business systems Archives - Excellerate Associates

Build the Basics Before Scaling Your Business

December 15, 2016 by Lisa Mininni Leave a Comment

think-of-scaling-your-business-in-this-way You heard this advice over and over. Work on your business, not just in your business.

You realize it’s important to keep an eye on the details. After all, the finer details can give your business marketplace distinction.

However, if you don’t focus on key activities that move your business forward in a strategic way, you will stall your big ideas. What’s more, is that any lack of clarity, overwhelm, not having an effective team, and missing business management systems can stall implementation of your ideas for months or years.

Before scaling your business, what is most important is to make sure you have a solid foundation in place. This foundation includes clarity around your ideal client, having solid products and service offerings, effective business processes and systems, and hiring a productive team. Then, and only then, scale your business.

Too many entrepreneurs believe that they can scale their business and need just “one more system” or “additional training”. In fact, they don’t have a solid foundation in place.

Think of scaling your business this way: You would never build a skyscraper on a bed of sand, right? Then, why would you want to scale your business on one?

Build the basic foundation before scaling your business.

Join us for a free Teleseminar: Simple Steps to Successfully Scale Your Business
Thursday, January 19, 2017
12 p.m. – 1 p.m. Eastern Time

Your Wiring and How You Set Up Your Business Systems Are Deeply Connected

September 15, 2016 by Lisa Mininni Leave a Comment

Are interruptions at work maddening? Not only are interruptions maddening but down right unproductive. Some researchers indicate that it takes you over 23 minutes to get back to where you left off.

Depending on your biological wiring, you may get easily distracted because you innately and immediately respond to your environment. For some people, interruptions can decrease your productivity 40% or more.

Your hardwiring is biological and drives you in business. Your hardwiring and how you set up your business systems are deeply connected. When you create and use the systems in alignment with how you naturally execute and respond, you create maximum efficiencies in your work environment.

One of my clients was running from one meeting to the next. After each meeting, she became increasingly frustrated at the new list of tasks added to her already growing list.

It wasn’t long before she was overwhelmed. She is naturally wired to need a lightly structured, but sequential work environment.

The first step in solving her problem was for her to hire an assistant who could follow through on multiple tasks. Most importantly, she hired an assistant who was naturally wired with a high degree of certainty who could follow through on the numerous list of tasks and transactions with a high degree of detail, which the job entailed.

The second step for her was to lock in time for tasks she personally needed to complete. She had a tendency to keep all of her tasks in her head keeping her in overwhelm. Instead, she identified specific timeframes each week for follow up calls and set an appointment on her calendar to follow up. The calendar reminders would prompt her to help her keep on task.

She discovered by placing time in her calendar for her projects, she didn’t have to rely on an already overloaded mental list. In the end, she more than doubled her profits in less than 12 months.

Simple Systems – How to Avoid The Perpetual Time Crunch as Your Business Grows

August 11, 2016 by Lisa Mininni Leave a Comment

business foundation You wouldn’t build a big house without a detailed site plan, so why would you build a business without one?

Unfortunately, many business owners do. Before you decide to grow your business further, check your foundation. I recommend assessing your current operations to identify what could be systematized, delegated, or automated.

Many of my clients want to move quickly on their initiatives to expand but, like any system, if the foundation is broken, you’ll be adding to an unsteady infrastructure. You’ll then waste endless hours trying to fix it as you go along.

The first step is to assess your current systems. In my Profitability Lab: Introduction, we start with assessing the 7 Profitability Systems. My clients are surprised to discover the systems that are missing or half-implemented. This gives them a starting point.

One of the easy systems-thinking approaches I teach and use to avoid the perpetual time crunch is to schedule your monthly meetings on the same date and time each month. This approach creates efficiencies on many levels.

When you use this approach, you don’t waste valuable time scheduling the next meeting. I schedule my Profitability Labs on the same date and time each month. This approach creates efficiencies for my clients, my team, and other support activities.

First, systematizing the Profitability Lab date makes it easy for my clients. They use recurring feature to plug in the dates creating a commitment to work on their business.

Second, this approach assists my team and other support activities that intersect with the Lab meetings. It makes scheduling the conference room a snap. This is especially helpful when you have multiple people using the same room.

You can also systematize the caterer or other support activities. With technology, you can include your caterer on the calendar invitation so if the meeting gets changed or cancelled, they and other support services are notified.

Third, and maybe one of the most important points, you can be more strategic with your time and effort. Since my clients drive in for the Labs, some many miles away, they schedule other business around the date of the Lab. By systematizing their schedule, they maximize their time efficiently. They simply schedule their other prospecting calls and visits to expand their business on or around the date of the Lab.

