Why should every business, yes even owner operators put ‘systems’ in their carpet cleaning business?
The simple answer is that systems reduce stress, allow the owners to work less, take more time off without worrying that they have to be ‘on call’ every minute of the day, and also creates happier, more productive employees. And customers are happy because they get a predictable experience.
If you’re an owner operator and are unable to work, having a written system can allow someone to simply ‘take your place’ with minimum training. Now you can finally get ‘off the truck’. If you want to hire someone to answer the phone, simply hand them your Operations Manual and watch them begin immediately.
The only downside is that they take time to set up, but once done…that’s it. Just a few adjustments every now and then and the system runs the business like clockwork. After all, if McDonalds can have their restaurants efficiently run by 16 and 17 year olds then surely we can do it too.
So what is so difficult about running a small business? If we previously worked for an employer it looked so easy. Now we realise that we don’t have one job…we in fact have THREE:
- A Marketing Business with the purpose of lining up new business
- A Service Delivery Business which job is to deliver world class service
- A Client Retention Business to keep the clients we already have.
Suddenly the fledgling business that we were once so excited about becomes a harder taskmaster than the boss we had before. The freedom we expected is simply not there. There is always so much to do. Michael Gerber in The e-Myth calls this ‘The Tyranny of Routine’. Customers become a problem. If they buy, we have to go to work and struggle with more and more responsibilities. That’s why so many small business owners are simply ‘burned out’
Over the past few years, I have been ruthless in finding time to put systems into my own business. Previously I had 3 vans cleaning carpets along with Fire & Flood Restoration. I would work all day, come home to answer phone enquiries, then give quotes in the evening. I’d work most Bank Holidays and prided myself on having the phones answered virtually 24 hours a day. I’d be lucky to take 2 weeks holiday a year. And then I’d phone the office every day…just to be sure.
Now I’m able to take four weeks holiday every year (abroad), I’m not continually ‘putting out fires’ and my business no longer consumes my life. And I take a sizeable sum out of the business for what is effectively ‘part-time’ work. All because of finding the time to ‘systemize’. In other words, creating systems is an investment!
So how’s it done?
First we need to recognize the purpose of our business…to fund our ideal lifestyle. And the purpose of a system? - to free us to do the things we want to do. We’ve all heard that we need to ‘work on our business, not in it’. And that’s the difference…to have a strategic overall view of where we want the business to end up not a tactical view of just doing the work. The problem is not that small business owners don’t work…it’s just that we do the WRONG work. The result is chaos and stress. We need a predictable way to produce results. In other words…a system.
So how do we systemise and what exactly should we systemise?
See Part Two next time