February 8, 2024 • 23 mins
Have you ever found yourself drowning in the daily grind, wondering if your business is actually running you instead of the other way around?
I've been there which is why today we're diving deep into the world of business systems, your ultimate secret weapon for taking control and achieving sustainable growth.
Today I get real about what it takes to build a business that works for you, not the other way around. I share my mishaps behind the scenes and I spill the beans on the six core systems that can either make or break your entrepreneurial dreams.
So, if you've been feeling the pressure during busy seasons or worrying about what would happen if you needed to step away from your business, this episode is your ticket to building a fortress of efficiency that can weather any storm. It's time to take control, supercharge your business, and embrace a future where you're the boss—not the other way around!
2:34 - What exactly is a business system?
4:45 - The importance of systems to run an efficient business
5:10 - The six core systems every business needs
12:15 - What if you don't have any systems in your business?
13:35 - Hear about Jodi's life after a back-office assessment and an organized Google Drive
16:37 - Hear how a back office assessment and the resources inside The MY-T Society membership equipped Christa to DIY her business systems without having to search Google for the answers
Resources mentioned in this Episodeisode:
Episode 117 - How to Calm the Chaos In Your Back Office with Jodi Silverman
Episode 124 - Why You Need a Digital Filing System and How to Create One
Episode 125: How an Online Scheduler Will Help You Manage Your Time
Episode 126: How to Provide the Best Customer Experience Inside and Outside of Your Small Business
Episode 129: An Effective Money Management Strategy for Small Business Owners
Episode 130: Key Components You Need to Create a Sales & Marketing System for Your Small Business
Episode 157: Setting SMART Goals for Success
Let me know your thoughts! Click here to send me a text.
Leave a Rating and Review: https://ratethispodcast.com/mindyourtime
Resources Mentioned In This Episode:
Check Out The MY-T Society Membership
Listen to My Free Audio Masterclass
Schedule a 20 Minute Chat with Me
Let’s connect online:
Follow Me On Instagram: @the_shannonbaker
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
When you decided to start your business, I know you
probably did the same thing thatI did.
You Googled how to start abusiness and every list tells
you to do market research, writea business plan, register your
trade name with your state,determine if you want to be a
LLC or how you want to set yourbusiness up, get your EIN number
(00:21):
and open a business bankaccount.
But one thing I never saw wasthat I needed to set up a back
office, and really that set meup for failure as my business
started to grow, and I'm prettysure, if you don't have a back
office in place, that you'reexperiencing some of the same
growth pains.
So my goal today is to help youavoid this mistake if you just
(00:45):
started your business, or tohelp you correct this issue if
you've been in business for sometime.
Welcome to the Mind your Timepodcast.
I'm Shannon Baker, your hostand coffee aficionado.
Whether your goal is toincrease your side gig income or
scale to six figures, you're inthe right place.
You will learn about the tools,actionable strategies and
(01:08):
tactics you can use to take backcontrol of your time and life.
I specialize in helpingpurpose-driven women like
yourself work smarter and tapinto the growth potential their
business holds.
So if you're ready to make abigger impact and achieve
business growth without beingtied to it 24-7, then stick
around.
Let's dive into today's topic.
(01:30):
Whether you realize it or not,every facet of your business is
part of some kind of system.
In 9 times out of 10, youalready have some systems in
place, but they're just in yourhead, and the problem with that
is you can't delegate properlyif those processes aren't
documented and, quite honestly,you're not working efficiently
(01:54):
either, because you reinvent thewheel every time you need to do
routine tasks.
Now, I know business systemsare not exactly the most sexy or
fun thing to do in business,but it's a necessity.
And because you are listeningto this episode, that lets me
know, my friend, that you areopen-minded and purpose-driven
and you are ready to worksmarter.
(02:15):
The fact is, systems are acritical part of the foundation
that your business needs.
If you want to achievesustainable growth, and if you
want your business to growwithout taking control of your
life, then you definitely needsome basic systems in place, and
that's what we're going to talkabout today.
What are those systems?
So let me start by giving youmy definition of a business
(02:38):
system In Shannon's world, whichis all that counts to me on
this platform.
A system is a step-by-stepprocess the tools that you need
to automate steps and the personcompleting the remaining steps,
because everything cannot beautomated.
So now that leads us to thequestion well, why do you need
(03:00):
to even create business systems?
Well, first of all, it's forconsistency in your business.
When you manually complete atask, there is room for human
error, and that can be costly.
Not to mention, you may skip astep or two or more every time
you complete the task, so youget different outcomes each time
(03:21):
.
Your results may look the sameon the surface, but I guarantee
you it's not always the qualitythat you want.
But when you document yourprocesses and you automate what
you can, you get morepredictable results.
