Business Systems Master Plan – Pt 2

by on September 18, 2010

Business Systems Master Plan

If you are in business with another person (spouse, friend, etc.) it’s wise to define each person’s role and responsibilities within the business. This gives each person confidence in one another and your shared goals for the business.

Business Systems to Manage Growth

Implementing business systems allows for managed and strategic growth to occur. Some business owners say that they need to systemize themselves and their own thinking first before they can expect staff to understand and adopt the same principles.

In the beginning, the business systems that will make the most difference are the deceptively simple and small ones.

Business systems help eliminate many of the daily frustrations and obstacles that prevent things running smoothly. Gradually, you should incorporate all the Businesses business systems, policies and procedures into a handbook which will become your Operations Manual, so everyone knows what to do, who does it and when it should be done.

The problem with most small business owners is not simply that they are doing too much work, but that they are doing the wrong kind of work. They should be looking at where their input adds the most strategic value to the business. Put a value on your time. What is it worth to the business?

Business systems to Systemise your Business

Introducing and developing business systems will help you to organise and systemise your business. Here are some tips to create great business systems that will help your business to grow.

Develop individual businesses within your business and collect the combined efficiencies of many businesses working within one operation.

Implement systems to let your specialists do what they do best.

To learn the step by step process of “How to Systemise Your Business” click hear

Eliminate Problem Areas

Creating systems to eliminate problem areas is a simple process of critically analysing the procedures of how you do them now. Look at what is working and what is not, then you write down how to do things in an orderly way to achieve the results you are requiring, and voila, you have an operating system. Doing this will save time because you don’t have to repeat each task to anyone who’s new to your workplace it’s all written down for them in the company business systems section of your operations manual. But be sure to keep the systems updated each time your revisit them to test and measure their efficiency.

Produce a policy and procedures manual. This includes your own mission statement as well as policies on sexual harassment, discrimination, workplace safety, etc.

To discover how to make this whole process easier we have put together an ebook which leads you through each step of the way.

“How to Systemise Your Business”

To get your copy to improve your Business Systems click here

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The Systems Master Plan

by on September 10, 2010

The Systems Master Plan

There comes a point in most small businesses when the owner – you
- acknowledges that it’s time for the business to grow to the next stage. The challenge is, how do you do that? More of the same? Probably not! You’ve done a great job to get to where you are now, but to get to the next stage you will need a Systems plan.

Set aside some time to develop a vision. What do you want your business to become? How will it behave? What will set it apart from its competitors? What Systems will you need? Decide what your growth goals are and set yourself targets and some realistic milestones by which you can measure your progress. These will include your revenue target, the time frame in which you will achieve this, the number of staff and when they will join the business, the number of outlets, profitability and so on.

Plan Systems for Growth

The key is to map out a growth destination that is real, but stretches you and can be broken down into smaller goals. Planning growth in your business also needs you to work on developing yourself as a manager and a leader. Be prepared to get out of your comfort zone and grow as a person – your business and systems will be a reflection of you.

Your next task is to be really objective and honest about the business as it is now. If it has just come out of start up stage then it is almost certainly still very ‘you dependent’.

In other words, without you there it would not be able to operate effectively, let alone grow. This is a wake up moment, and a very valuable realisation, because you are now able to ask yourself about what systems really needs to be in place for growth to happen.

The first thing is going to be time; specifically, yours. Without you dedicating your time to business development, nothing will change. You are going to have to create some time in your working week to work on your business.

Begin by identifying everything you do in a day, a week, a month. Work out which tasks you can delegate. (And if there is no one to delegate to, you may have to consider getting in some office support even if it’s only a day or two a week.)

Work out the instructions for each of the activities this person will be doing. Imagine you are there to tell them what comes next, and set it all out on paper. These instructions must include clear steps, standards and timing. This is a system. Make sure each system is recognisable as such and follows the same format.

Get Systems Strategic

Aim to free up at least one hour of your time every day and when you have done that, begin to work on your growth plans and the systems that will streamline the work that

needs to be done. If you were to use that time just to develop one system, at the end of the week you would have five systems; at the end of the month, 20 and so on.
Incorporate into your planning the key areas your business will need to cover to ensure that the growth will be steady, managed and sustained.

Once you have a plan and created your thinking and development time, look at what your business will need in order to grow. If the answer is more sales, then maybe you should be looking at your marketing strategy.

If you have enough enquiries but are not converting them to business, then examine what is happening in your conversion process. Are you confident that you and your team of brokers can deliver your products and services faultlessly and seamlessly? If not, then start there. Iron out the glitches.

There is absolutely no point in developing a marketing strategy to bring in more business unless you know your business can deliver on its promises.

Think of your business as having four key strategic areas: production, marketing, management and resources. Then break each of those areas down into key areas, such as delivery systems, market research, leadership and finance.

To begin with, you are going to be responsible for developing the strategies and systems in all these areas.

The Systems Plan 2 coming soon

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What worked and What Didn’t?

by on January 1, 2010

New Years Day 2010 has come and gone, New Years Resolutions made, broken and/or forgotten…

Some things never change, do they? So why does that happen? Why do we keep on doing the same things that we know didn't work for ourselves, our businesses or our lives?

Most of us, if we are fortunate enough, have a few days off and away from 'The Business' at this time of year. The last few weeks of 2009 was an opportunity to spend some quite time to relax and review the ups and downs that had occurred during the last 12 months or so. My guess is that most of the things that came up were the things that didn't work, the money we lost, or how the business slowed due to things outside our control.

Rarely, do we allow ourselves to concentrate on the achievements, the successes that occurred when we least expected them, the critical moments when you just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

That worked! These are the things that did work!

Take a few moments during your well-deserved holiday to list all the things that did work on one piece of paper and on another all the negative things that didn't.

When complete put the negative to one side, and concentrate on the list of things that worked. Recall what you did, what were the results, the improvements and most importantly, how can we repeat these and leverage off them.

Over the next few posts we will start to look at how we can create 2010 as our best year ever, simply by doing the things that work rather than those that don't

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How to sell soap

by on January 1, 2010

A short movie about viral marketing produced by vm-people, a company based in Berlin, Germany www.vm-people.de … vm-people soap selling viral marketing