The Must-Fix Business Systems That Make or Break Your Growth

Are your business systems for growth actually helping you scale, or are they slowly wearing you down? 

If every new client, project, or opportunity is making your business feel heavier instead of lighter, you are not alone. It is easy to think that growth just means more clients, more revenue, more opportunities. But without the right systems in place, more can quickly become too much.

In this episode, I am pulling back the curtain on the must-fix business systems for growth that either support your success or quietly sabotage it. These are the foundations that keep things running smoothly behind the scenes so you can lead with clarity, protect your time, and grow without burning out.

Whether you have been working in organized chaos or patching things together as you go, those cracks in your backend will show up as your business expands. This conversation will help you get clear on what is actually slowing you down and where to focus so growth feels easier, not heavier.

Tune in to hear the one system most business owners skip and why skipping it keeps them stuck in survival mode. You will hear more about:

1:48: The moment I realized my backend was holding my business back and how that shifted everything about the way I work

4:26: Why growth exposes every crack in your backend and how to recognize the warning signs before they cost you time, energy, and clients

6:46: The truth about why tools don’t fix messy processes and what to focus on before you invest in new software or team members

9:25: How the right systems turn you into a leader who guides the business instead of one who’s always putting out fires

11:09: A quick win challenge to help you see exactly where your process is breaking down and how to start fixing it today

14:10: How the Back Office POWER Checklist can help you identify your gaps and create a clear plan for sustainable growth

 Related Episodes Mentioned:

EP 212 - The 6 Core Systems Your Business Needs to Grow Without Burnout

EP 214 - Stop Hiring in Chaos: How to Delegate Successfully

Resources Mentioned:

📋 Grab the Back Office POWER Checklist,  a fillable Google Doc, to help you quickly audit your back office, spot inefficiencies, and create a smoother, more efficient business!

Let me know your thoughts! Click here to send me a text.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
If your business is starting to grow but everything
behind the scenes is gettingharder to manage, to the point
that you are overwhelmed, thisepisode is for you.
Today, I'm going to break downthe must-fix systems that either
support your growth or aresilently sabotaging it because
they're missing.
So if your back end feels ducttaped together and you're ready

(00:21):
for more clarity, more controland way less stress, let's get
into it.
Welcome to the Mind your Timepodcast.
I'm Shannon Baker, your copyloving host and business
operations strategist.
Each week, I'll share practicalinsights and bold strategies
rooted in my power and motionframework to help you streamline
your operations, reclaim yourtime and build a business that

(00:43):
supports your life.
Whether you're just startingout or scaling to six figures
and beyond, these episodes willhelp you take control and create
success on your own terms.
So grab a cup of coffee or yourfavorite beverage and let's
dive into today's topic.
Okay, I have a confession tomake.
I didn't always love systems.

(01:05):
In fact, I didn't even knowwhat systems were when I started
my business as a virtualassistant.
But eventually I learned thehard way that they are the
things that you can't just piecetogether if you want your
business to thrive.
But before that lesson waslearned.
I was doing good work, I wasbooking clients, I was staying

(01:27):
busy, but everything behind thescenes it was pure chaos.
And I will never forget thepart of my journey when I was
juggling multiple clientprojects, working a full-time
job, raising a family, and I wasexhausted.
I mean to the point that I waslike how am I supposed to keep
this up?

(01:48):
And then one day I realized Ihad promised the client
something and I completelyforgot about it.
It wasn't in my planner, itwasn't on my digital calendar, I
couldn't even find the emailthat I needed to complete the
task, and it definitely wasn'tin any kind of project
management tool, because Iwasn't using one and I almost

(02:09):
lost that client.
That was the moment that Irealized something had to change
.
And this didn't just happenbecause I was disorganized,
because by nature I'm a veryorganized person.
But that didn't matter, becauseI was just trying to grow a
business without the backendthat needed to support it.
And that's when it clicked.

(02:32):
The problem wasn't how much Iwas doing, it was how I was
doing it.
And that's when I made thedecision that I wasn't going to
keep working in that chaos.
So I started paying attentionto when I worked and how I
worked, not just what I workedon, and that laid the foundation

(02:54):
for the kind of business that Irun today, and I help my
clients build the same type ofbusiness.
So the tips that I'm gonnashare today and the strategies
that I share on the podcast ingeneral, they are tried and true
, and I'm not saying that youneed to do things exactly the
way that I did by all means, butI'm pretty sure that you can

(03:16):
relate to the struggle that I'vehad over the years and the
things that I've had to overcome, and you can get something from
what I learned or the mistakesthat I made, so that you can
also get past that.
Now, if you're out here doingmeaningful work, your clients
are happy, your business isgrowing and you're getting
noticed.
Kudos to you.

