Systematic Business Wins the Day
Building and running a business is fun, but it takes a lot of work. In today’s blog post, I want to focus on the building of systems to ensure success in your business.
Is there value in a business that runs itself?
The answer to this question is a resounding yes, especially if you are the owner. I have spent the better part of my working life trying to find and develop businesses that will run themselves. My work at Go Local Interactive is as close as I have come to accomplishing the goal. There were times in my entrepreneurial career where ideas like lawn mowing were good, but they required me to be pushing a mower. Fast forward to today and I am still pushing the mower, but it is easier to move since it looks more like a keyboard, mouse, and telephone.
I was listening to Scott Adams’ book titled “How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big“. Scott writes about the need for a systematic approach to business in order to find success. The timing was interesting because it has been a thought exercise of mine quite a bit lately. It was always a focus, but the focus has renewed and intensified lately. Having Scott mention it in his book just drove the point home further for me, and should for you too.
What does a system driven business look like?
Are you the business? Does the business run without you? A medical or dental practice requires the professional to be present. A lawn mowing service requires you to get behind the mower. Landscaping requires you to grab a shovel, move some dirt, and spread some mulch. Even if you argue that owning those businesses means you don’t have to labor, I would argue that you do. Someone has to give direction, set the agenda, provide estimates, run the crews, send out the invoices, collect money, or any other number of activities. It is possible to systematize these tasks, but it takes work and most pass on undertaking the effort.
Can the business be the system?
My business partner this morning was talking about his time as a collegiate football player with the Louisville Cardinals. He played for Coach Howard Schnellenberger and commented on the coach’s system. The story goes that the coach had developed a system as a head coach, then refined it during his run to a national championship in 1983. It was that system that worked well and one he utilized to recreate success in subsequent years in a number of different programs. That is what we are talking about with the development of a system. Find a system that works, then leverage the system for continued success.
How do you find the system?
I often equate entrepreneurship to drilling for oil. You take an idea and you drill. You look for oil (success). If you find it, you keep drilling around that hole (idea) until you are sure you have found the entirety of the oil field (all possible scenarios are covered). Then you set up your oil rig (systematic business) and you pump the oil.
The same process works in business. Start with the development of a business concept. Float it to the marketplace and see if it works. You are looking for the smallest trace of success. If you find it, see if you can build the success into something more substantial. Is there more success to be had, or did you just happen to find an outlier? If you have true success, then you start to set up the system to run without the requirement of your full attention. That’s the process.
What does this mean for you?
The point of the systematic approach to business is for you to be able to work your business without your business working you. As a father, I preach this same sermon at home. My boys look at business opportunities and consider possible solutions. My counsel is for them to think for the long term. For example, if they build a mowing business, they need to build it to run without them. They will have school events, college, and other life events come up that will make it difficult to meet all the obligations of the business. The best solution is one that requires minimal input from them over time.
The same scenario holds for you. Leverage systems to run your business. Do not shy away from the help of others, the use of process and procedures, and look for profitability with you out of the equation. If a business can sustain itself without you in it, then you have something. If you want to work in it, then go right ahead. That’s your right as the business owner. Just make sure you are not the lifeblood of the business.
