I know that's a bold thing to say, but the truth is — if you don't have good systems set up in your business, you're wasting time. And in business, time is money.
Don't be scared away by the words systems, workflows, standard operating procedures, or automation. No they aren't as sexy as your vanity metrics. No one can glance at your Instagram account and see how efficient your systems are like they can see your follower count.
But the back-end structure of your business is a much stronger predictor of success than your follower count. Trust me.
After working behind the scenes with clients in a bunch of different industries of online business, I've seen some businesses that were structured for success and some that I am surprised are still in business.
It's not impossible to run a business without systems, it's just not efficient.
When you’re ready to scale your business or grow a team, the lack of systems will become glaringly obvious — and will ultimately be a roadblock that slows down your progress. I want to help you get your business set up for success so you are ready to grow when it's time.
When I've worked with clients to streamline or revamp their systems, we dive into 7 core areas of business. This post will take you through some of the questions I ask clients so I can get an idea of what systems they have in place, how well they're working and what we need to tweak/overhaul.
One thing to keep in mind: Don't get overwhelmed if you feel like there are a lot of areas you need to work on after going through the audit. Focus on the area that seems the most critical or will have the biggest impact and then move on to the next logical choice.
First grab a notebook and pen (or click here to get the PDF & Notion versions of the audit in your inbox).
Rate your business from 1-10 in each area based on how confident you feel in the systems and processes you already have in place.
How well do you manage your time both in your personal life and business?
How well is your system for managing leads & clients working for you?
How organized are your digital files? Do you regularly reach inbox zero?
How well do you manage projects either for clients or yourself?
How organized and automated are your current marketing processes?
How well are you managing your business finances and tax information?
How well do your team members collaborate and communicate?
CORE BUSINESS AREA 1 - TIME MANAGEMENT
Do you make use of any time management methods such a time-blocking, the Pomodoro technique or batching tasks?
Do you currently use any tools to keep track of your time or to keep you on task? (i.e. virtual calendars, paper planner, project management software)
Do you have set business hours that you stick to?
Do you plan ahead so you can sit down & get right to work instead of waiting until you're at your desk to decide what to do?
How do you keep track of appointments? Do you have a process or tool for scheduling client calls or meetings?
Action Plan
What changes need to be made? What are the steps you'll take to implement the changes? When will you put it into action?
CORE BUSINESS AREA 2 - LEAD/CLIENT MANAGEMENT
Do you have a client onboarding process that you follow for each client? Do you know all the steps a lead needs to take before they become your client?
If you have an existing process, map it out on your paper. If not, jot down the steps you’re doing manually to move people from first contact to paying client.
Are you currently using any tools to complete your client processes? Are any of the steps automated?
How much time would you estimate you’re spending moving leads through the onboarding process?
If you work with clients one-on-one, do you send a proposal or contract to your clients? Is the process automated?
How do they approve or sign it the contract? How do you request money/get paid?
What information do you need from leads to move them through the inquiry process? How do you currently request this information?
What information do you need from clients to move them through the onboarding process? How do you currently request this information?
What emails or information do you need to send to new leads? How do you currently send them this information?
How do you track people who have inquired about your services? Do you follow up with them if they don't hire you?
What do you do once a client project ends? Do you ask for feedback, testimonials or referrals? How do you make these requests?
Do you follow up with past clients on any kind of schedule? How do you keep track of the follow up needed? How do you handle the follow up?
Action Plan
What changes need to be made? What are the steps you'll take to implement the changes? When will you put it into action?
CORE BUSINESS AREA 3 - INBOX/FILE MANAGEMENT
Do you get to inbox zero every day? Every week? If you’re not someone who needs inbox zero, do you sort through your messages and take action on the one that need it daily? Weekly?
How much time do you spend in your inbox each day?
What is your system for organizing or filtering your emails? What is your system for making sure you take action on emails that need it? Do all your emails come into your main inbox to be sorted/handled?
How do you store emails that you may need to reference later, but don't need any action now?
How do you know when an email has been addressed or the action needed has been completed?
