g., Computer filing)
- Sales
- Customer fulfillment
- Accounting – payables, receivables, payroll
- Marketing
- Discuss with your staff best practices for each area to be standardized.
- Create a process and document it.
- Who is going to do it?
- What are they going to do?
- When are they going to do it?
- Implement the process.
- Revise and improve it as needed. (Business Systems 101 by Successwise).
Investing some of your time upfront into designing and implementing standardizing procedures and empowering employees can reap benefits to you and your company. When you systemize your business, you will find that you will gain more time to work on your business and get more of your personal time back as well. This is because the business no longer needs you to handle all the daily functions and decisions because your employees know what your expectations are, and they’re empowered to do their best work.
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