I just can't get you out of my head!

Boy, your processes is all I think about!

Yes I'm obsessed with the way things work, maybe in my imagination there should be no complication with how you get from A to B in your working ways, but I bet there is!

When was the last time you looked at all your business processes? Like really looked at them? And why haven't you?

Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi

As hard working business people , especially us single folk (as in solo entrepreneur types, I've not binned the husband off, don't panic or get your hopes up ?? ) we run nearly on autopilot when we do our daily tasks. You have set roles and responsibilities that you have personally moulded and crafted to fit how it works over the months, years, decades that you have been doing them. But when was the last time any of us wrote how we do things down?

Some people might call them SOP's (Standard Operating Procedures), I just like to call them How I do My Stuff or How Hayley's Brain Works!

Let me tell you a home truth that is going to hurt a little bit!

No one EVER is going to be able to do something exactly the same way you do it . !

We are unique, we present on the world stage differently and all of us work with our own initiative and tone - whatever brand guidelines there are in place - we have unique voices and interpretations!

But......

If people have got a step by step guide, video snippet and some helpful guidance and just something, anything, to work from, then the likelihood that they are going to pick up skills, hear you brands voice and be able to be accelerated into productivity faster and with less stress is working in your favour.

In my mind, a celebration, in fact the sweetest of sensation occurs when a new client turns round and goes "oh yes this is my document of how I do everything, it explains my tone and who the main players are, and explains fully my pipeline". Yeah right a girl can dream - this has never happened!

There is no hesitation at all that having this in place if you are a solo business owner, a huge business or anywhere in-between would massively strengthen your business and have the ability to multi skill your team.

Not all employees stick around forever - some stay for over a decade and then move to pastures new - have they got updated handover procedures?

If you are looking to outsource, how much quicker would it be for a freelancer/virtual assistant/ contractor to get hold of the reins on the project you are asking them to do if you had a plan and guide already? Also how are you going to figure out what to outsource in the first place if you don't know what takes you the longest?

What would happen if Scott, Charlene, Madge, Toadfish or You suddenly couldn't work or needed to take a long period of time away from the business?

Have you got anything in place that someone (like a trusted VA or family friend) could just pick up and run with? Who would look after your business for you to make sure you had a business to come back to when you could/wanted to?

For each of my Daily Hayley clients I make a business process manual. This is for my own reference, but also as a just in case.

Just in case I fall off the face of the earth and then another VA can pick up where I left off, but also just in case the world stops (remember March 2020??!) and businesses need to cut outgoings. I know too many business owners that suddenly had to stop outsourcing due to their business having to cut costs, but then they were stumped because they didn't know how to keep the bits they outsourced going.

Every business owner should know the basics of how each part of their business works or at the very least have them written down.

For you lovely lot and because I am grateful that I get your eyeballs for a few minutes on a Friday I've actually got a very boring , ugly bare bones template that you can download and add to, to make into your own business manual. Get it here!

It is quite therapeutic (if you are weird like me) writing down how you do things, it is also super useful to analyse it after.

Analysing your processes regularly can make you money! And we all like the money!

Every process has a step and every step has multiple steps within them. Loads of these are repetitive, dull, mind numbing and not customer facing. Luckily nowadays everybody is doing a brand new thing, its called auto - ma -tion! I know you'll like it if you give it a chance now!

I am betting there are at least 3 things you do in your week that can be automated.

I can hear you huffing and the fear of automation taking away from the personal of business - yadda yadda, you are thinking better the devil you know I'll just keep doing what I'm doing.

I'm not talking about automating your customer service or voice , I'm talking about automating your delegation of tasks, moving prospects down that pipeline, your loading of CRMs, your booking of meetings, note taking, blog / content ideas and typing the clicking clicky tappy tappy jobs.

And automation is easy! If I had a little baby sister she would be able to do it with ease!

It's easier than learning your ABCs.

If you have your own set of SOPS or are going to download my funky copy to fill in and want a basic free review of them with some areas highlighted that you could automate then get in touch, or if all of this sounds way too much work then guess what? My new process blitz package is up for grabs - but be warned - only the brave apply!

Now after reading my effort in getting you to open your head up to others, put your hand on your heart and tell me that writing your processes down is a bad idea?

But don't because i'll have tears on my pillow, pain in my heart, caused by you!

H x

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#ProcessManagement

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