KeyPlay Business Solutions

7. Key Systems

"Systematise the routine and personalise the exceptions"

For any business wanting to grow the 7th step of the success puzzle is to, systematise the routine and personalise the exceptions. This concept must be applied right across all areas of your business. Right from sales and marketing to taking our the trash and to reviewing Key Performance Indicators.

For example,

• Have a script for staff to follow when answering the phone.
• Have a system for getting customer feedback.
• Have a system for identifying referrals.
• Apply a system to any job that is repeated in your business.

Perhaps one of the best books I have ever read when it comes to business and entrepreneurship is The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber. I actually met him this year.  The E-Myth Revisited discusses the importance of developing a system for running your business and the processes instrumental for offering your products or services to your customers with predictable results, time after time. Gerber dives into the history of McDonalds and how Ray Kroc took the McDonald brothers tasty staple and turned it into a billion dollar business mostly because he understood the power of a systematic approach for selling hamburgers. Gerber also builds on the premise the entrepreneurs should not work in their business, but on it. This has been pivotal in the success behind the businesses I've contributed to over the last 10 years and I believe it can be for you as well.

Why Business Systems and Processes Are Important

Having consulted with many entrepreneurs and business owners about the dire situations or emergencies facing their companies, I usually discover it stems from three main problems:

1.Lack of business experience or focus.
2.Inability to make a profit or charge what they are worth
3.Not implementing a system to help them manage their company or processes for production

The first two can easily be changed but the third cannot. This is why I believe it pays to sweat through the details before you go into business or offer a new product. And even you have already launched your company, it's extremely valuable to find a way to integrate the right processes into your business now and not wait. The benefits are many, including:

• Effective and timely communication to potential clients or existing ones
• Discovering what is profitable for your business and what isn't
• Producing quality products on time or as promised
• Completing services with predictable results and efficiency
• Running a business that allows you take time away from it. Now that is important.

The most important benefit is that if you understand how to run your business and can do so with a methodology the ensures that only the best results are constant, then you can outlast and survive your competition. But I am here to tell you that some of the ways I've seen people operating their businesses lately only guarantees a slow, painful death at this point. It might not happen overnight, but it will happen!

I want to encourage you to do an honest evaluation of your business today and determine if your processes are good enough to keep you going into the future or if you need to adapt today to prevent the demise of your company. A great business system and process will take you further than you think and it can make a huge difference.

Just look at McDonalds - The majority of employees are teenagers running one of the largest Franchise Stores in the World.

Why ? Answer - SYSTEMS.