That means that the task iscompleted in a timely manner as
well, and the end result is topquality, which is what you want.
(03:46):
You also need systems to helpyou provide a better client
experience.
The first impression is alasting impression.
The experience that people havewith you starts way before they
even decide they want to workwith you.
But if you don't have businesssystems in place, you're not
going to be able to build trustwith them or loyalty with your
clients, which then, in turn,results in referrals, and both
(04:09):
of these are vital if you wantto keep your clients.
Most importantly, if you wantthem to sing your praises,
you've got to have some systemsin place, so you're not leaving
that experience to chance.
This leads to the next point.
They're required for you tooperate efficiently.
One, you should have a strategythat you're implementing to
(04:30):
grow your business.
If you do not, I have anepisode for you that's going to
help you to create your strategy, because you need that in order
to build the right systems foryour business.
So I'll put a link to that inthe show notes.
Systems help you execute thatstrategy, because you'll then
have time to focus on makinggood decisions.
(04:52):
Not to mention, systems reducecosts and you don't have to take
shortcuts.
It improves your brandreputation because things are
consistent, and you also willgain insight into the areas of
your business that need to beimproved to meet the needs of
your clients.
So now that we've gotten thereasons why out of the way,
(05:14):
let's talk about those six coresystems.
The first one is your centralfiling system.
This is critical to yourproductivity.
The biggest mistakes smallbusiness owners make is they
start saving everything eitherin their hard drive or they just
drop everything into eitherGoogle Drive, dropbox, onedrive
or whatever you're using, butit's not organized.
(05:36):
Now if it's on your computerhard drive, what happens if your
hard drive crashes?
You're going to lose everything.
Take it from me.
You don't want that to happen.
This happened to me with myfirst MacBook, but I was so
happy that all of my businessdocuments were stored
electronically.
I did not lose anything.
(05:57):
So you definitely have to havea central filing system from the
beginning.
You need to set up that filestructure System number two is a
scheduling system Other thanemail and social media.
Unplanned phone calls are one ofthe biggest distractions ever,
(06:18):
not to mention you waste timeemailing people back and forth
to try to get meetings scheduled, and then it's just ridiculous.
One of the easiest ways thatyou can keep this from happening
is to, one, put boundariesaround your schedule and then,
two, you just simplify theprocess.
(06:38):
This requires an onlinescheduling system.
I use Acuity, but I also haveclients that use Calendly.
The bottom line is you needsomething the streamlines the
process of getting meetingscheduled, because all you have
to do is give the person a linkto the specific appointment type
they need to book.
They click the link, pick atime that works for both of you
(07:01):
and you don't have to doanything else because your
reminders are already set up onthe back end to go out
automatically.
This puts it on both of yourcalendars and those reminders
are critical.
Neither one of you forget thatthe appointment is scheduled and
if someone needs to reschedule,there's a link inside the
reminder that allows them to dothat.
You never have to touch itagain.
(07:23):
The third system yourcommunication system.
Now, this is internalcommunication with your team and
external communication withyour clients, people you meet at
networking events, etc.
Basically as anyone outside ofyour business.
And when it comes to yourclients or potential clients,
you have to have a customer careprocess because this starts
(07:46):
from the first point of contactthat they make with you.
This entire process reallyprovides a glimpse into the
inner workings of your businessand it either helps build trust,
which is critical to thatno-liking trust factor, or it
creates doubt about your abilityto deliver your services.
(08:06):
So eliminate that roadblock andget your communication system
in place.
System number four is a moneymanagement system.
This is a no-brainer.
Well, at least you might thinkso.
You may be thinking well, yeah,I know, I need to watch my
money, but honestly, mostbusiness owners don't know their
numbers and because of this,most small businesses I'll say
(08:29):
many small businesses don'tsurvive.
But a money management systemcan be simple, but you need it
because it helps you keep afinger on the pulse of the money
that's coming into and goingout of your business.
And if finances is not yourstrong suit, that's okay,
because you can track yourmonthly expenses on a simple
spreadsheet and, as far as moneycoming in, whether you invoice
(08:53):
or you have paid appointments,you can easily track that money
if you're using a platform likePayPal or Stripe or something
else.
But really this is veryimportant, especially if you're
doing monthly auto billing,which I highly suggest, and you
need to have a process in placefor when payments are declined
(09:15):
or when payments are late if youinvoice.
This is where templates comeinto play.
So, as you can see, thisdoesn't have to be an expensive
bookkeeping system, but you justneed some basic pieces.
So you need to make theinvestment in not just this
system.
I really all love them, to behonest.
System number five is yoursales and marketing system, and
(09:39):
I'm going to start by tellingyou, yes, they are different.
Marketing gets you seen.
