What Are Business Systems?

Let me guess…feeling a little overwhelmed again? Maybe even on the edge of a burnout cycle? 

No need for embarrassment here. I have been right there with you. I still remember my last year in the classroom trying to juggle all the plates, balls, and paperwork thrown at me. Expanding my business to make it more passive felt like a goal I would never reach (despite how many gurus on Instagram told me how easy it was). 

I had too much on my plate and not enough energy to complete the task. Just adding one more thing left me in an overwhelm spiral. Even after I left the classroom, balancing all of my responsibilities from tutoring clients to adjuncting at university to creating products, my business took a backseat. 

Until…I found business systems that is. They changed my entire business. So let me tell you how business systems saved my time, my sanity, and my business.

What are Business Systems?

Business systems in their simplest form are any routine that makes your time more efficient. We use business systems all the time when we work from one thing to the next. We find the patterns and complete the routines over and over again, making us faster as we go.

But what about making those business systems so efficient that you could just hand them off to someone else? That’s the goal right? You work less and hire people to complete the minutiae that is behind-the-scenes business tasks. 

The first step is to break down the different systems that you have and then you can start to focus on one system at a time and make them work for you instead of against you.

Then, we can add all those systems together to make one big Transformer system that can tackle anything and bring your workweek down to under 10 hours. 

Why Have Business Systems?

We have these systems to make being an entrepreneur a little easier and less stressful. The alternative is to keep grinding and hustling so that you are barely making minimum wage (or less) for your efforts. Your time is valuable, so let’s start making sure it shows in your bank account too.

With business systems, you can delegate more easily, move into a more managerial role, and focus on the tasks that are most important to you (like new ideas and business growth). We don’t have the capacity to do Everything all at once. 

We have limitations. I’m sorry if I am the first person to tell you, but no matter how many people have called you superwoman, you are allowed to be exhausted and not be able to finish all the tasks on your calendar.

So let’s get rid of the grind and hustle, and make our business work for us. How many CEOs do you know that work 24/7 to get it done? I know most of the ones I see are out on a yacht somewhere spending the money instead of doing all the work anymore. Let’s get you on that yacht (or wherever you’d like to be).

Imagine your ideal workweek: 

• How many hours are spent on your business?
• How many hours with your family?
• How many hours on household or other errands?
• How many hours just relaxing?
• How many hours for you?

I am hoping that your business is the least of those hours. It is possible, but it takes some time and effort to get there. In the next section, I will tell you all the different systems I use in my business to make things run smoothly. 

I want you to start with ONE. Taking on all of them will be just as overwhelming as we talked about in the beginning. Get one going really well, then add another. In a year, you’ll have all of them set up and taking over on their own. 

Business System You Can Have as a Online Business Owner

• Products and Services
• How do you create and deliver your products and services? This may include templates, thumbnails, or even photography.
• General Organization/Storage
• Use general storing strategies to organize your images, documents, and plans in one place to make finding information easy and quick. 
• Here is my Digital Organization Storing Guide to help you get started or the Organize the Chaos Workshop (That comes with the Guide) for a full walkthrough.
• Community Building
• How do you reach your community? Is there a process set up for posting and encouraging rapport amongst community members.
• Social Media Management
• What  content schedule do you follow? Do you have a process for repurposing content over multiple platforms? Are there templates to help?
• Here is my article on how to create systems around Instagram.
• Email Marketing
• Are your emails set to go out automatically? What templates or rules do you use for writing new emails? What is your content schedule?
• Research
• SEO, Market Research, Polls: How are you doing research efficiently? Do you have specific days/routines or are you outsourcing?
• Payments/Billing/Sales
• How do you manage your bookkeeping and sales? Take note of the analytics of what is selling and what isn't. Have a structure for how this impacts your decisions.
• Long Form Content
• What is your content schedule?  When do you work on LFC? Do you follow a standard outline? Are all of your links easily accessible?
• Website
• Update your website frequently, but use templates and standard copy to get you started. Make each page look similar and have everything ready.

If you are interested in learning more about each of these systems, the Business Systems Checklist is a great place to start as it lays out what each of these systems entails.

What do Business Systems Do For Your Business?

Convinced yet?

Well I am going to hype on Business Systems a little more because I cannot get enough of how much they have helped my business and my clients grow. If you are already ready to get started, feel free to skip down to the next section.

Business Systems are not just creating better efficiency in your business. Sure, that is an amazing starting point, but it’s not the end all be all. What is efficiency anyway?

We are allowing your business to work on its own or in other people’s hands while you take a seat and watch it bring in the cash.

You get to take your first class trips, bring your family to your house on expense paid trips AND actually spend time with them when they get there. 

Business systems are just the foundations of a working business. Think of the Model T and how creating a streamlined system in manufacturing allowed them to make more cars at lower cost to make more profit. You are being the same type of innovator. 

Take the time to build your systems and gain more time for self-care, stress-management, and creativity for new ideas. Have the capacity and energy to spend with those you love, your clients, and yourself. You deserve that freedom and flexibility.

How to Incorporate Business Systems?

Now how are you going to do this?

The key here is support and know-how. First, gather the knowledge you need (like from this article or the Business Systems Guide!) and the platforms you want to use to organize, and then make sure you have someone to lean on to implement it.

If you need help setting up your first unique system, look no further. I don’t know how many times I have bought a DIY course to create something on my own and it has wasted away on my laptop. My brain just can’t stay that dedicated when I have so many other things going on. I need accountability, body doubling, and a clear action plan for how things relate to me. 

As such, I created the Unique Systems Build and the Custom Template Design Services to offer that support. If you were anything like me when I started, you are far too busy to take on both the learning and executing processes of creating the business systems you want and need in your business. Let me help you jump into the streamlined way of doing things by taking these tasks off your hands and instead focus on reaping the benefits of systems already in place. Enjoy your zone of genius and allow the organizational nerd in me to enjoy building your systems! 

If you are ready to grab work-life balance through system building, don't wait any longer to set things up. Goals without action are merely dreams as they say. You don't have to face the unknown alone alone, I've got your back with the research and experience to make it easy.