EPISODE 2: Defining Your Process Streamlining Goals and Mapping Your Process

How to Streamline Your Processes - Episode 2/8

Laying Great Foundations

If we get the foundations right we will succeed in our process streamlining

In This Episode (2) We will Look at Defining Your Process Goals and Mapping Your Core Process

This week we are getting everything ready so we can optimise the processes. Last week we looked at why you would optimise and this week we are defining your personal streamlining goals and mapping out your core process.

Hi, I’m Rebecca A business operations adviser helping busy business owners win their time back.

Let's go.

Defining Your Process Streamlining Goals

Don't Skip This Step!

As with any project success depends on defining what success looks like.

Your Core Process

During this series we will assume that you want to optimise the core process through your business. The core process is the one that takes clients from inquiry to invoice. First step is working out what impacts our business, what ensure that we remain profitable?

Introducing the Sustainable Profit Model

What Drives the Profit in Your Business?

Every business generates profit in the same way; they exchange value for revenue while incurring costs at a lower rate.? They sustain profit by ensuring the value delivered is worth more than the money the customer exchanges for it, and by ensuring their customer spend is consistent or growing.?

The Sustainable Profit Model looks at each of these elements in turn to understand what drives them for your business. What do your costs depend on? What increases your revenue? Why do clients value your product or services? How do you get new clients and how to you ensure existing ones come back.

Complete Your Own Sustainable Profit Model

To complete your own list out the drivers that contribute to each of these sections Costs; Revenue; Client Value and how you continue to grow with New clients and Existing ones.

You may be surprised about what comes out. It is easy to complete but having this information laid out in this way will give you clarity on what we need to focus on during the streamlining

But I Don't Want to Streamline My Core Process - I am Focused on One

Even if you are only focusing on one process it is still valuable to run the Sustainable Profit Model exercise, it doesn't take long and it gives you a clear understanding of your business.

Goals for Individual Processes

If you are truly looking at one process you probably also want to create a short list of your goals for the streamlining of that one. In the example I talk about streamlining your holiday approval process which might have goals of:

• Reduce approval time
• Automate entire process
• Make it easier for staff

Completing Your Sustainable Profit Model - An Example

The above video walks you through an example to help you complete your own Sustainable Profit Model. It guides you step by step as I talk about a company who makes websites for dentists (that's what happens when you think of the example on your feet!)

Defining Your Core Processes

Now we know what we need to optimise for let's get your core process laid out and ready for optimising next week.

Defining Your Core Process - An Example

This video takes you through our example company "Dentist Website Builder Ltd" and their core process. We lay out the broad steps that a client would go through the inquiry, the proposal, the project build etc etc. Once you have each of these steps you list out each of the activities you do under each heading.

You are Ready for the Real Work to Begin

We have now defined what good looks like and what we are optimising for in our Sustainable Profit Model and we have laid out the stages of our core process and the tasks that take place in each stage.

You are now ready for the real work to begin next week where we look at how do you define the opportunities for improvement?

See you Next Thursday

In Episode 3 we will be looking at How to Identify Improvement Opportunities in Your Core Process