Sales gets you paid, so yourmarketing helps build the no
like and trust factor.
This includes your customercare process, which is part of
that communication system thatwe already talked about.
Here's an example If you have apodcast, what's your podcast
(10:04):
process for having guests onyour show?
Is it a back and forth to getthings set up or Is it?
They click a link, theyschedule a time based on the
data you pick to record podcastepisodes and then the process
from that point forward isautomated.
If not, we need to talk.
What about your email marketing?
(10:24):
Do you have a welcome series inplace?
So when someone grabs thatfreebie, you nurture the
relationship on the back end?
How about emailing yoursubscribers?
Do you have a regularnewsletter that goes out on a
weekly, monthly or quarterlybasis?
All of these things need to bedocumented so that your
(10:45):
marketing can be effective,which in turn, brings the sales.
But you also need to know howyou sell your digital products,
your services, and track youraffiliate marketing for any
products or services that yourecommend.
And when it comes to sales, youneed to have a documented
process that you follow forfollow-up, because the fortune
(11:09):
is in the follow-up, but youhave to have a process in order
for you to be able to do that.
The last system is a backupsystem.
Now, I know this one usuallygets you know people puzzled,
but, in a nutshell, a backupsystem is plan B to keep your
business running without you.
As a small business owner, youneed this to be in place so that
(11:32):
your business can survive andthrive Without you having to be
in the center of everythingthat's happening, and the best
time to create this plan isbefore an emergency arises.
There are multiple areas.
You need to have a backup planin place for your computer files
, your website or your blog,your crm, and if you have a
(11:54):
dream team, you need a backupprocess in place for when people
are out, because, let's be real, all of us need time off.
But all of these piecestogether make up your emergency
preparedness plan so that yourbusiness can survive and thrive
in your absence.
So that's it.
Those are the six basic systemsthat you need to have in place,
(12:15):
and remember, if you do not havedocumented processes and
systems in place, you do nothave a business.
You have a you.
That means if you don't do it,it doesn't get done, and that's
not good.
But that also means ifsomething happens to you, it's
game over for your business, andwe don't want that to happen
either.
Now I want you to know that Iintentionally did not provide a
(12:38):
lot of detailed information onthe six systems, for a reason
Each system has its ownindividual episode where I do a
deep dive into more of what'sinvolved in creating that system
.
So I'll put a link to each ofthose in the show notes and that
way you can work on thesesystems one at a time.
Now, if you sort of havesystems in place but you want
(13:03):
help to get them cleaned up sothat your business operates as a
well-opened machine, then aback office assessment with me
is perfect for you.
It's a great way to get my eyeson your back office right now
and it's a two-hour recordedcall on Zoom.
Then afterwards I give you acustom action plan that can be
used to help you get your basicsystems up and running or clean
(13:26):
up what you already have inplace.
But we review that action plantogether and then we talk about
how you can get that planimplemented with or without my
assistance.
Now I want you to hear fromsomeone who is on the other side
of this process.
Jodi was referred to me becauseher business had her so
overwhelmed that she actuallywas ready to throw in a towel.
(13:47):
Believe me, I've been theremyself.
But Jodi's business is mom's.
Who dare she had this to say.
Quote my Google Fowling Systemwas a mess.
I was duplicating files becauseI was unable to locate the
items I needed.
I was also in dire need of SOPsto begin hiring support people
(14:08):
in order for me to grow, scaleand free my time to focus on the
revenue-generating activities.
Truly, I wanted to throw in thetowel.
After the assessment withShannon, the action plan was a
wow.
Not only was it presenteddigitally in a professional and
organized fashion, it was clearthat Shannon truly understood,
(14:29):
from our assessment call, what Iwas in need of if I was going
to grow and expand.
After reviewing the details andthe breakdown of our action
plan, I knew I was in good hands.
Shannon offered a fewimplementation options that
could easily fit into a varietyof schedules and make it
financially feasible to hire her.
(14:49):
Another thing I truly respectedabout Shannon was how clear she
was in communicating how wewill work together from our
business hours down to amonth-by-month plan, end quote.
So it was such a pleasureworking with Jodi because when
we implemented startedimplementing her action plan, I
really could see the relief onher face, especially once her
(15:12):
Google Drive was sorted andorganized.
That is a olacart service that Ioffer.
If you're interested, just DMme and let me know you want more
information.
But this shows why I startedoffering these assessments.
It's the next logical step thatyou need one to see where you
(15:33):
are, where you want to go andhow to get there.
But then the next step isgetting it implemented, and
there are a number of optionsthat will allow you to do that,
as I mentioned, with or withoutmy help.
Now I had Jodi on the podcastto give an update on how things
were going in her business afterher systems were in place.
I'll put a link to that in theshow notes as well.
