2.2 Systemise for Efficiency and Value
Systemising your business is an essential element of value and it will also free up a heap of time. In most small businesses this is an area that we all know needs to be done, however in many cases it is one of the tasks that is not urgent – important but not urgent and so it keeps getting pushed down the priority list. There are a few times in the life of any business when having good systems is a huge benefit. One of them is when some form of unexpected or unplanned event occurs, and there are many of these. For example, you get a ransomware virus that encrypts every bit of data on your network and all connected backups or you have a senior project manager who gets sick in the middle of a major project or one of your staff inadvertently deletes the data of a high flying lawyer or you get overwhelmed with work and not enough staff to handle it. The list just seems to go on and on (or is it just me?). Quite often you will get many things that occur at the same time and on top of all of this you have the normal every day requirements of keeping the business going. Having well documented procedures for others to follow is essential.
The other time that having great systems and procedures is when you either want to sell the business or you want to hand control over to a new Managing Director. A business without well-defined and documented systems and procedures has a lot less value that one that does.
There are back office process that are repeatable and can be simplified and trained to others. There are standard business processes that have professional templates that can be purchased and adapted to your business. There are processes involved in delivering your core product that should also be systemised and documented.
Apart from adding significant value to your business well systemised processes and procedures will save heaps of time.
This chapter provides a process for creating, documenting and filing systems and procedures that are tailored to your business.
