So much to do, so little time. Sound familiar?
How can you grow your business when you can barely keep on top of the day to day tasks that you need to do to keep it going? When you’re high achiever, it’s natural to try and do #allthethings, but is it helpful or sustainable? No.
Don’t worry though, there’s one thing will elevate your business to the next level, and save your sanity! The answer to your burnout pain is systems!
If you don’t know what business systems are, think about systems in nature - there’s ecosystems, the solar system and your nervous system, to name a few. A system is a collection of interrelated processes or assets that work together toward a central goal. Processes within a system are the more linear step-by-step collection of tasks that take you from point (a) to point (b).
We’ll talk about both systems and processes in this post.
Systems will save you time, and make your workflow more efficient and productive. They also help you to anticipate where your energy needs to go in your business, meaning you’ll be feeling more in control and less reactionary when issues or even new ideas pop up. Systems also combat burnout, by creating a reliable, repeatable workflow and reducing time spent on busy work dramatically.
It might sound complicated to set up systems for your business, but it doesn’t have to be! I’ll walk you through a quick way to identify where you can build systems in your business and provide you with some practical tips to get started.
If you want to save time, focus on the fun stuff in your business, and stop doing busy work ALL THE TIME, you need systems, yesterday.
If you’re ready to completely change the way you work, and to become the master your personal productivity, check out Find Your Flow - we’re open for enrollment now, kicking off on November 30! We cover systems, and oh, so much more, it’s gonna be magic!
Identify Your Systems
You probably have systems in your business already but they might not be automated or optimized yet. Identify what kind of (rough or otherwise) systems you currently have (or need) in your business.
Areas in your business that benefit from systems include growth, marketing, sales, client management, staff management, communication and more. At the very least you should have the intention to build growth, operations and sales systems.\
A growth system should be designed to optimize lead generation and client acquisition.
An operations system is a framework for your daily business tasks like client onboarding, admin, and production.
A sales system is how you sell your time or products - this includes things like webinars, sales calls, social selling and tracking all of these.
When creating or optimizing your systems, look out for:
Repetitive tasks
Time-consuming tasks
Tasks that aren’t in your zone of genius
These are the main things you should be looking to systemize in you life or business.
You can have a mixture of manual and automated processes inside your systems, but the key is to lay them all out so that you have a plan to follow for these repetitive, time-consuming tasks, as well as for tasks that you don’t love doing - as an added bonus having systems in place for these tasks and processes makes it a zillion times easier to delegate to a team member when you’re ready.
If you’re just getting started with systematising your business, choose ONE thing to systemise first! You don’t have to do it all at once, so select the thing that you’ll get the most value out of streamlining right now.
Do a systems audit
Identify your processes
What are some day-to-day or regular weekly processes in your business?
What is the step-by-step tasks that you do for each one?
If you don’t want to spend a lot of time up-front analyzing all of this information, record these as you go about your regular work, and keep track of the steps that you take for each process.
Identify your tools
What software, apps and tools do you need/use for this process?
For example, if you’re recording regular videos, your list might look like this:
Tools: Ring light, DSLR camera, tripod, microphone, laptop
Software/Apps: Adobe Creative Suite, Screenflow, Loom, YouTube Studio
Other factors: Hair, makeup, wardrobe planning, and filming location setup
Identify the people
Even if you’re a solopreneur, think about where you could delegate tasks in the future - this will help you immensely when you hire your first assistant or staff member, because you have pre-emptively thought about the tasks that they would do, and you can build some operational systems for them to follow. If you do already have staff - think about what would be most valuable for you to delegate to them - remember the framework we used earlier - if the task is time-consuming, repetitive or not in your zone of genius, you should aim to automate and delegate it where possible.
Identify your strategies
What are the tactics you’re using in this task/process?
For example: SEO keywords for YouTube, batching for video creation and editing, best practice design for end cards on your videos, affiliate links in video description
Assess your current systems
What are you doing well?
Which tasks or processes in your business are running like a well-oiled machine? Perhaps certain steps in a process work well, while others could use some improvement. Make a list of the things that are already working well. You can also include the things you enjoy doing, or that fall into your zone of magic here.
What can be improved?
As above, perhaps there are some steps in a process, or parts of a system that require some attention, or have room for improvement. List out any aspects of your workflow that can be improved. Are some things you are doing repetitive? Could some of your tasks benefit from having a more clear workflow, template, or automation added in?
Are you using the best tools for this process?
Sometimes we do things a certain way, because that’s the way we’ve always done them. Technology and workflow tools are constantly changing and being improved, so look into your toolset and see if there are any new apps, tools or software that you can use to upgrade your systems.
Can any steps be removed or automated?
This part is really powerful! You can discover the things that you’re doing that are unnecessary and cut them out of your processes. You will also discover tasks that you currently do manually that can be automated, saving you tonnes of time over your day, week and month.
Is the right person doing the work?
This is an opportunity to start treating your business like a business, and to value your time as a CEO. (You can apply this to life as well!).
Story time: When I was in one of my first jobs, I had a coworker who decided that he wouldn’t do anything on the weekend that he could pay someone $100/hour or less to do it for him. This included cleaning, washing his car, home improvements… I couldn’t believe it at the time. I think I was earning about $15 an hour and the thought of paying someone 6-7x my income to do things for me didn’t make sense. But thinking about it now - how much of our lives do we spend doing the busy work in our business and lives - how much value could we add by outsourcing those tasks?
No matter where you are in your business, start thinking about who the best person is to do certain tasks - if it’s not in your zone of genius, or if it’s repetitive, or time-consuming, start planning for someone else to take over those things. You don’t have to hire staff or pay for a personal chef or cleaner today, but consider outsourcing things as you grow so you can focus your energy on the CEO-level thinking that your business needs to get to the next level.
Is this system/process/task necessary for your larger goal?
So many of us are doing things because someone said we should be, but so often I see entrepreneurs burned out and stressed from trying to do it all. Thats why I encourage entrepreneurs to get crystal clear on their goals and intentions. When you have a clear vision, it’s much easier to dismiss the busy work and stay laser-focussed on the most important activities that are going to move you toward your goals.
Look at your current processes and tasks, and confidently remove any that don’t serve your higher purpose. As seasons change in your business, there may be a time to re-introduce these things, but right now, be selective and single minded about your purpose.
Is this process a good use of your time?
Does it fit your 80/20 rule? That is, 20% of your input (work, energy, time) generates 80% of your results (growth, sales, etc.). As a rule, you should be focussing your attention on these 20% activities - they are the most efficient, valuable and impactful tasks that you do. If a task/process is not fitting into this rule, is it something that you can delete/reduce/automate out of your daily tasks?
As you identify and track your systems, you can then evaluate and improve them over time.
If you’re ready for the next step, or would love personalized guidance around setting up your systems (and so much more productivity magic), don’t miss out on Find Your Flow! It’s currently 30% off the regular price, and open for enrollment until November 30, so get in quick!
xo
Shell