Founders often find themselves juggling tasks as they become urgent, in no particular order, and with no system in place to do so. While this may work at the startup level, this approach quickly becomes unsustainable as the business starts to expand and scale.

As an owner, you can only “wing it” for so long and having systems and procedures in place as your business begins to grow in size and complexity is vital for ensuring that not only is your company operating efficiently at its present size but is also well placed for future expansion. In essence, they free you up from working in your business to working on it.

Systems vs. Processes

Put simply, a business process is a sequence of actions that lead to your chosen aim or goals. This usually involves a documented series of interconnected steps that can be followed to achieve your desired result. This could be, for example, a process for onboarding clients, branding guidelines, or how financial reports are to be compiled and created.

Systems refer to the entire structure for delivering those results, rather than the individual steps that make up each process. They are the framework through which ideas, plans and raw materials pass to become your final service or product.

Both processes and systems are necessary for maintaining efficiency and keeping the quality of work consistently high.

When to Implement Systems

Setting up your systems and processes requires an initial investment of time, which is why they should be established at the earliest opportunity, ideally while your business is still in the startup stages. As a business grows in size and complexity, implementing these procedures becomes more time-consuming and costly.

Once established, having a codified way of doing things that can be adjusted and honed as required, allows you to optimise your available resources and reduce running costs. Without this, you risk limiting how quickly and effectively your business can begin to scale.

Building Systems

Though the types of procedures in place might differ between businesses, there are certain core systems that every business will require. Broadly speaking, all businesses need a marketing system to generate a flow of leads, a sales system that converts these leads into customers, a fulfilment system to generate revenue, and a robust administrative system that supports these functions.

Building these involves establishing a process for a specific task. This means defining a method for that task, as well as which person or department is responsible for each action. This is then documented, implemented, and adjusted as required. The adjustment stage is particularly important, as it means systems should be evaluated and improved as your business scales to ensure you are operating efficiently and generating sustainable growth. The key is always to keep these processes as simple as possible, the more you complicate them the more likely it is that they will not work well within the business.

Why They Benefit Business

One of the major benefits of implementing systems early on is how they improve efficiency. This documented way of doing things means staff are more productive, and as you optimise your systems and refine your processes, your team can concentrate their efforts on actions that yield the largest return on investment.

Systems that free up time from mundane or repetitive tasks means more time can be spent on forward planning, creating new products or services, and increasing profit margins, allowing your business to scale more rapidly. As your business expands and your team grows, having procedures in place also means new recruits have a clear idea of how your business operates, improving both the quality and consistency of work.

Using systems and processes that deliver a consistent, high quality experience to your customers is vital for gaining loyalty and increasing retention rates, which in turn takes your business from a startup to an asset that can attract additional investment and opportunities.

Most importantly, putting these systems in place benefits you directly as the owner, as they provide a framework for the business to operate independently of you, with less of your time taken up working in the business instead of on it. This means you can focus on leading your business.

Conclusion

Though building effective systems and procedures is often seen as a low priority for startup businesses, failure to do so can quickly lead to unsustainable growth or an inability to effectively scale. It will cause unnecessary stress for both your staff and your management. Robust systems that are regularly evaluated and adjusted, are key to delivering the consistent results needed to grow your revenue and profit margins, ultimately expanding and scaling your business.