Why not systemising your business is costing you money!

The majority of small business owners don’t systemise because it feels like administration, boring, time-wasting, and can be put off to a later date. It is on the to-do-list with a lot of other things but it will never make it to the top. It is assumed that when there’s a quite period things will be sorted. But it never happens.

Most businesses become more and more hectic – and more complicated and difficult to control. And what business owners fail to notice is that the absence of systems is not neutral- it is silently costing you.

Why it doesn’t seem like a problem initially

Lack of systems can even become a strength in the initial phases of a business. You are versatile, attentive and can make decisions fast. You make it up as you go along. You work it out. It can work because at that stage you can hold everything in your head.

However, as the company expands, the initial sense of freedom begins to rub against the wrong. The strategy which assisted you in getting going starts to drag you back. The cracks do not show up overnight- they manifest slowly, and in many cases in a manner that can be easily ignored or attributed to some other factor.

The cracks begin to appear

You start to see time running out on activities that you have carried out a number of times. The things which are supposed to be simple take more time than it is supposed to be since there is no one clear and consistent way of doing things.

People who have a group will begin to do the same task differently. Not that they are careless, but they have no specified norm. However, over time, quality is not maintained and you are more likely to check, correct or do work again.

Without realising it, you become the centre of everything. Decisions, approvals, problem solving–all that comes round to you. You no longer are running the business but you are gluing it.

The unseen expense to your company

The point is that all this does not reflect in your reports. There is no clear line that indicates lost profit as a result of absence of systems. But the impact is there.

It manifests itself in late delivery where things take longer than expected. It is visible in lower bottom lines, where it is inefficiencies consuming your time and resources. You miss opportunities due to being too busy with what you are doing at the moment to take a step back and look at what you can do.

And, perhaps, most instructively, the business becomes harder than it ought to be. It takes more effort to get the same results, and growth begins to feel cumbersome and not thrilling.

Systemising isn’t a question of administration, but of profit

The myth about systemising is that it is about being organised or efficient but it’s much deeper than that. It has to do with safeguarding your profit and bringing sanity in the manner your business is being conducted.

All non-categorical repeatable tasks are based on memory, guesswork, or habit and this is where inconsistency sneaks in. Minor differences in the way things are done may not be a big deal but in the long run they accumulate into quality, client experience, and eventually what you are able to charge.

Your brand is not only about the appearance of things, but how faithfully you perform it. And without systems it is nearly impossible to be consistent.

Why postponing makes it difficult

The longer systemising is postponed the more complicated it is made. What would have been constructed over time and with a purpose turns out to have to be retrofitted into what is already a busy and strained business.

You are struggling to unweave habits, to put order into inconsistencies, to give structure to something that has evolved without it, instead of designing straightforward, simple methods of working at the first stage. It is not impossible–but much more difficult.

Successful businesses make the shift

Businesses that grow tend to reach the same realisation: how things are done matters just as much as getting them done.

They stop depending on memory, regular checkups and fixes at the last minute. Instead they develop mechanisms of operation that enable the business to operate more efficiently, with reduced reliance on an individual.

It is not a question of taking away the flexibility, but a question of establishing a base that facilitates it.

A silent yet steady expense

When you are still in the business of having to remember, chase, check and correct, then the cost is already there. It might not be apparent, but it is paid in time, effort, lost chances, and loss of profit.

Systemising is not something which should be done after other things are completed. It is what makes the rest of it to work better.

The faster it is solved, the less difficult it becomes to create a business that is lightening, more predictable, and much more sustainable.