WTF are Systems?

Welcome to Episode 1 of our brand new podcast from She’s Got Systems: Every Entrepreneur Needs Systems.

I’m a big believer in systems, but too often we get caught up in the acronyms, tech speak, and jargon that we forget that not everyone knows what we’re talking about.

Today’s podcast is all about systems: what are they, why does “every entrepreneur” need them, and what’s the big deal if I don’t have them?

In the most simple terms, a system is how you do things, anything, in your business or life.

The best part is, you already have systems, but you probably don’t realize it yet.

If you brush your teeth, wash your face, and set your alarm before bed each night: you have a hygiene system.

If you balance your checkbook, add receipts to Quickbooks, and ensure your household bills are accurate: you have a financial tracking system.

And if you write a blog post, add SEO, upload a featured image, and publish that post then: you have a blog system.

All of these things we do automatically after so long, the trouble comes when you try to teach those systems to someone else and realize how much is ingrained.

Ever try to teach a child how to load the dishwasher or clean a room? How about training your assistant on publishing videos or sending emails?

If a system is “this is how we do things”, then the two most important elements of successful system are: detail and getting it out of your head.

If you’re going to grow as a business, and as a business owner, then eventually you’re going to need to bring on a team to help you execute all those goals and dreams you have.

It’s not enough to say: “go, figure it out!” when you hire someone. Most entrepreneurs will say: “ask me questions if you get stuck” which ensures that you become the information sticking point for every inquiry.

Great systems are written down (or recorded) and have enough detail for someone to follow without asking questions.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: ain’t nobody got time for that!

And it’s true, most entrepreneurs don’t have a free week or month to sit around and write down everything they do, exactly how they do it. Especially in industries where it seems like everything changes constantly.

That’s why I’m here to help you develop your systems every week so you build up little by little.

Think of it like savings – when you become an adult, no one expects you to have enough in the bank for retirement, you’re just starting out! Instead you add to those accounts little by little and systems – just like money you invest – can compound and build faster the more you do.

Have you heard of the Fibionacci sequence or the Golden Ratio? It’s a sequence that goes 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21 and the next number in the sequence is found by adding the previous two together. By compounding on the numbers in the sequence, you can reach 1.5 million in only 36 digits.

Systems are just like that – 1 + 1 does not equal 2, 1 + 1 = 5.

The more you build systems, the easier your business will run.

When we think about the impact of not having systems in place, there are two levels: the first is that without business systems, you cannot get sick, take a vacation, go on a sabbatical, retire or sell your business without a lot of stress. Even if you have a team, if there are no systems to follow, you have no guarantee that anything will get done the way you want and the impact can be annoying (a client doesn’t get charged on time) to disastrous (website domains lapse and you lose your website entirely).

The second impact is on the individual pieces of your business. Going back to our examples:

If you don’t regularly brush your teeth, wash your face, and set your alarm before bed each night: you probably have bad hygiene and wake up late all the time.

If you don’t balance your checkbook, add receipts to Quickbooks and ensure your household bills are accurate: you may overpay bills, miss invoices, regularly overdraw your bank account.

And if you don’t have a system to write a blog post, add SEO, upload a featured image and publish that post then: your website probably doesn’t attract a lot of clients or leads making it a waste of time and effort.

Every system we talk about has a positive impact for creating the system and a negative impact when it’s ignored.

Join me every Monday to learn about the systems your business needs most, how to build them and make them run “automagically.” I’m Kelly Azevedo, founder of She’s Got Systems and author of Every Entrepreneur Needs Systems.