The foundation of your business growth is built around operations run by creating systems for a smooth, repeatable flow that can be scaled. It’s not really a mouthful to say, but I have found that most small business owners are perplexed by what exactly it means. They get that they need it, but what is it? Here are 4 important systems that you need; defined and explained.
Financial Systems. I break finances up into seven parts: 1) bookkeeping (the recording of day-to-day expenses and revenue 2) payroll (the payment of you and your team) 3) accounting (accounts receiving or A/R where incoming money is invoiced and received and accounts payable or A/P where expenses are billed and paid), 4) forecasting (review of the bookkeeping resulting in recommendations on A/R and A/P to optimize profit and also projections of future revenue) 5) capital (receiving funds to grow your business as a loan and/or part ownership in the business) 6) taxes (consulting on how to pay less and the actual filing of taxes) and 7) investments (how to make your money work for you to build wealth).
Marketing/Sales Systems. Make no mistake, marketing and sales are two different things but they are often placed together. Marketing is the creating of awareness of your brand that leads to a relationship of nurturing to increase the chances that they will buy your offer. Sales is converting them from knowing and linking your brand to being a customer of the brand. You will need a flow of action around awareness (brand visibility), credibility so that they trust your brand as the one to solve their problem, and lead generation (getting them into your business ecosphere in segments that allow you to speak better to their pain points). The actions around asking for the sale and getting them to buy are the process of sales.
Operations Systems. There are niched areas of your business, but the overarching area is what we call operations. Think of it as the things that are general business and that support them to easily fulfill the offer after it is sold. General business includes administrative tasks, leadership/decision-making tasks, garnering needed resources, planning for the use of resources, managing the execution of resources, collecting data, and using data to optimize the business. Resources include people and technology, as well as physical equipment. Read more about creating structure HERE.
Servicing Systems. We’ve talked so much about the client journey because it shows up over and over again in your business. Check out a past article about it HERE. To build the flow for onboarding clients, delivering the terms of the offer to the client, dealing with client issues, and offboarding the client.
Corporations have departments. As a small business, you may not have departments full of people but you still have to give attention to those areas for growth and scale. Read more about it HERE. If you need support with creating systems for your business, let’s talk. ShaCannon.info/talk