How to Systemise Your Business So it Runs Without You
Owning a business is great fun. Working insane hours and never being able to take a break isn't. You can only go so far on your own, and in this article I’m going to break down exactly how you can free yourself from your business and also make more money with simple systems and processes. These are the exact steps I used to triple my income whilst cutting my weekly work hours in half. Let’s go!
What’s the Goal?
I know you might hear the words ‘systems’ and ‘processes’ and start falling asleep. As a creative person myself, originally I thought it was painfully boring as well. But you know what’s not boring? Making more money while working less, so you can spend more time on the things you actually enjoy doing. If you properly systemise your business, there’s a few enormous benefits:
1. Give Yourself More Freedom
There are only 24 hours in a day and you can only be in one place a time. You are seriously limiting yourself if you work alone, and even if you are amazing at what you do, you physically have to do everything including time-sucking tasks that could be done by someone else. Without systems you can’t leave! I had a funny thought once...
"If you're irreplaceable in a job, you're a legend. If you're irreplaceable in a business, you're an idiot!"
2. Scale Your Business & Revenue
With systems, you can easily take on more work, and more work means more money because you can help more people. If I was still running my marketing agency solo (which I did for a long time) I would only be able to handle 25% of the current clients I have, and I’d be working like a mad man stressed out of my mind! Now that I have a scaleable system, I can basically take on as many clients as I want!
3. Remove Inefficiencies & Create Consistency
Repeating things, making the same mistakes, clumsy organisation and all the other inefficiencies that come with doing things ‘on the fly’ wastes time, money and effort. Having systems in place makes sure everything runs much more smoothly so you can get more of the important work done, and allows you to create consistency which allows you to expect reliable results from everyone on your team.
4. Delegate & Streamline Communication
Hiring new team members and freelancers is common. It’s a step in the right direction - but without systems and processes you have to start becoming a full-time project manager which is a headache, especially if you are on a different page to your team. Systems make sure that everyone has the same information and everything they need to succeed.
5. Increase Business Value
If you're in sales or freelancing this may not apply. But if you're a business owner, even though you may have no plans of selling any time soon, if your business relies completely on you it's virtually worthless. Because if you sold the business and you disappeared, it would fall apart! If you have a systemised business that can predictably take money and turn it into more money with a repeatable system, it's going to be worth a lot more money if you ever want to sell. Check out 'Built to Sell' for more on this.
"If you want to quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
African Proverb
The 3 Elements to Scaling Your Business
“Okay Mitch everything you’ve said sounds great, how do we do it?!” Well…
I identified scaling your business into three core elements. Without these pieces, you’ll run into problems:
People - Reliable people that are great team players and fit well with your business.
Processes - Documented processes, checklists and trainings for every part of your business.
Performance - A regular review of specific KPIs to make sure everything is in check.
With that said, let's get stuck into creating your systems!
Step One - Define Your Ideal Business
The first step is getting clear on your goals. If you don't know where you want to go, how the hell do you expect to get there?Ask yourself these questions about your dream business...
Income - How much money would it be making?
Offering - What products or services would it be known for?
Customers - What type of customers would it serve?
Hours - How many hours would you be working?
Team - How many team members would it have?
Summary - Create a statement that summarises your dream business and slap it on your wall!
My business makes $_______ (amount) per year selling _______ (type of service) to _______ (type of person) with a constant stream of new leads. I work ( x ) hours a week and have an amazing team of ( x ) who all work efficiently towards one shared goal. The business runs perfectly without me, and I can take time off whenever I want.
Create a statement that summarises your dream business and slap it on your wall.
Step Two - Outline the Roadblocks
Now that you know where you want to go, it’s time to outline what’s stopping you from getting there. These will likely be obvious. That said - each business has a different set of problems, so this will allow you to find your specific roadblocks.
Time - What tasks are taking too long or sucking up too much time?
People - Which customers, suppliers or team members are dragging you down?
Team - Who do you need to hire and what would their responsibilities be?
Money - Where are you wasting money?
Work - What tasks do not enjoy, or tasks you don’t mind but could realistically be delegated?
Opportunity - What are you missing out on because you don’t have the time or resources?
Anything Else - What else is getting in the way of your dream business?
Step Three - Create Leverage Tools
Alright - we know where you want to go and what’s getting in the way. It's time to chip away at creating processes to bridge the gap. You don’t need to do all of these at once, and it’s not a one-time project - it's an ongoing process that will improve over time. Think of your system as a living organism that is constantly evolving. There’s an abundance of amazing tools out there which can be overwhelming, but luckily for you, I’ve got the exact tools I use in my business to make your life a lot easier. Better yet - most are free!
