How to Implement Strong Systems in your Small Business

Hey gorgeous,

I have to first say, I am obsessed with systems and how they control everything we do, see and interact with. The way living processes work for or against you is the systematic approach to implementing continuous improvement in your life and business.

Just think about it...

• When you go to your car, we expect it to start when we crank it up but what if it doesn't? Now I'm not car expert but first thought is, "Wth man!" The system isn't communicating to the starter properly, therefore causing the car to miss the signal to start.

• The laptop, desktop, phone you are using right now is ran on a hardware operating system. The different processes work together to run to its' highest quality and run the engine behind what you see.

• Your business need systems to be able to scale and take on your clients and customers through a seamless process so you can show up, provide excellent, consistent services and products, and provide fulfilment.

• Your everyday life is a BIG OLE SYSTEM. When you really assess your life, you can point out areas of improvement and broken links in "your system". Do you have a solid routine that's complementary to the goals you have set? Our daily habits determines if our systems output are positive or negative. You can improve your system by improving the small processes and be more intentional with your time, energy, and space.

So what is the difference between a process and system?

To keep it simple,

• A system is a set of things (processes) as a whole and serves as the framework.

• Processes are the series of steps or actions that work together to accomplish a set goal.

For example, the system could be "Cake-baking", the processes would be the steps you take (ie. Gathering ingredients, mixing the wet and dry ingredients together, baking -the oven itself is a system-, cooling down, icing, etc.).

You may be thinking, duhh systems are everywhere but how can I make them work for me and my business?

It starts with asking yourself, what do I need them for, what can be improved in my business or life, what do I spend most of my time doing, what can I be doing with that time?

Always keep in mind, SYSTEMS SAVES YOU TIME, EVERGY, AND MONEY.

STEP 1. Brain-dump & Brainstorm.

This step is especially important if you don't know where to start with improving or starting the systems in your business. Start with a blank paper, draw a circle in the middle with the business name or topic, and set a timer for 3 minutes. When the time starts, write all of your random thoughts, pain-points, to do's, and anything random that comes up. Do not limit yourself and write down everything that comes to mind, big or small.

Take another sheet and brainstorm everything you aspire to be as a leader and person and the kind of business you want to be to your audience and customers. Think BIG!

STEP 2. Prioritize.

Now that you have it all out, take a look at what is in front of you and point out the most important or urgent to-do's. This would be a great time to transfer this information to a Note-taking app so you can digitally store your goals and assign your tasks. One of my favs is Notion, and you can sign up for FREE here. They have a bunch of free templates to get started. Prioritize what you need to scratch off your list asap, what can be tossed out and what you will need assistance with completing. If it is something you need an expert to research or give you advice to, don't be hesitate to reach out to them. If it is systems related, feel free to book a free 20 min session with me and we will go through it together!

Step 3. Start Creating.

Start creating the systems that works for you and your business. If your biggest business pain-point is responding to potential clients and you're losing money on the table, it's time to assess your Client Management System to ensure you are consistent with onboarding new clients and set up some auto-response to those who reach with a realistic expected response time. You may also want to look at your fulfilment system and assess how long it takes you to fulfil a service/order and think of ways you can reduce that time being spent so you can focus on business-related tasks.

There are many different ways to start implementing new systems in your life or business but it starts with you JUST STARTING! If systems aren't your thing, I get it, but it is important to have at least one person on your team who understands how the processes work or do not work in your business. There is no excuses to you improving and implementing and sure enough is no penalty. Just remember that systems can work for or against you so it is important to do your research, be consistent, be flexible and address what's not working head on so you can enforce change, early.

It's never too soon to start the systemic approach to building the business of your dreams. No matter what stage you are in, there is always something to improve on so get started today!