(03:38):
But I also know for many of you, everything behind the scenes
is keeping you up at night.
So if that's you, I want you torecognize that it doesn't mean
you're necessarily doinganything wrong, but your systems
are not in place or yourbusiness is not equipped to

(04:01):
support all of that because thesystems are missing.
So let's talk about what youactually need to fix before you
experience this growing painbecause more clients and bigger
opportunities won't fix a messyback end.
It will just magnify the issues.
And if you already have steadygrowth, then you are
experiencing these growing painsand it's time for us to get it

(04:25):
under control.
So let's start with the firsthard truth.
Growth exposes every singlecrack in the back end of your
business, and when you firststart your business, you can get
by with a couple of stickynotes and you can still make
things happen when you'reworking with organized chaos.

(04:47):
But, as you prove, yourbusiness concept is viable and
your business starts growing.
That means you're taking morecalls, so you need a screening
process.
You also need templates torespond because you're going to
get more inquiries.

(05:09):
Basically, there are a ton ofmoving parts and every little
inefficiency in your back officebecomes a big energy drain.
So you end up spending moretime double checking to see if
you sent that response or thatcontract.
If you reply to an email,sometimes you forget to follow
up with people, so you miss outon good opportunities.
And that doesn't even count forthe time that you lose

(05:30):
constantly searching throughyour computer or your Google
Drive or Dropbox or OneDrivetrying to find that one document
you used the last time, youknow, the one that has the
wording exactly the way that youwant it.
And it's not that you'redisorganized.
Well, maybe, but in reality,the fact is that your business

(05:50):
has outgrown the way you've beenoperating.
You need systems, and this iswhere a lot of business owners
get stuck, or they just ignorethis all together and continue
to operate by the seat of theirpants.
And then we're told in theonline space that you just need
to hire help or work harder,work smarter, not harder but no

(06:15):
one tells you what actuallyneeds to change to address all
of this, and if you keepignoring it, it will only get
worse.
The truth is, you don't needmore help because you're doing
things manually.
You need a business thatsupports you automatically,
because once you start bookingclients consistently or you get

(06:35):
enough business to the pointthat you start to raise your
prices, those cracks in yourbackend are going to start
costing you real time, realenergy, money and trust.
And that brings me to thesecond big mindset shift that
you need to make.
You don't need more tools, youneed more structure, and this is

(06:57):
big because it's very easy tofall into.
The tech will save me trap.
This is the second biggest trapI've seen business owners make
outside of hiring help, waybefore their business is ready
for that type of support.
Now, I'm not going to get on mysoapbox about that today,
because I've covered thatalready in the episode Stop

(07:17):
Hiring in Chaos how to DelegateSuccessfully, and you can check
that out later if you'rethinking about building a team
to help you solve this issue.
Spoiler alert it's not gonnawork.
But here's the truth that noone talks about Tech.
Tools do not fix messyprocesses, they just disguise
them.
So maybe you've tried GoogleSheets, clickup Notion, airtable

(07:42):
, trello Monday the list can goon and on hoping that one of
them is going to finally makeyour business feel more
organized.
If you don't have documentedprocesses or you're unclear on
your process, on your prioritiesor how things flow, it doesn't
matter where you store yourdocuments or what tools you have

(08:02):
in your tech toolkit.
It's still chaos.
So when you create systems inyour business, you start to
build structure, and when I saysystems, I'm talking about a
documented process that walksthrough how to do something for
your business, step-by-step.
Then your tech tools areintegrated and what's left can

(08:24):
be delegated to someone otherthan you See, when your systems
are in place, you have a way ofworking that's repeatable.
Boundaries are built into yourworkflows, things operate
efficiently and consistentlybehind the scenes.
That means you can stopreinventing the wheel, because
the wheel is already mapped outand in place.

(08:46):
And once you have that, myfriend, your tools finally start
doing what you wanted them todo.
Your task manager reminds youat the right time to do
something, your client foldersfollow a naming convention so
you can find what you need whenyou need it.
And your scheduler oh, yourcalendar is completely blocked

(09:08):
off and allows for the time thatyou need to focus and be
present in everyday life.
So it's not about finding theperfect software or even the
perfect person.
It's about building a structurethat works for you and then
plugging your tools and peopleinto that.
Now here's the part most peopleoverlook the right systems.

