You’ve seen the movie…
As a new business, you create processes on the fly. You find one vendor. Then switch to another. Team members add their own processes because leadership is too busy to address every issue. Before long, you have a collage of processes and systems barely held together by duct tape. You’d love to optimize everything, but you’re just trying to hang on.
You’re essentially building an airplane in the sky.
As you long for the day when you can stop and pull everything together, you realize it won’t happen on its own. Now that things are breaking under the weight of your growth – you embrace that it’s going to be now or never. You’re certain that you’re bleeding cash, but you don’t know where. And don’t even mention the silos built by well-intentioned team members.
Growth is painful. Poor, outdated systems make it even more so. In fact, if you can’t scale your systems, you may kiss your growth goodbye. It’s time to trash your outdated, manual processes.
Here are some basic tips to get you started:
Map out your entire operations process from start to finish. You’ll likely have to do a little digging. This process alone could help you identify some major or minor issues. Is there a bottleneck? Is there a single process that’s rife with errors? Is there a communication breakdown?
Ensure you’re collecting your data. Your data is gold. It can tell you what’s going well and what’s in desperate need of attention. Any data collected through manual processes needs to be integrated
Automate repetitive, time-consuming processes:
Your sales and order processing
Your order scheduling
Your reports
Create an app – a digital tool – to replace the multiple legacy desktop-based systems you’re using. Implement a workflow tool to streamline your communication across departments.
Your results?
- Your data is now working for you. Accountability is built into your new system. Your process is viewable through a single tool. Auto alerts ensure the right people take the right actions.
- Your efficiency is magnified. No more manual processes that cost time and create confusion. Your team can invest their time in higher level activities.
- Your communication is enhanced. No time lag. Everything is in real time and visible to the team.
- Your processes and systems are fully documented – eliminating confusion and the implementation of unapproved activities.
- Your forecasting is far more accurate. No more guesswork.
It’s time to upgrade. It’s time to build your well-oiled machine.
Replacing your outdated systems and technology with tools designed specifically to work for you will benefit your operations and bottom line immediately.
We can help you.
With a simple phone conversation, we can help you determine next steps. Contact us today for your free strategy session.
