15 Steps to Systemise Your Entire Business

In this blog post I am going to share with you 15 steps on how to systemise your entire business, whether it is an online business or an offline business. This blog post is going to share with you exactly what you need to do every step of the way to systemise your entire operations, while you as the business owner, are fully in control. 

By the end of this blog post, you are going to know exactly the road ahead; you are going to know exactly what actions you need to take to ultimately systemise your business.

Why is it important to build?

Ultimately, it is all about the size of your business - it is all about your ambitions within your business. So that you can look up at the monster of a business you have created; this incredible streamlined, efficient machine which you have created. You can enjoy it, and you can enjoy knowing that your business is systemised, and everyone knows exactly what they are doing, because you have followed these principles. So, this is ultimately what it comes down to, and that is the first principle which I wanted to quickly share with you here. You are not your business. This big building which you are creating, you are just starting out and you're just laying your first brick, or you are building your business to the point where you have as many zeros as you want to put onto it. Do you want to have a million-pound business? Do you want to go beyond? Ultimately, the bigger this becomes, the more control you need to have, everybody needs to know what they are doing. 

So, let's start. The first principle which I am going to share with you is - you and your business, you have got to see it as not connected - you are not your business. It is a very key principle. 

So, what are the steps?

Systems Mindset

The first step you are going to need to take when you're on your journey is systems mindset. Ultimately you as the business owner, your business is going to be a reflection of you. If you're not in this to systemise your operations, the reality is, you are reading this blog post, so I know that you're into systems, and that you're into creating a business through systems. 

If you think about it, someone who's not, someone who has no interest in the systems, they won't have a mindset of systems, so they won't even go through this process. That's why you have to start here. I think that we can all agree that your psychology and your mindset plays a big part in the operation of your business.

How do you think in systems? What is the benefit of thinking in systems? What is the benefit of building in systems? You're going to go through all of this.

Business Objective

You need to develop a business objective, whatever your business is doing - it doesn't matter if it is an online business or a physical business, you need to have an objective. Everybody who works in your business, everyone in your team that you are going to create, this big building that you are going to create, going to have lots of staff, everybody is going to need to know what this objective is. Because everything starts there. There is no point in building, once you have got the systems mindset, then you decide what your business is, this is the only thing which you are going to be able to build upon.

Business Principles 

The cardinal rules, the core values of your business, you have got to set that up in stone - you have got to create this, which points towards achieving your objective. This is so important. Everyone in your business needs to know what your principles are, because this is going to help you in terms of hiring, in terms of training, and in terms of the superstars in your business.

Business System Stages

That one business which you are building, you are going to need to split it up into stages - you must have the vision and be a visionary - being able to see something in it's components. When thinking of a car, think of how many components and systems that car has which allows it to do what it does. So, you have to do the same in your business. Ultimately, all this is going to allow you to see every stage operations, and systemise accordingly. 

One thing Kev was really good at was seeing his Amazon business into different sages. You have got sourcing, reviewing, purchasing, Amazon seller central, you have got the admin side of your operations, you go really split things up. 

Business Organisational Chart

When you have got the system stages, you're going to need to come up with some type of organisational chart, a traditional chart of which roles and objectives of what goes where. This is really important, because even though you may not know this yet, you have got to think and plan who is working operationally, who is in your management, who are the technicians - this may be all you currently, but you have got to think about this, you have got to really have this in your mind and think, when you get to a hundred-million pounds, or thousand pounds, whatever it may be, you have got to see who you have got in place for this. 

Staff Principle Statements 

This is sort of the HR of your operations. This is ultimately going to allow you as the business owner, to tell your staff, your virtual assistants, exactly what is involved in their role. There is so much involved in terms of staff - pensions, holidays, disciplinary, and so much more.

Business Working Procedures 

This is what is managing your business. Ultimately, you must have a standard of how you want tasks to be completed. This is the reason why the likes of Costa Coffee, Starbucks, McDonalds, Burger King, Apple and Amazon work to procedures - they have systemised their entire operations. If you have got this in place, you have got a very solid foundation, because then you start to go into the operations management.

Staff Roles and Objectives

Staff Appraisals 

Then you have got staff appraisals. It is so important to have staff appraisals and roles and objectives. You have got all these staff in your business organisational chart, and then everyone knows what roles they have, what objectives they have, and that builds upon the staff appraisals. That's why it is so important to have it that way around. Once you have your staff roles and objectives out and you have given them to everyone, you can then do an appraisal. One of the keys is knowing where they are going - knowing where they fit into the operation. If you have got managers, technicians and staff on the ground, then you are getting operations done. It is so important for every single person in your business to know where they fit into everything. You cannot underestimate this, because this is going to make a difference.

When you are working remotely, and you are sitting there at your computer, and you are ultimately talking about your business with your team, you are going to have to be in control of things.

Monthly Reports

In your business, you have to come up with KPIs. You have to come up with KPIs which ultimately allow you to see how your business is currently doing. These are key performance indicators, these are numbers in your operations, throughout all your system stages, which split up into the monthly report, which allows you to see everything.

Weekly Updates

The staff appraisals link into the monthly reports, that allow you to assign different roles and objectives each month, for each member of your staff.

New System Proposals 

When you have a new system in your operations, you don't just get on with it - you don't just change things. People in your business don't just come in and start changing things. You are going to go through a new system proposal. If something happens in your business, whether it is good or bad, it is all you. 

Incident Investigation 

So, you are going to go into the investigation into the incident which has occurred. 

Communication Method

You are going to need to have some systems for communication. Personally for Kev's business, we use a communication platform called Slack.

Task Management

This is ultimately the 15 steps which you have got to take to introduce into your operations, to systemise the business. This is actually what Kev has done practically in his operations, to allow him to get to where he is now. Kev goes through these steps.

Further reading:

Why A Prep Service May Be the Perfect Solution For Your Amazon Business

How to Find the Right Warehouse

Want Your Own Amazon FBA Business Warehouse? (This COULD Be The Strategy For You)