At the beginning of the school year, I needed purchase supplies for my first grader. Fortunately the PTO at our school had a supply sale, so I didn't have to go hunting all over town for the correct item. So off I went to purchase my supplies to find that the PTO had even prepackaged the supplies in a bag for me so all I had to do was pick up the bag and pay for it. I was in heaven! "What a great system," I was thinking. However, I realized that the supplies must have weighed 10 pounds, and my daughter had to schlep them back to the school in her backpack. She was taking them right back to where I went to purchase them in the first place! Why couldn't I have just sent in my check for the bag that was already prepared? Why did I have to take my time to drive to the school, wait in line to pay, drive home, load them on the back of my first grader and have her take them right back to the school where I had just purchased them? That seemed pretty inefficient to me. The system was great up to a point, and then it broke.

I've experienced similar problems in my own business, and you may have as well. Ever wonder why you seem to get to a certain point in the sales process, and then you can't seem to close the sale? Perhaps your process needs a tune up. How about why a certain program or offering used to sell well and now it doesn't? Perhaps your system doesn't work well anymore. Or perhaps you haven't even stopped to think that you have a system to start with!

I have developed many systems over the years, and most of them came about out of my own frustration or the need to take care of someone or something. Here are three things I do when creating a system that you may be able to apply to your own business:

Document the Process. I use post-it notes to brainstorm all the steps in a process. Once I get them all out, I organize them by the order in which they need to take place and whose job it is to do it. It helps me and my team stay on top of projects.

Simplify. As a busy mom and entrepreneur, I'm always looking for ways to simplify. I look for steps that can be eliminated, automated or delegated to someone else and implement those immediately!

Communicate. I make sure that everyone involved knows the entire process. They may not be in charge of every step, but since the process is already documented, I share it with my team so anyone can step in and take over in someone else's absence.

Even if you're a one-person show, it's still important to do these things because you will have a team soon enough. Michael Gerber, the master of business systems and best-selling author of The E-Myth Revisited, says that "the system is the solution." Once you have systems in place, you'll be able to see what you can start to outsource first and where you need to find more resources so you can focus on growing your business. As a leader, managing and growing you business is Job #1. Starting with good systems a key way to do just that!

Copyright (c) 2009 Meredith Liepelt