A recent report by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) shows that over 99 percent of the country's employers are small businesses. If you are the owner of a small business, do you find yourself working IN your business or ON your business? If you are working in your business, read on to learn how having the right systems in place could help you make the transition to working on your business.

Working IN Your Business Versus ON Your Business. Working in your business simply means that you are involved in the making of routine, daily decisions. After all, who else is going to make them? The word vacation is probably not even a word in your vocabulary because your business would suffer too greatly in your absence.

Working on your business is another way to say building your business. To think about it another way, consider the president of a large, multi-million dollar corporation. He or she has probably never thought once about making their own coffee, answering the phone in the reception area or processing the outgoing mail. There are, of course, people in place to handle these activities, but more importantly, there are processes established to make sure each activity is done the same way each and every time, no matter who does the job. This way, the more mundane facets of the business continue to deliver consistent results without the input of the president and his or her efforts can be concentrated on building the business.

Systems. Systems. Systems. So, you are tired of the daily grind and ready to try something new.
Think about systems. No, we are not referring to your computer systems. Systems, in this instance, are synonymous with your business processes. Implementing systems is essential. Instead of depending on random acts – or worse yet luck – to make things happen, systems build a framework that turns random acts into highly defined actions. The documentation of step-by-step instructions allows you, the business owner, to leave the business without the worry that your employees can’t mind the company wheel. With good systems in place, your business should become almost like a turnkey operation so that you can spend your time and energy working on the business itself.

To get started with the process, act as if you're going to replicate your business multiple times, having each location perform in the exact same way, regardless of the composition of the staff at each particular location. Your charge is to build a prototype for each functional area that will produce consistent, predictable results. If this task sounds daunting, there is help!

The E-Myth Academy. Michael Gerber, best selling author and founder of The E-Myth Academy, has dedicated the majority of his career to the E-Myth or the myth of the entrepreneur. The myth is that people who run businesses know how to do the work of an entrepreneur. In reality, understanding the technical aspect of a business is completely different from understanding how to build the business itself.

The E-Myth Mastery Program is a business development system that produces two life-changing results. It produces businesses that work and business owners who are free to live the lives they want. The program focuses on seven areas or what Mr. Gerber calls the seven centers of management attention. These include leadership, marketing, money, management, client fulfillment, lead conversion and lead generation. The program also provides information on the business development process for those who need direction after implementing systems in each area of their business.

Mr. Gerber often uses an overly simplistic and amusing analogy about making coffee to demonstrate how a system can be implemented in a given business. In a nutshell, his coffee making action plan details each critical step required to make coffee as well as accountability and due dates/times. He even covers standards to be adhered to at all times, including ways to differentiate the regular from the decaf and cleanliness issues. If a good cup of coffee is important to you, this process leaves no room for error!

Think about this famous quote by Benjamin Franklin, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” If working in your business is driving you to the brink of insanity, consider breaking free from those binding business chains through systems implementation. Let your business work for you – not because of you. Besides that, your travel agent is waiting to book that long overdue vacation.

Give us a call today. We’ll use our knowledge of performance management to unleash the processes and systems that are sure to unlock your business shackles. We’ve helped successful entrepreneurs increase cash flow, improve productivity and enhance their business lives in as little as two months. We can do the same for you!