“How Are Those Pants Treating You?”
In my work with entrepreneurs, especially those in the start-up world, I very rarely find someone who already has systems worked out for daily business processes.
Some of the restaurant clients we work with have checklists they use for ordering inventory, for instance, but most start-up businesses just “wing it.”
We recently began working with a family-run architectural firm, and the spouse who takes care of the office management has this killer binder with her processes spelled out. I love it, because it is so outside of what I normally see.
Sadly, I hear variations of “we like flying by the seat of our pants” from many start-ups AND established businesses.
If you know me well, you can say without much hesitation that I am not the most spontaneous person alive. In fact, I like having a plan for pretty much everything because there is nothing I detest worse than wasting time or feeling rushed because I wasn’t prepared. I don’t like doing the same thing twice if it didn’t work well the first time. I work to find a better way, and then I remember that better way so I can do it again, and again, and again, until it doesn’t work for me anymore. Meghan and I work diligently to discover new technologies that we feel would work well for our clients, then testing them to see if they truly could add value and maybe save some steps. Saved steps = saved time = increased quality of life. I like that.
Isn’t that boring? Do I not like spontaneity? I enjoy being spontaneous, but I think the best way to be that way is to have plans to take care of the little stuff. If I don’t have to think about what I’m wearing to work tomorrow, for instance, I can better deal with the fact that my daughter overslept and we’re running 10 minutes late. My plan allowed me to deal with the unexpected more effectively. You see how that works?
My team and I recently met about a problem we were experiencing – my sharing vital info from client meetings with everyone. Previously, that information existed in my handwritten, scribbled notes and in my head, which made it nearly impossible for Carol and Shelley to get what they needed without asking me.
When did they ask me? After they had wasted time trying to find the information on their own; or maybe they emailed me on a day when I was working from home on other things, and I didn’t see the email until the next day; or maybe late on a Thursday, which meant that they couldn’t revisit the work until Monday. This obviously wasn’t working. I didn’t plan ahead and provide that important information to everyone so that they could work effectively. So, now we have a new system, which ensures that the “little things” are shared with everyone and the “big things” are done at optimal effectiveness for our clients.
With our help, clients have built documented processes which saved them hours and hours each week; they’ve developed synergies between accounting and bill-pay applications which keep them from duplicating efforts and wasting time; we’ve helped build bonus structures that can be tracked in real time so that no one has to wait until payroll is due to calculate them. These “little things” are actually monumental to us and to our clients because they gift us TIME...and they save us money on pants.
Flying by the seat of your pants is hard on an inseam, right?
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