• Scalability
• Systems
• Smarts

When it comes to scalability, systems and ‘smarts’, are you confident you’re on track?
If so, I applaud you.  You’re a step ahead of me … just a little step!

If not you’re definitely not alone.  I’ve yet to see any business, no matter the size, that’s perfect in these areas. But, if you focus on them, upskill in them, and give them priority, then the payoff is going to be magic for you.  To help you I’m sharing some resources, articles and tools that we’re using both in-house and with clients.

The technology curve over the last few years has been massive in terms of what’s possible when it comes to automation and using that to compliment (never replace) the personal, human factor.  In our business, I’m focusing on using our systems to work for us in terms of consistency, culture, product development and to start moving away from a time based service.  Because, with systems and automation doing the legwork … we can focus more on results and outputs. 

Before You Can Scale You Need Systems

Without them you will get speed wobbles, your costs will go up, your customer service will suffer and you … well we’ve all encountered overwhelm, and it can be avoided by putting systems in place.

As a general rule, tasks that are repetitive or data-heavy are ideal tasks to systemise. These can include:

• Generating leads
• Onboarding new clients
• Managing sales funnels
• Managing calendars or booking appointments
• Billing customers
• Surveying customers
• Scheduling social media
• Email marketing
• Updating a website

Nearly every aspect of your business can benefit from creating a system to streamline it. Doing this then allows you and your team to focus on the non-repetitive tasks where you can work smarter, in your own particular zones of genius.

Now You’ve Systemised Let’s Look at Automation!

Because it’s automation where I think technology is going to leave us behind if we don’t keep up.  Competition is stiff in today’s world and to stand out from the noise you need to stay on your toes, tippy toes! For most, sales are the primary concern, but fine tuning the efficiency and effectiveness of your business as you grow will only enhance sales, and more importantly… client delight.

Automating your operation saves time and money while presenting you with even more opportunity to expand. To be honest, it’s the only way you’re going to remain relevant. Either you do what it takes to streamline your responsibilities, or you’ll be swept away by the residual impact of your competition’s automation.

Here’s 10 tips to help you improve how you automate:

1. Only implement automation where it makes sense
2. Take existing manual processes and gradually insert tools to improve them 
3. Automate for internal and external engagement
4. Implement automation to handle repetitive tasks
5. Automate small tasks for large impact
6. Create automated connections between various software solutions
7. Audit your processes for potential optimisation
8. Leverage transformational projects to kick off automation 
9. Fully understand the manual process you want to automate
10. Focus on your core and automate everything else 

[SOURCE: FORBES]

How to Scale Your B2B Business

Most of us reach a point where we start thinking about how to scale our B2B business. You’ve become successful at delivering your fantastic and sought-after service to your (appropriately appreciative) clients, but there comes a time when the rewards you get for the time you invest just don’t cut it. That’s when it’s time to think about your scalability options.

Over the past 5 years, we’ve seen a huge shift in our professional service based clients, as they move away from hourly based services to memberships or product-based models. I’m not going to tell porkies, it’s not easy, but seeing the difference scaling has made to these business owners, the benefits in terms of profitability, life-balance and by no means least, being able to help and reach more people, makes the investment one you won’t regret. [read the full article here]

Working Smarter, Not Harder

That was our tagline for years, “helping you to work smarter” and I still love it. Using systems and automation go a long way towards helping you achieve this and being mindful about how you are spending your days (all day, every day) keeps you focused on being smart with your HOW.

It goes without saying you need to eliminate manual, routine tasks from your processes, it goes without saying you need to delegate so you’re spending more of your time in your zone of genius.

But working smarter is also about prioritising yourself. Giving yourself the space to be creative, to think strategically and to be happy. No one wants to work for, or do business with, a stressed, overwhelmed and miserable grump!

So working smarter means not compromising on what you need to do to have that balance. Not compromising on who you chose to work with. Not compromising on time away from your business. As mental health, stress and anxiety become more of a problem and the lines between work and play become more blurred, it’s smart to take care of yourself so you can then take care of your business and those it services. You know the song, don’t worry be happy now!

That’s it, go forth and conquer your corner of the world using the three S’s. Have a blast while you’re doing it and let me know if we can help you get it done.