(15:55):
But one of the things that stoodout to me in that conversation
is the clarity that Jodi hadonce she was organized and she
had time to really focus ongrowing her membership in her
business.
Now if you want moreinformation on the back office
assessment itself, go totheshanonbakercom forward slash
assessment.
You can also book your callthere, and now is a great time
(16:18):
to start the process of creatingor building out your basic
systems before spring gets here,because it does take some time
unless you book a VIP day and itkind of shortens the timeline.
But I only have room in myschedule to do two of those a
month and they tend to book outquickly.
Now the other option if youhave a tight budget or if you're
(16:40):
a habitual DIYer, areoverwhelmed by all the choices,
or you just want to know whereto start creating your back
office, the mighty societymembership is perfect for you.
I created this membershipbecause one I know.
Online courses are boring and,if you're like me, you never
finish them anyway.
And when it comes to creatingsystems, I know every business
(17:02):
is different.
Therefore, no blueprint orcookie cutter solution works for
anyone.
Besides, if documentingprocesses and getting the
technology in place was yourstrong suit, you would have this
in place already, but youreally need access to someone
that can guide you through thisprocess and even help you when
you get stuck.
Think of me as your SOS button.
(17:22):
So the Midas Society membershipis gonna help you with all of
that and it's gonna save youtime and connect you to a
private and supportive communityof purpose-driven women.
You'll get access to me at aprice point that probably fits
better into your budget untilyou can work directly with me as
well.
It's literally a resource vaultfull of things that you can use
(17:48):
to start creating your businesssystems.
There are roadmaps, workflows,process templates, message
templates and bite-sized videosand more inside of the Midas
Society membership.
Now, example of how you can usethis is Krista Hutchins.
She booked a back officeassessment and she got her
action plan.
We reviewed it and she decidedthat she wanted to
(18:11):
self-implement.
But this is what Krista had tosay about the membership.
Krista said if you're ready tothrow in the towel because your
business has you so overwhelmed,you can fix that with an
upgrade to your systems, and myfriend, shannon Baker is just
the person to help you.
Recently, shannon assessed mybusiness and identified the gaps
in my systems, suggested toolsand tech to fix them and created
(18:34):
a prioritized plan of action.
Just going through theassessment and reviewing my
custom plan, shannon gave me somany tips to streamline things
and make my life easier Scheduletime with Shannon and get your
action plan up, plug the leaksin your operations and the Midas
Society membership containsgreat resources for someone who
(18:54):
is starting out and gettingtheir systems in place.
I love that there are strippeddown videos that give you just
what you need to know to getstarted, which can save you
hours of Googling and YouTubing.
When I first joined, I clickedaround a little bit, but mostly
went straight to what I waslooking for.
It is so easy to navigate.
I can find exactly what I amlooking for when I need it.
(19:18):
So if you can relate to howKrista felt, then let's start
making some changes today.
Now, if you're not quite readyto work with me one-on-one for
whatever the reason is, it'sokay.
Go to theshannonbakercomforward, slash membership and
check the membership out foryourself.
It's priced at what I feel isan affordable rate for you, so
(19:38):
that you can start taking actionon your own and get immediate
relief by streamlining your backoffice.
You know we all dream of growingour businesses and achieving
sustainable growth.
Streamlining your operationslays the foundation for that.
By implementing efficientsystems, you can handle an
increased workload and you don'thave to compromise the quality
(19:59):
of your services or your qualityof life and risk burning out.
And when you decide you want toscale.
Having streamlined operationswill actually support that
effort and with systems, youactually have more time so you
can focus on your zone of genius.
So before we wrap up, let's do aquick recap of what we've
(20:22):
talked about today.
Every facet of your business ispart of a system and it needs
to be documented so you can workmore efficiently and delegate
when you're ready.
Business systems are essentialfor consistency in providing a
better client experience.
We also talked about the sixbasic systems that you need in
your business and again, thelinks to the individual systems
(20:43):
are in the show notes and youcan check out which ones you
would like on your own.
But I also shared feedback frommy clients who have experienced
relief after booking a backoffice assessment, as well as
how they tapped into theresources available inside of
the mighty society membership tostart building their systems.
To learn more about themembership again, go to
(21:05):
theshannonbakercom forward slashmembership.
If you decide to don't join,make sure you start by going to
the resource center anddownloading the BizOps checklist
, which is going to help you doa quick audit of your current
business systems so you knowwhere you need to start.
Remember your time is precious.
(21:25):
Streamlining your businesssystems is not a luxury, but
it's a necessity if you want tosucceed and you want your
business to thrive.
By being more intentional abouthow you use your time, by
embracing efficient operationsand providing an exceptional
customer experience, you lay thegroundwork for sustainable
(21:46):
growth and you'll unlock yourfull potential.
