Consider all of the systems that surround you: traffic systems, media systems, religious systems, family systems, political systems. All have enjoyed relative success, thanks to trial-and-error, careful planning, and dependence on a number of people. Not one of these structures could exist if managed by one person. That same principle applies to your profitable business.
In other articles, I've discussed ways to reach your ideal client abundance, including aligning your product with the market, targeting those prospects who have raised their hands with interest, and converting those raised hands to incoming cash.
Once you have mastered all of these principles, you'll probably find the next step to be a welcome one.
Once the clients are rolling in, you might find yourself becoming haggard, stretched too thin, stressed, and wondering if you really wanted what you were wishing for. This is not your signal to back off. It's your signal to systematize.
Systematizing involves delegation and outsourcing, but more importantly, it requires using your creative skills and resources to design a method for getting things done. All aspects of your business should not be dependent on you. If they are, something is certain to suffer.
I know the benefits of systemizing first hand. I once wrote, formatted, and emailed my newsletter all on my own. I didn't enjoy it as much as other tasks necessary to my business, but I had to do it. That's what I had convinced myself, until...
I realized that I could be spending my time in different facets of my business - ones that I would enjoy more, and that would better showcase my personal talents.
When I decided to recruit other people to my team, to format the newsletter from archives and send it to my readers, I realized a new level of accomplishment. I could write the personal newsletter introduction in ten minutes. My new team members could then do the rest. I found myself liberated from an aspect of my business that was holding me back from my true calling. Because the newsletter was less dependent on me, I no longer felt that it was holding me back.
It's rare that every aspect of a business aligns with the gifts of its proprietor. Some people thrive as prudent business managers, other shine in public relations, and others revel in the creative process. Success doesn't involve developing the skills to be a one-man-band, but in pooling resources to get things accomplished more efficiently.
Here are a few points to keep in mind when systematizing your own business:
* Don't rush to systematize. Work all the bugs out of your products, marketing, communications, and conversion processes first. Shortcomings will not disappear inside of a system, but will poison the rest of the process.
* You might think you can do it all, but consider how much better your business could be if you concentrated on your strengths. When different people's gifts are pooled together, the result is the dynamic sum of those talents.
* Choose an aspect of your business that you dislike. Find a person, or a team, who specializes in that task. Results will improve, and you can concentrate on what you do best.
* Identify your strengths. Survey the aspects of your business that you can delegate so that you can allow more time to use your talents to their highest degree.
* Be creative about ways to automate your business. Focus on how to arrive at the highest quality result in the most efficient way. Proven business models can help, but don't forget your own freedom to innovate.
* Don't sweat the small stuff. You can find people to do that for you.
As you become more successful, there will be a call for your business to become less dependent on you. This conversion in thinking can seem difficult at first, but if you honestly examine your strengths and choose team members who share your vision (through differently-colored glasses), you'll not only systematize your business, but you'll maximize what that business can do for you.
In other articles, I've discussed ways to reach your ideal client abundance, including aligning your product with the market, targeting those prospects who have raised their hands with interest, and converting those raised hands to incoming cash.
Once you have mastered all of these principles, you'll probably find the next step to be a welcome one.
Once the clients are rolling in, you might find yourself becoming haggard, stretched too thin, stressed, and wondering if you really wanted what you were wishing for. This is not your signal to back off. It's your signal to systematize.
Systematizing involves delegation and outsourcing, but more importantly, it requires using your creative skills and resources to design a method for getting things done. All aspects of your business should not be dependent on you. If they are, something is certain to suffer.
I know the benefits of systemizing first hand. I once wrote, formatted, and emailed my newsletter all on my own. I didn't enjoy it as much as other tasks necessary to my business, but I had to do it. That's what I had convinced myself, until...
I realized that I could be spending my time in different facets of my business - ones that I would enjoy more, and that would better showcase my personal talents.
When I decided to recruit other people to my team, to format the newsletter from archives and send it to my readers, I realized a new level of accomplishment. I could write the personal newsletter introduction in ten minutes. My new team members could then do the rest. I found myself liberated from an aspect of my business that was holding me back from my true calling. Because the newsletter was less dependent on me, I no longer felt that it was holding me back.
It's rare that every aspect of a business aligns with the gifts of its proprietor. Some people thrive as prudent business managers, other shine in public relations, and others revel in the creative process. Success doesn't involve developing the skills to be a one-man-band, but in pooling resources to get things accomplished more efficiently.
Here are a few points to keep in mind when systematizing your own business:
* Don't rush to systematize. Work all the bugs out of your products, marketing, communications, and conversion processes first. Shortcomings will not disappear inside of a system, but will poison the rest of the process.
* You might think you can do it all, but consider how much better your business could be if you concentrated on your strengths. When different people's gifts are pooled together, the result is the dynamic sum of those talents.
* Choose an aspect of your business that you dislike. Find a person, or a team, who specializes in that task. Results will improve, and you can concentrate on what you do best.
* Identify your strengths. Survey the aspects of your business that you can delegate so that you can allow more time to use your talents to their highest degree.
* Be creative about ways to automate your business. Focus on how to arrive at the highest quality result in the most efficient way. Proven business models can help, but don't forget your own freedom to innovate.
* Don't sweat the small stuff. You can find people to do that for you.
As you become more successful, there will be a call for your business to become less dependent on you. This conversion in thinking can seem difficult at first, but if you honestly examine your strengths and choose team members who share your vision (through differently-colored glasses), you'll not only systematize your business, but you'll maximize what that business can do for you.
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