Mindmap.
Recommended Tool: Coggle
A mind map is the best place to start. It allows you to break down all the areas of your business and figure out what you need to create. Think about:
What are the main parts of my business?
What tasks do I do every day? Week? Month?
What things get done more than once?
What templates or important documents do I have / need?
What is currently being done on the fly with no structure?
What don’t I have that I need to be doing?
If I had an emergency, what instructions would someone else need to do my job?
You can do this with pen or paper if you like, but Coggle is a handy and free online tool so you don’t run out of paper space. Sit down, fire it up and have a brain dump into the mind map. You can always refine later - just get it all out for now! Here’s an example of one I made made up of the 6 pillars of any business: People, Product, Sales, Marketing, Operations and Finances.
Documents (Processes, Checklists, Templates & Training Material)
Recommended Tool: Google Docs & Trello
Now that you know what you need, it’s time to start creating processes. Don’t worry - this is not hard to do. All you need to do is look at everything in your mind map, and start writing out instructions for each one.
It’s that simple. My processes are literally just headings with dot points, all stored in one central location on Google Drive (or on a shared Trello board if you have a team). This allows you to create a simple, easy, beautiful and free central hub for your team that works on all devices.
To be honest - anything is better than nothing - but try to avoid Microsoft Word or Apple Pages in case your team members don’t have the same computer as you.
File Storage & Management
Recommended Tool: Google Drive
This one doesn't need much explanation! Business is so collaborative in today's world with both your team and your customers, so it makes sense to have everything in the cloud that is easily accessible by everyone. On top of the storage features, Google Drive has a suite of tools like Docs (word / pages) Sheets (excel), Slides (powerpoint) and other things like Drawings for diagrams and online Forms. All of these can be accessed and used by everyone regardless of their device. I personally really prefer Google Drive over Dropbox as it's much easier to use. All you need is a gmail account to get started!
People
Recommended Tool: Upwork
In stage two we outlined who you need to hire and what their responsibilities would be. If you don’t have a team and you don’t think you need anyone, I strongly encourage you to reconsider hiring a virtual assistant. This was the best thing I’ve ever done.
A virtual assistant will handle the day-to-day operations and also tasks you don’t enjoy doing so you can focus on important activities. Even if you have a small business - if you value your own time at all, hiring a VA is a great idea.
Put it this way. Let’s say you're an expert and your hourly rate is $100. You can charge customers $100 an hour because you add value through your expertise and that’s something only you can do. But when it comes to editing a spreadsheet, there’s a million people who could do that for $10 an hour. So when you start editing the spreadsheet, you’re essentially valuing your own time at $10 an hour. Would you pay someone $10 an hour so you could go work for $100 an hour? It’s not a cost, it’s an investment.
SO! The key takeaway - figure out 1) How much you think you deserve to be paid and 2) What low-income activities need to be outsourced. When it comes to outsourcing, it’s a whole conversation in itself so if you want to learn more, check out my other blog article “Outsourcing for Business: How to Hire a Winning Freelancer”.
Key Performance Indicators / Business Dashboard
Recommended Tool: Google Sheets
Remember at the very beginning I said you need People, Processes & Performance? This is where you can do step three, and audit your own business to keep an eye on the most important areas. I haven't found a great tool for this yet so the simplest way is just to create a Google Spreadsheet that you review monthly, with a few key items you need to check off.
The checklist and KPIs will vary depending on your business. The important thing when measuring performance is that you have something specific and tangible. E.g
Vague - Is our marketing working?
Specific - How many new leads did we get in August?
Vague - Is the team doing high quality work?
Specific - How many revisions were required when reviewing submitted work?
Always try to have a specific data point when measuring performance. Not everything can be defined with an exact number, but you want to have something tangible and as specific as possible.
Project Management
Recommended Tool: Trello
If Trello was a person, I would marry them. I love this tool so much I’d pay $100 a month for it, but it’s free. Trello is a project management tool that keeps track of everything, from the big picture to the minute details. It’s super flexible so it can be customised to your business, but here’s how I use it:
Personal - I use this as my daily planner and to track my personal goals.
Projects - All of our clients in one place with attachments, checklists etc.
Tasks - Individual tasks that each team member needs to complete.