But remember just consuming thecontent on this podcast does
nothing for you unless you takeaction.
The path to success begins witha single step, so pick one
thing from this episode todaythat you are going to take
action Now.
(22:07):
If you're not quite ready tobook a back office assessment or
join the membership, or youhave some questions that you
want answered, feel free toconnect with me on Instagram at
the underscore Shannon Baker.
You can also just let me knowthat you enjoyed the episode by
taking a screenshot, sharing itand tagging me there, and if you
haven't already done so, have afavor to ask.
(22:28):
Please leave me a rating andreview for the podcast.
It's an easy way to show thepodcast some love and help me
reach more purpose-driven womenwho need support to build a more
efficient business so that theycan achieve the success they
desire.
Go to ratethispodcastcomforward.
Slash mind your time.
(22:50):
That's it for today.
I can't wait to hear from youin my DEMs.
Feel free to reach out to me atany time and until next time,
keep calm and streamline.
When you decided to start your business, I know you
probably did the same thing thatI did.
You Googled how to start abusiness and every list tells
you to do market research, writea business plan, register your
trade name with your state,determine if you want to be a
LLC or how you want to set yourbusiness up, get your EIN number
(00:21):
and open a business bankaccount.
But one thing I never saw wasthat I needed to set up a back
office, and really that set meup for failure as my business
started to grow, and I'm prettysure, if you don't have a back
office in place, that you'reexperiencing some of the same
growth pains.
So my goal today is to help youavoid this mistake if you just
(00:45):
started your business, or tohelp you correct this issue if
you've been in business for sometime.
Welcome to the Mind your Timepodcast.
I'm Shannon Baker, your hostand coffee aficionado.
Whether your goal is toincrease your side gig income or
scale to six figures, you're inthe right place.
You will learn about the tools,actionable strategies and
(01:08):
tactics you can use to take backcontrol of your time and life.
I specialize in helpingpurpose-driven women like
yourself work smarter and tapinto the growth potential their
business holds.
So if you're ready to make abigger impact and achieve
business growth without beingtied to it 24-7, then stick
around.
Let's dive into today's topic.
(01:30):
Whether you realize it or not,every facet of your business is
part of some kind of system.
In 9 times out of 10, youalready have some systems in
place, but they're just in yourhead, and the problem with that
is you can't delegate properlyif those processes aren't
documented and, quite honestly,you're not working efficiently
(01:54):
either, because you reinvent thewheel every time you need to do
routine tasks.
Now, I know business systemsare not exactly the most sexy or
fun thing to do in business,but it's a necessity.
And because you are listeningto this episode, that lets me
know, my friend, that you areopen-minded and purpose-driven
and you are ready to worksmarter.
(02:15):
The fact is, systems are acritical part of the foundation
that your business needs.
If you want to achievesustainable growth, and if you
want your business to growwithout taking control of your
life, then you definitely needsome basic systems in place, and
that's what we're going to talkabout today.
What are those systems?
So let me start by giving youmy definition of a business
(02:38):
system In Shannon's world, whichis all that counts to me on
this platform.
A system is a step-by-stepprocess the tools that you need
to automate steps and the personcompleting the remaining steps,
because everything cannot beautomated.
So now that leads us to thequestion well, why do you need
(03:00):
to even create business systems?
Well, first of all, it's forconsistency in your business.
When you manually complete atask, there is room for human
error, and that can be costly.
Not to mention, you may skip astep or two or more every time
you complete the task, so youget different outcomes each time
(03:21):
.
Your results may look the sameon the surface, but I guarantee
you it's not always the qualitythat you want.
But when you document yourprocesses and you automate what
you can, you get morepredictable results.
That means that the task iscompleted in a timely manner as
well, and the end result is topquality, which is what you want.
(03:46):
You also need systems to helpyou provide a better client
experience.
The first impression is alasting impression.
The experience that people havewith you starts way before they
even decide they want to workwith you.
But if you don't have businesssystems in place, you're not
going to be able to build trustwith them or loyalty with your
clients, which then, in turn,results in referrals, and both
(04:09):
of these are vital if you wantto keep your clients.
Most importantly, if you wantthem to sing your praises,
you've got to have some systemsin place, so you're not leaving
that experience to chance.
This leads to the next point.
They're required for you tooperate efficiently.
One, you should have a strategythat you're implementing to
(04:30):
grow your business.
If you do not, I have anepisode for you that's going to
help you to create your strategy, because you need that in order
to build the right systems foryour business.
So I'll put a link to that inthe show notes.
Systems help you execute thatstrategy, because you'll then
have time to focus on makinggood decisions.
(04:52):
Not to mention, systems reducecosts and you don't have to take
shortcuts.
