If you’re a solo entrepreneur, systems and processes in business will save you time and energy. They’ll also help you see flaws in the way you’re working. You have a life to live beyond your laptop. I want to help you do that, so I’m breaking down the steps to create systems for your business. If you think you don’t have time to stop and create business systems, that’s exactly why you need to do it.
Caveat: the breakdown below is a high-level structure for how to systematize a business. In time, you can (and should) go deeper. When working one-on-one with clients, I layer additional systems on top of the steps below so we get the deeper roots of what they’re doing, why, and how it intertwines with their bigger business vision, strategy and goals.
I have a business systems framework. It’s my Joyful Systems Approach
Here’s my framework:
1. Freeing up brain space and gaining awareness. We do this by documenting the steps of business processes.
2. Getting into alignment and seeing the connectedness of steps, processes, and systems. Everything we do in life is interconnected. The systems in your business will either drain you or fill you up. My systems approach is different than what you may have encountered before. I’m all about efficiency but I’m also all about joy.
Once you’ve documented the steps in a process (this is awareness), you can then adjust steps based on how they align with your lifestyle and business goals.
After that, you can then streamline your steps so you have a clear, repeatable path for efficiency and joy.
3. Observing, monitoring, and assessing. Joyful systemizing is an ongoing process of flow, growth, and realignment.
My Framework is a hybrid of 3 overarching concepts:
Heads up: Steps 4, 6 & 8 are the missing pieces that most entrepreneurs fail to do with systemizing their business.
You may be asking,’ How exactly will this help save me time, Alicia‘? I hear you. When you create systems and documentation, you’ll:
- See gaps, issues, bottlenecks, redundancies, and opportunities for delegation and/or automation
- Have a repeatable step-by-step process you can follow each time for the best outcome
- Create documentation you can hand off to someone so they can follow the steps without you having to do a ton of training
Enough of the ‘what’, let’s get to the ‘how’.
Systems and processes in business step 1
Pick one process to focus on
Pick one thing to focus on first. You’ll be documenting the steps for this one process in your business. It’s important you just pick one process to start with. Don’t make the common mistake of trying to create systems and process in business in one go. That’s like trying to deep clean every room of your house by yourself on a Saturday afternoon. You’ll end up surrounded by things and beating yourself up. (Ever been there? I have.)
Think of something that takes up a lot of time in your business. If you aren’t even sure where you spend most of your time (this is common), track for one week using a online tool or a simple notebook (don’t overcomplicate things). You’re building your Systems Muscles, so start small. Maybe prospecting, client onboarding, blog post writing, or content creation. Pick one.
Systems and processes in business step 2
Break the process down
So, you’ve picked one thing. Let’s say it is prospecting. Now, break down the steps and record them (write them or record them on video). Step one, step two, and so on.
What are the steps and what do you need to complete each step?
Step 3
Understand what’s interconnected
Part of understanding the systems of your business is seeing how steps and processes are connected.
What steps depend on others? Are there bottlenecks occurring with certain processes because of dependencies that need to be changed?
Step 4
Assess for joy + efficiency (or inefficiency)
Look over the list of steps and ask yourself:
*Is there someone else I can delegate this to who would do this faster/better?
*Would my time be better used on other things?
*Is this draining me?
*What steps are redundant?
*Can I trim any steps?
*What can I automate?
Most solopreneurs are unfamiliar with automation tools. To answer this question honestly, you need to get an idea of the tools available to automate tasks in your business. I have a blog post that’ll go live in a few days to help you with this.
Step 5
Create practical documentation to save you time
Now that you’ve written things down, what documents can you create to help you speed up the steps?
Most of the tasks I do, I use one of the following:
*Checklist
*Flow chart
*Template
*SOP (Standard Operating Procedure).
These documents help me save massive amounts of time. Create your own.
Step 6
Identify feedback loops
Feedback loops are micro-systems of cause and effect. To apply the concept to your business and systems, consider how you can think of each process as part of a much larger ecosystem in your business.
What feedback mechanisms can you put in place so that your business isn’t just one of nonstop delivery, but is also one of response? (For example, your content marketing system responds to what your audience is engaging with, asking for, and responding to.)
With the process you’ve documented, think about internal and external factors to pay attention to. I detailed some of these factors in the article on Efficient Business Systems. When you pay attention to these factors, it may mean making changes to your processes and systems over time. You want to understand how the outcome of certain systems affects the system itself. This is a fun topic (I’m a systems-thinking nerd). I’ll be diving into it in an upcoming virtual workshop.
Step 7
Store your documentation
How will you get to these documents quickly and easily? There’s no point in creating streamlining tools if it takes you 10 minutes to find them.
I have both digital and physical storage of my documents. Meaning, somethings are stored in Notion and digital documents. Others (like my blog post checklist) are physical documents I’ve printed and keep in my systems binder.
Systems and processes in business step 8
Deliver your documentation
Who needs to see the documentation you’ve created? If you have a team or your subcontract work, you can speed up processes by sharing relevant systems documents with them.
Always remember your systems are to streamline and speed up your work.
Systems and process in business step 9
Self-reflect
(Do not make this mistake)
Once you’ve done this for the things you spend the most time on in your business, you can see patterns (and problems) in your business. If you’re at the growth stage (not the new business stage), you can start to understand why you’re overwhelmed.
The most common reason is you’re doing things you shouldn’t be doing.
Business owners often get stuck here for two reasons:
One: because they think they can do everything themselves (just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should).
Two: they think there’s no time to train someone. Well, guess what? With the systems and documentation you’ve created (if you followed the steps above), you now have training instructions to hand over to someone. This will save you tons of time. Someone won’t need to ask you a million questions. They’ll follow the checklist, template, and/or SOP.
As you build your business, your goal is to remove yourself from the title of ‘doer’. Even if you’re an artist or musician, there’s a lot of ‘doing’ that can be delegated to someone else. In the bestselling business classic book E-Myth Revisited, Michael E Gerber calls this ‘being the Technician’. The person who does everything. It’s exhausting.
Most entrepreneurs are stuck in the weeds of their business instead of being the visionary, the high-level strategist. Many tasks can be done by someone else, especially as you scale up. You’re the person who holds and carries forth the vision (values, strategy, and purpose) for your business.
If you’re not yet at the stage to think about hiring, creating your systems now helps you:
- Streamline your processes
- Have systems (and documentation) in place so you’re ready to hire when the time comes
So, now that you know how, enough stalling, time to create some systems!