I regularly urge business owners I meet with to get everything they know about their business out of their head and onto paper. If you haven’t done such a thing, I’m urging you now to do the same with the processes you use in running and managing your business. Start writing out how you do all the things that you do in your business throughout the year. At a minimum, write out how you treat your customers or clients, how your paperwork for each sale flows, how your production or inventory systems work, how you market to clients, how you handle your employees, and how you do your bookkeeping.
Do this in detail. For each area, make a very precise description of every step in the process. Include what you do and why you do it. Include the subtle parts that make your company uniquely you. Include the parts that you are proud of. Include the tricks that make it efficient. Include what you tried that didn’t work and explain why. Each system should become a very rich, highly detailed section of your overall Business Operations Manual. Why so much detail?
Because this is the beginning of being able to consistently deliver results. And the beginning of being able to consistently deliver results even when you aren’t around. Written and documented systems and manuals make delegating much more manageable and makes bringing on new people a lot less time consuming.
Maybe you don’t want a bigger business. Maybe you want to keep yours small. Still, wouldnít it be nice to be able to go on a long vacation and turn the keys over to someone else to run and make money for you while you are gone without getting phone calls for how to handle every little thing? Now, does that sound like something that should only be for big business?
Consultant, Coach and Purveyor of Perspective
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