Do you have a file organization system?
How much time do you spend looking for files when you need something?
What file storage do you use - Dropbox/Google Drive/computer hard drive? Do you use folders to categorize files or is your Dropbox/Google Drive a massive list of files? What is your system for naming files and folders?
If someone on your team needed to find a specific file in your file storage would they know where to look? Would your system make sense?
Action Plan
What changes need to be made? What are the steps you'll take to implement the changes? When will you put it into action?
CORE BUSINESS AREA 4 - PROJECT/TASK MANAGEMENT
How do you plan upcoming projects? Do you break them down into monthly/weekly/daily goals or tasks? Do you use a specific tool? Is it working well for you? When was the last time you missed a deadline?
How do you track your progress on your projects? How do you ensure you're moving your projects forward on a daily/weekly basis? What happens when you complete a project?
How do you communicate or collaborate with clients or team members on your projects? How do you assign/track tasks your clients or team members are responsible for?
Do you have step-by-step workflows, project templates or Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in place?
Action Plan
What changes need to be made? What are the steps you'll take to implement the changes? When will you put it into action?
CORE BUSINESS AREA 5 - MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Do you know who your ideal client is and how to reach them/where they hang out online? Have you completed an ideal client avatar and competitor analysis?
Do you know the 3-5 topics your ideal client is interested in or problems they want to solve that you can help with or have expertise in?
Do you have a content plan that includes the topics your ideal client is interested in? Do you have a process for planning your content?
How far ahead do you plan your blog + social media content?
Do you batch create or batch schedule content? Do you use a scheduling tool?
Do you have a step-by-step workflow or standard operating procedure in place for creating blog posts/social content/videos, etc?
Do you have freebies/lead magnets/content upgrades that relate to your 3-5 topics? Do you have an automated funnel in place?
Do you have a written process in place for responding to comments/DMs or engaging with other people's content? Could someone else complete these tasks with little or no intervention from you?
Do you have several hashtag lists that relate to your content topics? Are they easily accessible? Do you have branded social and blog templates that can be easily updated?
Action Plan
What changes need to be made? What are the steps you'll take to implement the changes? When will you put it into action?
CORE BUSINESS AREA 6 - MONEY MANAGEMENT
Do you have separate checking/savings accounts for your business?
Do you use an accounting software or tool? Do you have an accountant or bookkeeper?
How do you track your business expenses and income? How do you provide access to your financial info to your accountant/bookkeeper?
Do you know how much profit your business made last month? Last year?
Do you save money for taxes on a monthly basis? Do you pay quarterly taxes?
When you do you calculate the correct amount to save for taxes? Where do you keep that money?
Do you create monthly profit & loss statements?
Where do you store the P&L statements? Who has access?
How do you share financial documents with people who need them?
How do you plan for larger business expenses?
Action Plan
What changes need to be made? What are the steps you'll take to implement the changes? When will you put it into action?
CORE BUSINESS AREA 7 - TEAM MANAGEMENT
How do you assign tasks to your team? Do you get status reports from
team members?
Do you hold team meetings? How often? How are they scheduled?
How do you communicate with your team?
How do you handle timekeeping?
How do you onboard new team members?
Do your team members sign a contact and/or NDA?
Do you have Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) or documented workflows with videos to train new team members on how to do their job?
Do you have a central place to store your team training? Do you have a schedule for how they should work through the training material?
Do you have a process for handling team members who aren't meeting expectations?
If you have to let them go, how do you remove access to tools? Do you change passwords? How do you protect your content?
How do you pay your team members? Is it automated? Do you have a regular review process? Merit increases? How do you share W2 or 1099 forms with your team members?
Action Plan
What changes need to be made? What are the steps you'll take to implement the changes? When will you put it into action?
WHEW! If you made it this far, you are a total rockstar 🎉
I recommend taking a few minutes to compile a list of all your action steps — better yet, add them to your task manager, schedule them and make it a priority to keep making progress on the list.
If you get stuck while you’re creating or updating your systems, I’m happy to chat with you about how I can help.
You’ve got this 🥂
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