Ever feel like you’re running up a never-ending hill?  Like there’s just one thing after another with no end in sight?

You’re not alone!

Here’s why.

When we’re just starting out and laying the foundation of our businesses by assisting our first clients, we’re busy, but there is a time and place for everything we do.

But then things start to pick up—we receive more inquiries for information, we bring in more and more clients, our range of offerings grows, and our audience increases.

Now, every area of our business begins to demand more time and energy.   In order to keep up, we have to scale our efforts.

And that’s our make-it-or-break-it moment.

The problem is that we can’t scale our businesses if we’ve never formalized our procedures.

 Our half-formed systems start breaking down if we haven’t.

Things start snowballing and, after reaching the tipping point, get completely out of control.  That’s when we feel overwhelmed, burned out, and eternally tired.

The good news?

You don’t have to let yourself get to that point.

You can prevent this situation. . .right now!

It’s easier than you think.

Take a look at the following systems and figure out which ones need your attention.

Want to survive and thrive?

Systematize these areas!

 

 1.     Your Tasks

Time is a resource that we never have enough of, but there’s no need to be obsessed with time management.  After all, how can you manage something over which you don’t have control?  Instead, I want you to manage your actions—one action at a time.

When it comes to tools, Google Calendar is by far the best and most convenient calendar there is.  But whatever calendar you choose, make sure that you can easily sync it with the devices and software (e.g. online scheduling) you are using.

For task management, experiment with Google Calendar tasks, Wunderlist or WorkFlowy.   They will help you organize your to-do items in an easy to track way.

 2.     Your Inbox

For many of us handling our Inboxes feels like battling the Goliath—impossible to win.  Just when you think your Inbox is under control and you can let it out of your sight for a while, it greets you with a tidal wave of black subject lines crashing against the screen.  And so Inbox Zero—an inbox with no messages—remains an illusion.

Stop setting yourself up for failure by fantasizing about Inbox Zero!  Instead of Inbox Zero, strive for Inbox Processed, where you’ve taken the appropriate action on every single message.  In addition to that, be intentional about how much time you spend on e-mail.  That means recognizing when it’s time to redirect your attention to various areas of your business, or life.

For faster and more efficient e-mail processing consider installing Boomerang.  You’ll receive reminders for the e-mails that don’t need to be answered right away and it’ll help you schedule e-mails to go out at the right time.  Over time, it will train your audience to send you e-mails on certain days and times and give them a clear sense of when they’ll hear back from you. 

3.  Your Information

Are you wasting time looking for the same information over and over again?

You know what I mean.

You’re constantly searching for login details for programs you’ve bought, passwords for software, tools to reference, your past content or ideas for the new one, etc. 

Put an end to this chaotic hullabaloo by committing to creating a single hub where you store all this key information.  In it, you can include spreadsheets for your passwords and tools, social media idea bank, lists of ideas for future blog posts and testimonials from your happy clients, checklists for how things are run in your business and instructions for your team members.

Google Drive, Dropbox, and Evernote are great online tools to use when creating this system.

 4.  Your Relationships

You’re in the business of building relationships.  .  . no matter what field you’re in.

Mastering this skill will propel the success of your business.

Organizing your contacts and keeping on top of interactions with them is imperative for building a maximally successful business.

A client relationship management system or “CRM” will help you with your communication strategy.

My personal CRM favorites are CapsuleCRM and Contactually.  They are a perfect solution for coaches, web designers, editors, photographers and many other types of small business owners and freelancers.

5. Client Intake & Management

Clients are the lifeline of every business, so client intake & management systems absolutely integral.

Creating a superior experience for your clients can be ensured by one single thing—structure.

Clients love it and don’t mind getting told what to do.  They hire you for your expertise, so they need directions.

Taking your clients through a series of steps that get them the outcome they hired you to produce builds their confidence in you and conveys your expertise.

The clearer you are about your own procedures, the better you will get at servicing clients (and the more of them!) without adding much to your workload.

6. Your Communication

Even if you are a solopreneur, you are not (and SHOULDN’T be) running your business by yourself.  You might not be ready for a team of permanent employees, but outsourcing low leverage tasks is a must.

What will make the transition to collaborating with others easier is a communication hub, which will enable you to have all information about your projects in one easily accessible place and have a clear record of what each one of the parties has or hasn’t accomplished.

Online project management software is perfect for that.  Most software programs come with great calendars that allow you to see where you are with the milestones of each project.

Many of them also easily integrate with tools like Google Drive and Dropbox, which allows for easy flow of information, which is very important when you want to distribute supporting information about the project or instructions for your team members.

Overnight perfection isn’t necessary!

Set aside 15-30 minutes a week to inspect the holes in your business systems and take or schedule actions to fix them.

I promise that streamlining your systems will make running your business a totally new experience.

Looking for support?  Could use some accountability?  Check out Systematic Success.  The doors will be opening again soon!

Back To You

What single action will you take this week to streamline your business operations?