For your business to grow and become successful, it's imperative that you create a systemized business. Business systems are essential for building an asset that will generate the most significant return on your investment, creating the structure and order needed to produce your product, and for providing consistent results every time, exactly as promised. While the systemization process can be approached in many ways, not all of them are successful. Many common mistakes are made when trying to systemize a business.
Having No Strategic Plan
If you want to systemize your business successfully, you have to know what you're building, why you're building it, and where you want to go with it. You need to write out your vision for your business and what you want to accomplish in the next five years. Having this picture in your head will allow you to prioritize the development, documentation, and implementation of the system based on the impact they'll have on the business.
Looking for a “One Size Fits All” System
Unfortunately, you can't take something off a shelf and make it automatically fit your business. For your systems to work, you have to customize them for your particular business. They must work with your vision and your needs. You have to design your systems to produce the results you desire.
Not Documenting
You can't correctly repeat a system unless it is clearly documented. While you may have a system that has developed naturally over time that works really well if it isn't written down, how can you train others to create the same results? Documenting your processes ensures that everyone does the task the same way, every time. Documenting your processes is critical to the success of your business.
Lack of Implementation
Implementation of your systems is essential if you want to truly have a systemized company. It isn't enough to just document your processes; you have to execute them. As Peter Drucker once said, “Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately deteriorate into hard work.”
Leaving Out Quantifications
You must have clearly defined and quantifiable results when you document your systems. This will enable you to know how to evaluate whether the system is working or not. It is the only way to determine if the system you've put in place is sufficient.
Systemizing your business is an essential part of building a successful business. Avoiding these common mistakes can make your journey to having a systemized business easier and more successful.