Setting up systems in your business is a step that so many entrepreneurs find overwhelming! Where to start, what to set up, how to work them, etc. It can be exhausting and lead you to just continue to push off setting them up.
Here’s the deal though, if you don’t have any systems in place in your business, you’re actually wasting valuable time and stunting your business growth. While you’re spending time creating, revising and sending contracts and invoices, what else could you be doing? Or maybe you’re bogged down in the back and forth of finding a time to set up a meeting with a potential client that you never actually get that meeting set up? Or maybe you’re missing a valuable opportunity to convert someone into a client with a killer freebie.
Systems don’t need to be overly complicated or overwhelming. In fact, every industry or profession has systems in place in order to create a successful business. Restaurants, stores, large corporations, etc. all have systems in place so that the business runs smoother, is more streamlined and productive, therefore more profitable.
Want to save time and grow your business? Of course you do! Implement these 4 steps to create systems in your business:
Write down your business activities
Do you even know what all you do in your business? Would you consider yourself proactive, or reactive? Sometimes we get into this cycle of just reacting to what needs to be done vs. truly realizing all of the things that are going on in our business month-to-month. Take inventory of your business activities such as writing content, scheduling email newsletters, creating proposals or invoices, scheduling calls, business planning, project management, meetings, website updates, creating funnels for launches, paying team members/tracking biz expenses, etc. There are so many backend activities that you need to get organized in even understanding what all you do to determine where to start putting systems in place.
2. Determine what you could automate
Start by writing out your process for each of the business activities that you listed. Note any tools or systems that you use already to help you do the task at hand. Then determine if there is a way to take yourself out of the equation. Could you set something up one time and then repurpose it each time you need to do the task? For example, do you offer the same service at the same price to where you could simply automate your onboarding experience for new clients? Or maybe instead of having potential clients email you to set up calls you put an automatic scheduler on your website with pre-call questions to help make it easier for people to access you and not miss out on any potential opportunities. So many times we think we need to be involved in every step of the process, but once we write it down we realize that if we just set it up, it can truly be duplicated without us. As humans we like to overcomplicate things, when really we can always simplify the process.
3. Research tools
There is truly a tool or platform for EVERYTHING. I’m all about simplification though, so I am not recommending you try ALL THE TOOLS, but I am suggesting that you look into what would be the most helpful for you. There are a lot of platforms that can do multiple things for you, such as Kajabi (lead pages, email marketing, webinars, course hub). It really just depends where you’re at in your business, what you need right now and what you want to pay for. If you’re just starting out there are a ton of free or low cost options that you can set up that actually can talk to each other. For example, I link Acuity to zoom for meetings and to my email list. There’s definitely tools out there for everything. I list out some of my favorites in another blog post here.
4. Evaluate
Take some time to see if these new systems work, give them a month or two. Refine the processes to make them work better for you along the way. If you find a particular tool, system or process just doesn’t make sense, change it! There will be a learning curve to some degree, but if you find it’s causing you more frustration than help, find another way. And at the end of the day, you can always outsource!!
Once you implement these things and put those systems in place, your business will run much smoother and you’ll have created time and space in your business to continue to grow!
If you’re still overwhelmed thinking about implementing systems in your business, schedule a discovery call and we can chat about my 5-hour systems intensives where I help you identify what systems to put into place, set them up for you and teach you how to manage them.
Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.
After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.
Katelyn is also a soon-to-be wife, stepmom, dog mama of two furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.
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