Your Business 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? Doing 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 plan.

Set aside some time to develop your vision. Concentrate on the word 'your' vision, as too many people build something for what they think someone else wants.  What do you want your business to become? How will it behave? What will set it apart from its competitors? What will your life be like when you are finished? 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 targets, the time frame in which you will achieve these, the number of staff you will require and when they will join the business, the number of outlets, profitability and so on.

Plan for Systematic 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 – remember your business is and 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 dependent on you. In other words, without you there it would not be able to operate effectively, let alone grow. This is your wake up moment, and a very valuable opportunity to transform the way your business is operating.  Because you are now able to ask yourself about what really needs to be in place for the business to be profitable without you being there and more importantly 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 in alignment with your vision.

Begin by identifying everything you do in a day, a week, a month. Work out which tasks you can delegate and to whom. (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 documented 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.

Look out for Your Business Systems Master Plan – Part Two coming in the next few days where we start to get strategic in planning the key areas your business will need to cover to ensure that the growth will be steady, managed and sustained