Systematically Speaking…….
I’ve always been one to multitask and work well under pressure (better actually). So in the beginning of 2013 when, I set my visions, wrote them out and started my journey to do ask much as possible in the next 12 months that I could (or so I thought).
On my never ending to do list: Expand business #1, Grow Business #2, Start Business #3, Go Back to School, teach more classes, offer one-on-one coaching, be more active in church, redecorate my house, increase my social activities……and the list goes on.
Spreading myself thin was an understatement. And instead of growing at a healthy pace, I had little to no progress. And do you know why? I had no systems in place.
So I thought back to the 10 years I worked in the fashion industry. No matter what brand or retailer needed a product produced we had a system for it. And interestingly, regardless of the type of product, the system was basically the same. The key items were always there.
I quickly realized that by not finalizing my SOP’s (Standard Operating Procedure) for each area of my business that I was doing myself a disservice and was not set up for success.
So I broke it down, and then simplified it so that It could be applied to any of my businesses:
5 Steps to Creating a System for Your Home Based Business:
1. Know all tasks related to each project
2. Determine how much time each tasks takes to be completed.
3. Determine the order the tasks need to be completed in (and if there are tasks that can be done simultaneously)
4. Create a timeline of the entire project, from inception to completion.
5. Assign tasks to team members, your virtual assistant or outsource them where necessary.
Our course once this is done, you need a regularly scheduled check-in (how often depends on the intricacy and timeframe of the project) to make sure everything is going as planned. Things happen. But you must stay in the know. You can just set a completion date and not follow up until the day its due.
If you constantly work on the same type of project, your SOP could easily be a checklist or and excel spreadsheet. No need to make things super complicated if they are not.
*When I worked in mass manufacturing I made the same product over and over, so I knew the timeline. We didn’t set completion dates; it was based on when our clients need the product. In these situations we took the completion date and worked backwards to find out the anticipated start date. We knew immediately if we were not going to be able to fulfill an order.
The biggest tip I want to convey to you, is not to take on too many projects at once. Because regardless of how good your systems are, if you are not capable of producing it will show. Quality over quantity always prevails. If you have a habit of taking on too much at once, you may have a time management or boundaries issue that you want to get under control. Be realistic with yourself.
At the end of the day, you always want to do a review and reflect on the outcome of each project:
• What went right?
• What went wrong?
• How can I improve?
• Lessons learned?
One thing I have learned about being your own boss is that you in fact are the boss and all final decisions rest with you. You must be able to objectively look at situations and look at yourself and make improvements, sometimes on the spot.
So I ask you…. Do you have SOP’s in place for your business? If so how are they working for you? Let me know in the comments below.