(09:30):
They help you lead, not justdeliver.
So if you're spending all ofyour time reacting to emails,
juggling client deliverables andputting out fires, you're stuck
in survival mode, and that isnot leadership.
And I know that you're notbuilding your business just to

(09:50):
feel busy all the time.
You're building it to lead, tohave control of your time, to
create a client experience thatfeels aligned and it's
sustainable.
Streamlined systems allow youto do that.
They let you lead your clientsthrough a smooth, consistent and
clear process that setsexpectations and builds trust.

(10:13):
They let you say no to thewrong opportunities and yes to
the right ones, withoutpanicking and without stretching
you too thin.
They help you hand off taskswith confidence, because you're
not the only person who knowshow it all works, and it works

(10:34):
without you having to manuallydo it all yourself.
You see, leadership isn't justabout having the vision.
It's about having the rightoperations.
It's about how your businessruns.
When you're not the one pushingit forward every single day,
and if your business is relyingon you to remember, manage and

(10:58):
hold everything together, thatis not sustainable.
That's a burnout plan that iswaiting to happen.
So where exactly can you start?
Well, I've got a quick onechallenge for you.
I want you to pick one processin your business right now that
feels inconsistent or isweighing you down, just one.

(11:21):
It could be your onboardingprocess, it could be how you
prepare for sales calls, ormaybe it's how you manage your
clients.
Whatever it is, I want you towrite out every single step of
that process, and I mean thereal version, not the polished
one that exists in your head butdoesn't work in reality.

(11:42):
What do you actually do?
Write down the steps in order,and then you can go back and
identify what's missing.
And I don't want you to worryabout fixing it yet, I just want
you to get the steps out ofyour head and onto paper,
because once you can see yourprocess, then you can clean it
up.
Once it's cleaned up, you cancreate templates, you can

(12:05):
streamline it and eventually youcan delegate it.
That's how systems start, and itdoesn't require a fancy
dashboard, but it does requireclarity.
Now, if you want a little helpidentifying where to start
mapping out your backend systems, that's exactly what the
Backoffice Power Checklist isfor.
It walks you through the sixcore systems your business needs

(12:31):
so that you can grow withoutburnout, and in less than 10
minutes you can see what'sworking, what's missing and
identifying where you need tofocus.
This is the same checklist thatI use to streamline my systems
and I use it with my clients andinside of the Mighty Society
Systems Insanity Suite.
It's designed to help you stopspinning your wheels and start

(12:52):
fixing what's slowing you down.
You can grab it attheshannonbakercom forward slash
checklist or you can just clickthe link in the show notes.
Now, before I let you go, let'sground all of this information
with a quick recap.
First, growth magnifies what'smissing in your backend.

(13:14):
If it's messy, getting moreclients is not going to fix that
.
It's just going to make itharder to manage.
So before you start to grow inscale, we need to fix the
foundation.
Second, tech tools are not thesolution.
Structure is, you can'tautomate what isn't clearly
identified.
So start with how you work.
Then you can choose tools thatsupport that workflow, not ones

(13:39):
that force you into someoneelse's system.
And third, systems are how youlead with intention.
They give you control withoutyou having to micromanage.
They let you show up for yourbusiness, your clients and your
life with calmness, clarity andconfidence.
And that's the kind of businessyou're really trying to build,

(14:02):
isn't it?
Not one that just runs, but onethat fits the way you want to
live and lead.
So if you're ready to startbuilding that version of your
business, I want you to go totheshannonbakercom forward slash
checklist and download the backoffice power checklist and once
you go through it, you willknow exactly where to start

(14:26):
fixing the things that aresilently stealing your time.
Remember, you don't need towork harder, you just need the
right support, and that startswith your systems.
Thanks for hanging out with methis week.
If you've made it this far,it's clear you're ready to shake
things up and take control ofyour business, and I'm here for

(14:48):
it.
But remember, just listening tothis episode won't get you
better results.
I challenge you to break themold and take action today.
Your next move let's connectHead to the show notes and book
a call with me to learn how theMighty Society membership can
help you streamline your backoffice and reclaim your time.
If you're not ready for thatstep yet, no worries, connect

(15:11):
with me on Instagram, at theunderscore Shannon Baker, and
tell me what resonated most fromtoday's episode.
And if you're loving thepodcast, leaving a review is a
quick way to show your supportand help more entrepreneurs like
you break free from the chaos.
Listening is great, but actioncreates transformation.
Go, make it happen and untilnext time, keep calm and

(15:35):
streamline.