After writing my last blog about my 100MPH Marketing and Software system, I had a comment from Cindy about systems. I then thought I should write just a quickie about systems. Firstly, if you have not read the book E-Myth by Michael Gerber, you should. I have based my company on his teachings. His entire concept is to create the McDonalds of whatever your industry. What does he mean by that?
He actually means a couple of things which I'll explain briefly.
1. Do not be the Technician - If your goal is to run a business, then you need to be able to work outside the business. You need to be able to make sure the business runs without you. Unfortunately most small business owners are not only the technician, but they are the marketing manager, the accountant, the sales manager and in many cases the sales person. This is the reason that most businesses fail. It's impossible to be excellent at all of those tasks. By working outside the business, you need to concentrate on building the business. At first this may be difficult because of lack of funds, but this must be your goal if you ever want to bring your business to the next level. After all, if you are in business, your goal should be to work less and earn more. If you are doing everything you can't do anything.
2. Build written Systems - Every successful business has written systems. The purpose of written systems is the abiliity to plug anyone into any position and within a very short time the new person can fit right in.
Two cases. About 9 months ago my office manager quit without notice. Within less than a week, I was able to move someone else into her position without missing a beat. Not only do we have great written systems for all our tasks, we also cross train our admin staff to be sure we can cover any unseen events.
The other case is with my Agents. Since our systems are so strong. All my Agents have to do is follow what we have written down and they will be up and running within a day or two of training. The beauty of written systems is the ability to duplicate. We are part of another office that I have trained and implemented my systems. They too are finding success just as we are in this market. It's all about the systems.
In the end, your goal of owing a business should be able to create an income without killing yourself and managing to have fun. I tested how well my systems were last year by taking off most of the month of December and the first week of January. When I came back to work, it was still there and everyone was still working. What a concepts! Next summer I plan on visiting every baseball park in the country with my oldest son for two months. Without systems, I would be like most people, working to just pay the bills. Instead I teach my Agents to be successful and my only goal in business is to help them reach their potential. Once they do that, they will never leave and I won't have to work as hard as I have the past few years building all my systems. Read E-Myth. It's a must!
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