Frantic Success VS. Calm Success

Let’s face it – some entrepreneurs start a business and think, “I’ll finish creating that as I need it.”

I actually heard a coach say the other day – “If someone buys the program then I will create it week-by-week as we go along.” Really?

I heard another business owner say, “We put our product out there to see how the market will receive it, if we get orders then we will figure out how to mass produce it.”

HHHUUUMMM?!?!

What if 20 people buy it all at the same time? Do you have time to create and stay one-step-ahead? Or would you rather already have things created, systems and processes in place to implement and provide the best possible customer experience you can?

If you are a coach or a consultant you probably have to immediately do several things when you close a deal: onboard, invoice, send agreement, communicate, schedule sessions, and the list goes on and on. Then you have to read the onboarding, strategize a plan for each client, determine the roadmap, etc.

Without a predetermined process, and systems in place, this could not only be exhausting and overwhelming, but detrimental to your business (and your reputation).

Then there is the complete opposite side. The entrepreneur or business owner that has to have every last detail in place before hanging their shingle out that says Open for Business. They create (sometimes over and over), adjust, realign, perfect, redesign, and generally over-do not only their products and services line-up but their business processes, automations, and back-office procedures.

There has to be a middle ground.

Look at your business. Answer these simple questions:

Do you have a Revenue Structure in place and is each piece clearly defined and at least 60% created? If someone purchased TODAY could you complete the other 40% well before they will be expecting it or will you frantically be creating and delivering at the same time?

For each piece of the business – including delivery of goods/services – is there any part that could be made easier with automation or a well-defined process? Or are you perfectly fine with winging-it and attending personally to every detail? Are you OK with holding together your business with sticky-notes, paperclips, and duct tape?

Without systems and processes, when you get thrown a curve ball (positive or negative one) you go into full-on panic-frantic mode and enter the black hole of overwhelm. You then shift all your resources to surviving that crisis and much of the growth-producing activities get placed on the sidelines. Oops. Once the crisis is over, now you have to switch to the other panic train and get that aspect back on track.

Here are the hard facts: a business can not grow to its full potential if it is a house of cards. One bump of the table or gust of wind has it falling down into a 52-card game of pick-up.

But where to start, what do you eliminate, what do you systemize?

For each activity you are doing now ask yourself these questions:

1. Does it make the boat go faster?
2. Does it plug holes in the boat?
3. Is it just making the boat prettier?

If it is not in #3 then you should dedicate some time, effort, and money to getting it right – so you can grow your business with ease rather than by the seat of your pants.

Activities that fall into #1 – the growth activities – you need to free up enough time so you can spend your time on these items.

Activities in #2 – systemized any repeatable activities that can plug those holes, prevent more cracks from happening, and in general make the boat stronger.

Activities in #3 – just stop. You don’t need to paint the boat a different color or get a new captains chair. Just stop. (BTW – these activities are probably the fun ones, the ‘safe’ ones, the easier ones).

Look, I get it, systems are not sexy. They take time – time you feel you don’t have.

But I promise you, once you invest that time you will be liberated and have even more freedom. You started this business because you are the type of person who CAN do things on your own, who does have the capability to ‘do it all’ but being overwhelmed and overworked doesn’t make you the brightest crayon in the box…it makes you cranky, irritable, and leaves you wondering why you are not growing.

Hint – you are not growing because you are constantly shifting, doing it all yourself, creating shortcuts, changing directions, being too flexible, ineffectively doing the delivery, all of which creates even more chaos and complexity. Then you have to exert another huge batch of energy and time (of which you are already depleted of) which further delays your growth. Vicious cycle!

Please realize that having structure, processes and procedures is not about restricting you or creating rules and regulations to box you in. It is about giving you back your time, increasing your revenues and your customer satisfaction indexes, all while affording you the ability to have the life you want outside and inside your business.

• They stop the fires, the urgent attention seeking matters that plague your work-week.
• They provide consistency in your deliverables and make it so you are not having to watch over or do every single itty bitty detail to prevent things from falling through the cracks.
• They give you the ability to outsource and get the staff or support you need to move to the next level. Which in turn gives you the latitude to focus on the strategic growth side of the business.
• When you have the right processes in place your business runs like a well-built, well-serviced, well-oiled machine. You can predict with certainty your revenues, expenses, growth projections, and even client retention and satisfaction.

NOW you are ready to scale.

Even if YOU are the one implementing the processes and procedure – they still need to be systemized and well documented. This keeps you on track and provides the foundation for outsourcing or hiring staff to take over when you are ready. No business owner should rely on their own ability to remember the next step, the next thing to do. You may miss a step, forget one, or get distracted and when you get back to it you waste time looking back and seeing what has/has not been done so you can take the next action. Waste.

It doesn’t have to be a science project to get the process out of your mind and into a system. Just start with a simple step one, step two sheet where you list the process and literally check each item off as you go. You can implement automations later. Just get it all out of your head!

Don’t get me wrong, you don’t have to start relying on Artificial Intelligence and automation to run your business. You don’t have to take out the human element – in fact, implementing some high-tech stuff can actually INCREASE your person-to-person connection.

How might you ask? Well, if the systems free up your time, now you can have that lunch or call with a client or take the time to write a hand-written note or send a gift, PLUS the systems might actually play a part in that! They remind you to reach out, send a thoughtful gesture, or schedule a lunch.

System, automations, processes, and procedures don’t have to be ‘that stuff for corporate America’, stuff you run away from as stuffy or not needed in a small business. That couldn’t be more off the mark! Actually, solo-preneurs, entrepreneurs and small business owners need them even MORE than the big corporations – because anything that falls through the cracks falls on YOU. There is no other fall guy.

Where to start:

Next time you do a repeatable task – document it step by step

Fix the holes in your revenue structure before you start a new offering

Finish designing and creating everything needed for your current offerings – figure out if there are opportunities for automating parts of it

Invest some time, money, and effort into defining your systems – get help!

If you want revenues to go up, customer retention and satisfaction to rise, all while your work hours go down…you need to intentionally create your systems, automations, and processes. It will be SOOOOOOO worth it!