Where in your business could you create efficiencies by systematizing your schedule, automating, or delegating?

clap-sm To attend one of our Profitability Lab: Introductions, visit http://www.profitabilitylab.com.

To learn more about Lead Generation System, attend our free webinar livestream, Automatic Lead Generation 24/7.

Details at: https://excellerateassociates.com/free-webinar-automatic-lead-generation-247/

What You Can Learn About Your Business by Skipping a Stone

October 29, 2015 by Lisa Mininni Leave a Comment

Have you ever skipped a flat rock across the water? As the rock skims the water, notice how the water ripples. After a moment, each ripple flows effortlessly into the other.

The same concept applies when you take a systems approach. Each system in your business should lead to greater connections and business growth.

If you integrate systems properly, you’ll notice how momentum begins to build and the pieces come together. Like the ripples on the pond, each ripple begins to incorporate into one another and, at the same time, the blending is harmonious. You start to build momentum and get noticed for your unique lineup of products and services naturally and spontaneously.

However, it’s not about just implementing random systems to gain momentum for your business. The trick is to think through how one change impacts your entire business system so that you create that effortless blending.

Most business owners get stuck or plateau when their growing their business. Often times they have a mishmash of systems due to a series of solutions because they didn’t think through how each system interconnected when they were implementing them.

For example, in 2007, ethanol was slated as an energy solution. According to a 2007 article in USA Today, corn prices soared to their highest in the previous decade, mainly due to increasing demand for ethanol production as ethanol was made from corn.

While the higher prices benefited farmers who grew corn, there were also farmers who lost. Higher corn prices increased feeding costs for livestock producers.

To remain in business, producers had to reduce or change their feed. Not surprisingly, this change affected another part of the system as chickens and other livestock had lower reported weights when sold. This, in turn, impacted consumers.

On the surface, ethanol seemed like a reasonable solution in one area. However, when you put your systems hat on, it becomes evident that there is a ripple effect.

Small business owners can learn a lot from this ripple effect. The next time you see a solution, like any systems thinker, remember to:

-Identify how the parts within the whole business interrelate.
-Work through how each solution interrelates and affects the other parts of your business.
-Consider that methods that once worked may no longer work with new systems.

Just like stones thrown in a river, one action creates ripples in other areas of your business. When you put the pieces together like a well-oiled, interconnected machine, it creates synergy and effortless momentum.

Why We Love These Systems to Maximize Profitability (And You Should, Too!)

December 18, 2014 by Lisa Mininni Leave a Comment

When building your business, the fastest way to leverage it is through systems. If you don’t have systems in place, you’ll also miss out on creating maximum profitability for your business.

When my students first work with me, they think they have their accounting system in place because they have Quickbooks, an Accountant or a CPA.

Yet, this is only part of managing your profitability. It’s important to manage the very systems you put in place to run your business efficiently. Without ways to manage them, you are letting money slip through your fingers.

You also open up your business to a number of liabilities, like defaulting on a loan. When business owners don’t have a systematized way to review their finances, it is usually expressed as a frustration, such as being:

• Confused as to when to hire someone
• Hesitant on when to invest in yourself or your business because you don’t have a cash flow plan
• Undecided in implementing an initiative because you’re already late in invoicing your clients

At Excellerate Success Institute, my clients discover the benefits of having systems in place, resulting in increased profitability. But it’s not enough to set up a system and forget it. I recommend also developing a way to manage those systems.

For example, when a client with a small business missed a tax deadline, it wasn’t only the IRS he had to face. The hardest part was explaining to his employees why their checks were delayed. To remedy future snafus, he set recurring appointments on his calendar to flag when his taxes were due. This way, he had a reminder to manage the critical requirements of his business.

A system doesn’t have to involve machines to work. A simple manual process creates efficiencies and keeps money in your pocket. I used to place receipts everywhere, missing out on tax deductions.

To make things easier for my Accountant, I developed an internal system. At the beginning of the year, we have one expandable folder with expense folders for each month. Each week, I place all of my receipts that have been shoved in my purse, pockets and my car’s coin receptacle, in its folder. Now, my Accountant simply reviews the folders and all of the receipts are accounted for.

The same system can be used for other parts of your business when more than one person needs to handle various parts of the process. This simple procedure works like a charm for my clients, too.

Another new client was missing out on his full business deductions because he didn’t have a way to track mileage. An app, like TripLog for Android or MileTracker for iPhone, makes tracking your mileage easier than ever. Now, he can take full advantage of his business deductions.

Systems thinking is a state of mind. Once you have this state of mind, you’ll close the gaps, create efficiencies, and develop prosperity-based habits. Then, watch as you enjoy maximum profitability for your business.

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