Are Your Systems Outdated?

Systems are an on-going process for a business, so much in fact that you may get frustrated at times thinking you’ll never be “done.” The great news is that as you grow, systems can be built into the DNA of your business so the job doesn’t land squarely on your shoulders.

While systems will need to change, it’s a common problem for entrepreneurs to think “good is good enough” and stop making updates as the business grows, which renders their existing systems ineffective.

At She’s Got Systems we trust that our clients will return and work on the systems they need most when they’re ready, and we love it when a client comes back to work with us when their business grows to the next level.

Sometimes there’s a little reluctance though because we tend to think “I just did that work!”

I relate systems to how we teach children new tasks. When a child is first learning a task it’s helpful to stand nearby and give lots of support. Over time they can do the work independently but once they learn one skill, it doesn’t mean they stop growing or you stop teaching. The child can learn new skills, tasks and responsibilities as they grow, and often that requires more training and support.

It could be time to implement new systems your business wasn’t mature enough to handle 6 months ago. It might be time to update systems when new team members are hired and new technology adopted.

How do you know your systems are outdated?

The first indicator is that you’ve stopped using the systems that once worked great, because they’re just not working now, and you don’t have the time to make sweeping changes. The second indicator that systems are outdated is that your team ignores them in favor of their own process.

In business if a system isn’t working as well as you want, then it’s appropriate to make changes sooner rather than later.

Small changes, over time, add up as described in this quote from Dan Kennedy:

“Big breakthroughs are enviable and exciting – and rare and elusive. But finding lots and lots and lots and lots of little screws, each just a tiny bit loose, to tighten – that can be done in just about any business, at just about any time. The net result may be the same as the big breakthrough. If there are 100 screws to tighten, each worth only $1 a day, that’s $36,500.00…. The big breakthrough is elusive and may never be found. But this process can be begun successfully, immediately, this day.”

Making little changes and tweaks to a system over time can prevent them from becoming stagnant and outdated – if your systems are already out of date, then it’s time for a systems update.