Last time we saw that putting systems into our business is an investment. It allows us as owners to work less, take more time off and makes sure that the business does not consume our life. After all, we didn’t start our own business to work ourselves to death with no social life.
So how do we systemize and what exactly should we systemize?
It’s very simple. Write down everything you do...as you do it, in each of the three businesses I mentioned last month: Your Marketing Business; Your Service Delivery Business; Your Client Retention Business. And add a Tracking Business to the list so that you know exactly what can be improved in your business. Sure, it’ll take time at first but once it’s done…that’s it!
Imagine that you are going to ‘franchise’ your business and that it will be a model for other franchisees. You want them to do things EXACTLY the way you do them. This could take several weeks to do but the important thing is to get started and actually do it. Write down instructions for doing everything so that even a 16 year old could follow them clearly with no confusion.
I personally like using checklists. It is then very easy to see all the steps to getting a job done. My technician uses one so that nothing is missed out on the job. It’s surprising how often employees will find shortcuts if you allow them to (eg “the carpet didn’t look as though it needed vacuuming, so I didn’t do it!â€). There should never be any discussion about what to wear, how to act with clients or how the job is carried out. It should all be written down in your Operations Manual, which tells everyone “this is how we do it hereâ€. This way we are not continually “reinventing the wheel†everytime we have a problem. We know exactly how to deal with it. If we have a new question about how to do something, we want to write down a procedure and put it in place only once. And be sure to follow it yourself.
Of course, nothing stays the same. It may be that you find a better way of doing the job or a better way of answering the telephone. Part of the system should be “This is how we change it here†and this should also be written down in your Operations Manual, otherwise your systems won’t be recognisable in a few months time.
Here’s an example of a simple system: Virtually all of our work is residential carpet cleaning. When I first took on a technician I was worried that my clients would only want me to do their work. After all, many service businesses depend largely on the personality of the owner. So here’s the very simple system I put in place. After I booked in the job, I casually said “On that date, you’ll either get me or (my technician)†and waited for their reaction. If anyone objected, I was prepared to explain that my technician was very personable and fully trained to do the work the same as I would. The truth is that only one person has ever cared that I wasn’t coming! The system has worked and has freed me to get “off the truckâ€. The important thing is that this was a system…even the casual manner of what I said. This was “how I did it here†at the time, every time. And it worked very well.