It improves your brandreputation because things are
consistent, and you also willgain insight into the areas of
your business that need to beimproved to meet the needs of
your clients.
So now that we've gotten thereasons why out of the way,
(05:14):
let's talk about those six coresystems.
The first one is your centralfiling system.
This is critical to yourproductivity.
The biggest mistakes smallbusiness owners make is they
start saving everything eitherin their hard drive or they just
drop everything into eitherGoogle Drive, dropbox, onedrive
or whatever you're using, butit's not organized.
(05:36):
Now if it's on your computerhard drive, what happens if your
hard drive crashes?
You're going to lose everything.
Take it from me.
You don't want that to happen.
This happened to me with myfirst MacBook, but I was so
happy that all of my businessdocuments were stored
electronically.
I did not lose anything.
(05:57):
So you definitely have to havea central filing system from the
beginning.
You need to set up that filestructure System number two is a
scheduling system Other thanemail and social media.
Unplanned phone calls are one ofthe biggest distractions ever,
(06:18):
not to mention you waste timeemailing people back and forth
to try to get meetings scheduled, and then it's just ridiculous.
One of the easiest ways thatyou can keep this from happening
is to, one, put boundariesaround your schedule and then,
two, you just simplify theprocess.
(06:38):
This requires an onlinescheduling system.
I use Acuity, but I also haveclients that use Calendly.
The bottom line is you needsomething the streamlines the
process of getting meetingscheduled, because all you have
to do is give the person a linkto the specific appointment type
they need to book.
They click the link, pick atime that works for both of you
(07:01):
and you don't have to doanything else because your
reminders are already set up onthe back end to go out
automatically.
This puts it on both of yourcalendars and those reminders
are critical.
Neither one of you forget thatthe appointment is scheduled and
if someone needs to reschedule,there's a link inside the
reminder that allows them to dothat.
You never have to touch itagain.
(07:23):
The third system yourcommunication system.
Now, this is internalcommunication with your team and
external communication withyour clients, people you meet at
networking events, etc.
Basically as anyone outside ofyour business.
And when it comes to yourclients or potential clients,
you have to have a customer careprocess because this starts
(07:46):
from the first point of contactthat they make with you.
This entire process reallyprovides a glimpse into the
inner workings of your businessand it either helps build trust,
which is critical to thatno-liking trust factor, or it
creates doubt about your abilityto deliver your services.
(08:06):
So eliminate that roadblock andget your communication system
in place.
System number four is a moneymanagement system.
This is a no-brainer.
Well, at least you might thinkso.
You may be thinking well, yeah,I know, I need to watch my
money, but honestly, mostbusiness owners don't know their
numbers and because of this,most small businesses I'll say
(08:29):
many small businesses don'tsurvive.
But a money management systemcan be simple, but you need it
because it helps you keep afinger on the pulse of the money
that's coming into and goingout of your business.
And if finances is not yourstrong suit, that's okay,
because you can track yourmonthly expenses on a simple
spreadsheet and, as far as moneycoming in, whether you invoice
(08:53):
or you have paid appointments,you can easily track that money
if you're using a platform likePayPal or Stripe or something
else.
But really this is veryimportant, especially if you're
doing monthly auto billing,which I highly suggest, and you
need to have a process in placefor when payments are declined
(09:15):
or when payments are late if youinvoice.
This is where templates comeinto play.
So, as you can see, thisdoesn't have to be an expensive
bookkeeping system, but you justneed some basic pieces.
So you need to make theinvestment in not just this
system.
I really all love them, to behonest.
System number five is yoursales and marketing system, and
(09:39):
I'm going to start by tellingyou, yes, they are different.
Marketing gets you seen.
Sales gets you paid, so yourmarketing helps build the no
like and trust factor.
This includes your customercare process, which is part of
that communication system thatwe already talked about.
Here's an example If you have apodcast, what's your podcast
(10:04):
process for having guests onyour show?
Is it a back and forth to getthings set up or Is it?
They click a link, theyschedule a time based on the
data you pick to record podcastepisodes and then the process
from that point forward isautomated.
If not, we need to talk.
What about your email marketing?
(10:24):
Do you have a welcome series inplace?
So when someone grabs thatfreebie, you nurture the
relationship on the back end?
How about emailing yoursubscribers?
Do you have a regularnewsletter that goes out on a
weekly, monthly or quarterlybasis?
All of these things need to bedocumented so that your
(10:45):
marketing can be effective,which in turn, brings the sales.
But you also need to know howyou sell your digital products,
your services, and track youraffiliate marketing for any
products or services that yourecommend.
And when it comes to sales, youneed to have a documented
process that you follow forfollow-up, because the fortune
(11:09):
is in the follow-up, but youhave to have a process in order
for you to be able to do that.
