Are You Sure You’re Using the Right Systems For Your Business?

I was onboarding a new team member recently and we were going through the process of getting her logged into all of the systems - website, email marketing platform, regular email, invoicing, task management, zapier…. This list goes on and on. 

And she made this very simple comment that made me stop and think (ok and maybe overthink): “Wow, there are a lot of pieces to your business.”

It’s true, there are 🤣 But honestly, they work for me.

And that is the most important piece of any business… your systems and platforms have to work for you!

Sounding like that may be easier said than done? Here are a few questions I would ask to make sure that your systems (or that shiny new system you are thinking about) are actually serving you.

Question #1: Does it save me more time than it takes?

If you're spending 20 minutes a week maintaining a system that only saves you 10 minutes of work, something's off. The math needs to math.

Take zapier for example - I use it everytime a discovery call is booked to add them to my CRM, tag them and also add a task for me in Asana to follow up after the call. Did that take about an hour or so to get the automation set up? Yes. But now it saves me at least 15-minutes (and frees up lots of brain space) every time a call is booked! (Side note: this automation is a fave amongst my clients too!)

Question #2: Does it prevent expensive mistakes?

Some tools may not save you time but they save money, reputation, or sanity.

My invoicing system might feel like overkill as I serve less than a dozen 1:1 clients on a monthly basis, but it makes invoicing repetitive, monitors payments and automatically follows up at the cadence I’ve set. Basically it keeps me from waking up in the middle of the night because I forgot to remind someone to sign a contract or pay an invoice.

Question #3: Does it free up my brain for the work only I can do?

This is the big one. If a system takes a decision off your plate, even a small one, it's probably earning its keep.

This is exactly why I’m so adamant about using a task management system (my preferred is Asana). Sure, I could keep track of everything in a notebook. But I don't want to burn mental energy remembering what's due when, wondering if I gave a task to a team mate to complete, or questioning whether I followed up on that thing from last Tuesday. Asana holds all of that for me so I can show up focused and organized. Some days, even calm!

So, if you started reading this and wondered “do I have too many systems?” I would encourage you to change that question, and instead ask yourself - “are the systems and tools I have working for me?”

Feeling a little overwhelmed with where to even start with answering this question? Let's do a quick (free) systems audit to make sure you're making the right change.