10. Systemise – And Put the Business On Autopilot

There are two ways that work should be done inside your business: by SYSTEMS and PROCESSES.

Earlier we said that if your business depends on YOU, you don’t have a business you have a job! Well the solution is to be found in setting up systems and processes.

(1) Systems take the form of manuals, written scripts, standard forms, checklists, and standard letters and so on. For instance do you have systems for such things as identifying prospects, persistently chasing every prospect in a way that they are made to feel welcome, generating a continuous stream of referrals, recording and following up every single sales lead and much, much more?

Systems are so vitally important because…..anyone can …
• Operate them – so you can step away from working IN the business and concentrate more of your time working ON the business, and the other things that are important to you too.
• Run the system so the business is less dependent on any individual or group which means that you’ll never need to fear staff illnesses, retirements, defections and industrial disputes again.
• Replicate past success using the system.

The great thing about systems is that what you do, how you do it and the results you get all become more consistent and predictable – and you can achieve more – in less time!

Let’s move on…

(2) Processes One of the keys to making business more successful is to identify your most important processes, decide how they work and what they deliver and do everything possible to make improvements where necessary.

Processes are so vitally important because…they help to…
• Optimise the way you do things inside your business.
• Pin down the activities and responsibilities of your team, the links between team members and you, as well as the deliverables and timescales involved.
• Appreciate and understand the flow, the interactions, and the sub-processes and sub-activities that are constraining your performance.

It’s impossible to achieve optimum performance in your business with flawed processes. Most problems in business are due to faulty processes, not human problems, nor anything else. That’s why having a tool as powerful as a process is crucial to streamlining your business operation.

Points To Remember Are:

Concentrate on what you do best and outsource the rest so that you can get on and grow your business.

• Consider what your business does best, stick with it and recruit and outsource skills to help you achieve your goals!

• Many businesses deliver mediocre levels of performance because they fail to operate effective systems and processes.

A Valedictory Recommendation

I would like to wind up with a single deep-seated RECOMMENDATION, one that speaks of the character of the business owner. It is to be found in the tale of a great business leader, Andrew Cook, an individual that applied the skills we have covered in this Business Growth Series, but who in addition characterises what is best in human endeavour in the business world.

This factor we would suggest is the Ultimate Recommendation for Real Business Success!

But judge for yourself!

In the 1980s Andrew Cook, on taking over William Cook, a well established family owned engineering company, immediately invested in increased efficiency, quality and capacity in the industry’s least value segment – at a time when capacity was double the amount of industry sales– and industry output had been falling for a number of years.

Cook’s didn’t have the image of a Mercedes or an IBM amongst its customers. Neither was it a technological leader, nor did it possess secret processes to guarantee extra income. Conventional thinking would have suggested that Cook milks the business and leaves the industry, or goes into a higher value and differentiated niche. But no, Cook invested in capacity, capability and quality improvements.

Rivals thought he was mad… All seemed against him.

But his insight and efforts yielded results quickly. Within a few years sales had risen 10% against industry losses. He was the first to invest in BS5750. Within a couple of years he had acquired two of his major competitors and by the ‘90s he had become the market leader.

The recommendation we advocate here is concerned with one of the most admired human attributes of all – that of FORTITUDE.

William Cook’s own summing up of this ideology is to be found on the company’s web site;

“Press on. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is
more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is
almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

A Final Point To Remember Is:

He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. Proverbs 16:32