The last system is a backupsystem.
Now, I know this one usuallygets you know people puzzled,
but, in a nutshell, a backupsystem is plan B to keep your
business running without you.
As a small business owner, youneed this to be in place so that
(11:32):
your business can survive andthrive Without you having to be
in the center of everythingthat's happening, and the best
time to create this plan isbefore an emergency arises.
There are multiple areas.
You need to have a backup planin place for your computer files
, your website or your blog,your crm, and if you have a
(11:54):
dream team, you need a backupprocess in place for when people
are out, because, let's be real, all of us need time off.
But all of these piecestogether make up your emergency
preparedness plan so that yourbusiness can survive and thrive
in your absence.
So that's it.
Those are the six basic systemsthat you need to have in place,
(12:15):
and remember, if you do not havedocumented processes and
systems in place, you do nothave a business.
You have a you.
That means if you don't do it,it doesn't get done, and that's
not good.
But that also means ifsomething happens to you, it's
game over for your business, andwe don't want that to happen
either.
Now I want you to know that Iintentionally did not provide a
(12:38):
lot of detailed information onthe six systems, for a reason
Each system has its ownindividual episode where I do a
deep dive into more of what'sinvolved in creating that system
.
So I'll put a link to each ofthose in the show notes and that
way you can work on thesesystems one at a time.
Now, if you sort of havesystems in place but you want
(13:03):
help to get them cleaned up sothat your business operates as a
well-opened machine, then aback office assessment with me
is perfect for you.
It's a great way to get my eyeson your back office right now
and it's a two-hour recordedcall on Zoom.
Then afterwards I give you acustom action plan that can be
used to help you get your basicsystems up and running or clean
(13:26):
up what you already have inplace.
But we review that action plantogether and then we talk about
how you can get that planimplemented with or without my
assistance.
Now I want you to hear fromsomeone who is on the other side
of this process.
Jodi was referred to me becauseher business had her so
overwhelmed that she actuallywas ready to throw in a towel.
(13:47):
Believe me, I've been theremyself.
But Jodi's business is mom's.
Who dare she had this to say.
Quote my Google Fowling Systemwas a mess.
I was duplicating files becauseI was unable to locate the
items I needed.
I was also in dire need of SOPsto begin hiring support people
(14:08):
in order for me to grow, scaleand free my time to focus on the
revenue-generating activities.
Truly, I wanted to throw in thetowel.
After the assessment withShannon, the action plan was a
wow.
Not only was it presenteddigitally in a professional and
organized fashion, it was clearthat Shannon truly understood,
(14:29):
from our assessment call, what Iwas in need of if I was going
to grow and expand.
After reviewing the details andthe breakdown of our action
plan, I knew I was in good hands.
Shannon offered a fewimplementation options that
could easily fit into a varietyof schedules and make it
financially feasible to hire her.
(14:49):
Another thing I truly respectedabout Shannon was how clear she
was in communicating how wewill work together from our
business hours down to amonth-by-month plan, end quote.
So it was such a pleasureworking with Jodi because when
we implemented startedimplementing her action plan, I
really could see the relief onher face, especially once her
(15:12):
Google Drive was sorted andorganized.
That is a olacart service that Ioffer.
If you're interested, just DMme and let me know you want more
information.
But this shows why I startedoffering these assessments.
It's the next logical step thatyou need one to see where you
(15:33):
are, where you want to go andhow to get there.
But then the next step isgetting it implemented, and
there are a number of optionsthat will allow you to do that,
as I mentioned, with or withoutmy help.
Now I had Jodi on the podcastto give an update on how things
were going in her business afterher systems were in place.
I'll put a link to that in theshow notes as well.
(15:55):
But one of the things that stoodout to me in that conversation
is the clarity that Jodi hadonce she was organized and she
had time to really focus ongrowing her membership in her
business.
Now if you want moreinformation on the back office
assessment itself, go totheshanonbakercom forward slash
assessment.
You can also book your callthere, and now is a great time
(16:18):
to start the process of creatingor building out your basic
systems before spring gets here,because it does take some time
unless you book a VIP day and itkind of shortens the timeline.
But I only have room in myschedule to do two of those a
month and they tend to book outquickly.
Now the other option if youhave a tight budget or if you're
(16:40):
a habitual DIYer, areoverwhelmed by all the choices,
or you just want to know whereto start creating your back
office, the mighty societymembership is perfect for you.
I created this membershipbecause one I know.
Online courses are boring and,if you're like me, you never
finish them anyway.
And when it comes to creatingsystems, I know every business
(17:02):
is different.
Therefore, no blueprint orcookie cutter solution works for
anyone.
