How Business Process Automation Gives You Freedom

By Donna Knight

Every business owner knows that setting goals is crucial to business success. If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know when you’ve arrived? More importantly, how will you know when you’re heading in the wrong direction?

If you’re the owner of a small business, what is your goal? To make it to the end of the month with enough money in the bank to cover the payroll? To take a holiday for the first time in five years? To make X amount in sales this month? To acquire X amount of new customers?

Here’s one goal that every business owner should have right from the start — to become independent of the business. Small businesses turn into big businesses only when they are able to operate smoothly without the owner being present. When you can stay away for a week, or a month, or a year, and return to find the business running better than before you left, you now have the opportunity to follow your dreams – sell the business and start a new one, retire, buy a yacht and sail around the world or even think of more ways to expand the business if strategizing is your idea of fun.

True financial independence is the ability to live your life doing what YOU want to do. Do you really want to show up for work an hour early every day, leave late at night and never take a holiday for the rest of your life? I certainly don’t.

What is the solution that will allow you to build a business you can walk away from?

It’s simple. You need a system in place so that everyone in your business knows exactly what is expected of them.

When you take on a new employee, how do they learn what they’re expected to do? Does an existing employee take around and explaining how things work? How can you be sure that the new employee is learning what you want them to know?

As the owner of the business, it’s your job to ensure that a system is put in place as the business grows. The system will ensure that everyone knows what they need to know to do their job effectively. To start with, this system will include job descriptions and a training plan for each job.

Let me give you an example. How do you think companies like McDonald’s are able to manage thousands of restaurants across the planet? McDonald’s Head Office doesn’t sell hamburgers. They sell franchises, and their customers are the franchisees. The most valuable asset they have is their system. It regulates everything from what employees wear, the words they say to customers, how many seconds a patty is left on the grill, to variables within their business. Every single detail is dictated by the system.

The system makes it possible for new employees to fit in. They are educated on ‘how we do things around here’. They are taught the specifics of their job.

This is not to say that there is no flexibility in this system. In a well-designed system there is still room for individual creativity. Better ways of doing things should always be encouraged, and then and written into the system in the future after a trial run.

The system provides the framework for ensuring that the business is never entirely dependent on any one person, including you. As a business owner, your future satisfaction with your business depends on the quality of that system.

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Donna Knight is a Computer Trainer and Website Promotion Specialist. She has built over 200 websites and helps new site owners promote their site cheaply. For tips that will help you save money and save time when marketing online, visit her Internet Marketing Tools and Reviews blog at http://www.DonnaKnight.com
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Copyright (C) 2005 Donna Knight. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted to post this article in newsletters, free ebooks or websites as long as the article and resource box remain intact. For product reviews, you may substitute your affiliate referral link for the product URL.