I love how easy Trello is to use. You can easily add team members, write comments, upload attachments, organise with labels, assign due dates and more. For real - sign up to Trello for free here it’s the best thing you’ll have done this week! Here's a screenshot of an example board I made for you:
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Recommended Tool: HubSpot CRM
HubSpot CRM is everything you need to organise, track, and nurture your leads and customers. Better yet - it’s completely free. The most important thing about using a CRM is making sure you’re following up with leads and not letting opportunities slip through the cracks. Easily add contacts, track deals, set reminders and add notes so everyone on your team has the same information. There's a lot of great CRMs out there like Pipedrive and Salesflare so if you already have one there's no need to switch - this is just an awesome one that's free and perfect for newbies!
Team Communication
Recommended Tool: Slack
I hate email. God I hate it so much. Trying to keep track of everything, forwarding, CC’ing, going through archives UGH it’s awful. This is where Slack saves my life. (And it’s free - again).
Slack is a collaboration hub, where the right people and the right information come together, helping everyone get work done. In Slack, conversations happen in channels — organized by topic, project, team, or whatever makes sense for your company. With channels, the right people don't get left out and information doesn't get lost. I also love the direct messaging feature where you can chat with team members without having to bounce around in emails or go on Facebook.
You can also do calls, video calls and screen sharing which is awesome (although I have run into several issues here, it doesn’t want to connect a lot of the time but when it does work, it’s great).
Automating Tasks
Recommended Tool: Zapier
I cannot believe I didn't use Zapier until recently. This epic tool connect the apps you use everyday to automate your work and be more productive. For example - if someone submits a form on your website, you can instantly add it to your CRM and then send an email notification to multiple people.
Or if you run Facebook lead ads, as soon as someone opts in you can add them to a spreadsheet and trigger an email automation. This is two of literally thousands of potential options! Whatever you use, there will be something on Zapier for you. It's free to use, although if you pay the $20 per month you get 20 zaps and you can do multi-step zaps as well. Check it out here.
Bonus Tools
The tools above are the ones you must have. The ones below are some other ones I love that you might want to check out as well.
Calendly
Say goodbye to phone and email tag for finding the perfect meeting time with Calendly. Just send your calendly link or put it on your website and let the person on the other end pick a time that works for them. It automatically syncs with your calendar so there’s no overlap, and you can update your availability any time. It has all sorts of other great features and it’s free too - take a look at Calendly here.
Toggl
Toggl allows you to track your time and split it into categories so you know what you’re spending time on. It took me a while to get into the habit of using it, but now I use it religiously. Just click it on or off when you start a task, and use the mobile app for when you’re on the go. You can also see reports and a weekly / monthly breakdown of where you’re spending time which is really cool. Check out Toggl here.
PS - you might also like my article "8 Daily Habits to Make You Way More Productive"
LastPass
This will make your life so much easier. Store all of your passwords in one place, and create stronger passwords so you don’t have the same password for literally everything. When visiting one of your sites it will automatically fill in the password - and you can also share passwords with team members without them being able to see the actual password, it just gives them access to the site. Another epic free tool that you can start using here.
Fresh Desk
Absolutely awesome for service-based businesses. No more forwarding emails between team members and keeping track of it all - you can have one central email (e.g. support@youremail.com) that is shared by your entire team. When an email comes in, you can assign it to the relevant person and they get notified. Also when a team member replies, it has their name as the signature even though it’s the one email address.
Mailchimp
Just wanted to throw this last one out there because it’s my favourite tool to collect subscribers and send email campaigns. I’ve used a bunch of different ones and this one is the easiest to use and does basically everything you need to connect with your subscribers. Create a free account here.
Trust the Process.
There’s one incredibly dangerous thing that can make this fall apart. You.
When systemising your business, the five most dangerous words you can say is “F*ck it I’ll just do it”. The processes won’t be perfect at first and people will make mistakes. This is completely fine and you should allow your team to get it wrong, as it creates an opportunity to improve your system.
Instead of taking over and doing the task yourself, spend the same amount of time improving your system. Doing it yourself will get it done now. Doing a system means you'll never have to do it again.
If people make mistakes don't blame the person, blame the process. If something is done wrong, it likely happened for one of three reasons:
1. They didn't know how to do it → You didn't give them enough information.
2. They didn't do it correctly → Your process needs work.
3. They keep making the same mistake → They are incapable and should be replaced.
In a nutshell - be patient and allow your system to improve over time. Make sure the right people are doing the right things right, and you're checking in regularly to improve the system. Once you start working 'ON' the business instead of 'IN' the business, you will see results you've never had before!
Stay committed to building the system so that eventually the business can run without you. It doesn't happen overnight, but it's one of the best things you'll ever learn to do. Hopefully this blog article was useful for you, and if you need a hand implementing this for your business feel free to reach out.
@mitchills