Besides, if documentingprocesses and getting the
technology in place was yourstrong suit, you would have this
in place already, but youreally need access to someone
that can guide you through thisprocess and even help you when
you get stuck.
Think of me as your SOS button.
(17:22):
So the Midas Society membershipis gonna help you with all of
that and it's gonna save youtime and connect you to a
private and supportive communityof purpose-driven women.
You'll get access to me at aprice point that probably fits
better into your budget untilyou can work directly with me as
well.
It's literally a resource vaultfull of things that you can use
(17:48):
to start creating your businesssystems.
There are roadmaps, workflows,process templates, message
templates and bite-sized videosand more inside of the Midas
Society membership.
Now, example of how you can usethis is Krista Hutchins.
She booked a back officeassessment and she got her
action plan.
We reviewed it and she decidedthat she wanted to
(18:11):
self-implement.
But this is what Krista had tosay about the membership.
Krista said if you're ready tothrow in the towel because your
business has you so overwhelmed,you can fix that with an
upgrade to your systems, and myfriend, shannon Baker is just
the person to help you.
Recently, shannon assessed mybusiness and identified the gaps
in my systems, suggested toolsand tech to fix them and created
(18:34):
a prioritized plan of action.
Just going through theassessment and reviewing my
custom plan, shannon gave me somany tips to streamline things
and make my life easier Scheduletime with Shannon and get your
action plan up, plug the leaksin your operations and the Midas
Society membership containsgreat resources for someone who
(18:54):
is starting out and gettingtheir systems in place.
I love that there are strippeddown videos that give you just
what you need to know to getstarted, which can save you
hours of Googling and YouTubing.
When I first joined, I clickedaround a little bit, but mostly
went straight to what I waslooking for.
It is so easy to navigate.
I can find exactly what I amlooking for when I need it.
(19:18):
So if you can relate to howKrista felt, then let's start
making some changes today.
Now, if you're not quite readyto work with me one-on-one for
whatever the reason is, it'sokay.
Go to theshannonbakercomforward, slash membership and
check the membership out foryourself.
It's priced at what I feel isan affordable rate for you, so
(19:38):
that you can start taking actionon your own and get immediate
relief by streamlining your backoffice.
You know we all dream of growingour businesses and achieving
sustainable growth.
Streamlining your operationslays the foundation for that.
By implementing efficientsystems, you can handle an
increased workload and you don'thave to compromise the quality
(19:59):
of your services or your qualityof life and risk burning out.
And when you decide you want toscale.
Having streamlined operationswill actually support that
effort and with systems, youactually have more time so you
can focus on your zone of genius.
So before we wrap up, let's do aquick recap of what we've
(20:22):
talked about today.
Every facet of your business ispart of a system and it needs
to be documented so you can workmore efficiently and delegate
when you're ready.
Business systems are essentialfor consistency in providing a
better client experience.
We also talked about the sixbasic systems that you need in
your business and again, thelinks to the individual systems
(20:43):
are in the show notes and youcan check out which ones you
would like on your own.
But I also shared feedback frommy clients who have experienced
relief after booking a backoffice assessment, as well as
how they tapped into theresources available inside of
the mighty society membership tostart building their systems.
To learn more about themembership again, go to
(21:05):
theshannonbakercom forward slashmembership.
If you decide to don't join,make sure you start by going to
the resource center anddownloading the BizOps checklist
, which is going to help you doa quick audit of your current
business systems so you knowwhere you need to start.
Remember your time is precious.
(21:25):
Streamlining your businesssystems is not a luxury, but
it's a necessity if you want tosucceed and you want your
business to thrive.
By being more intentional abouthow you use your time, by
embracing efficient operationsand providing an exceptional
customer experience, you lay thegroundwork for sustainable
(21:46):
growth and you'll unlock yourfull potential.
But remember just consuming thecontent on this podcast does
nothing for you unless you takeaction.
The path to success begins witha single step, so pick one
thing from this episode todaythat you are going to take
action Now.
(22:07):
If you're not quite ready tobook a back office assessment or
join the membership, or youhave some questions that you
want answered, feel free toconnect with me on Instagram at
the underscore Shannon Baker.
You can also just let me knowthat you enjoyed the episode by
taking a screenshot, sharing itand tagging me there, and if you
haven't already done so, have afavor to ask.
(22:28):
Please leave me a rating andreview for the podcast.
It's an easy way to show thepodcast some love and help me
reach more purpose-driven womenwho need support to build a more
efficient business so that theycan achieve the success they
desire.
Go to ratethispodcastcomforward.
Slash mind your time.
(22:50):
That's it for today.
I can't wait to hear from youin my DEMs.
Feel free to reach out to me atany time and until next time,
keep calm and streamline.
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