The plight of every entrepreneur is overcomplicating what should be quite simple. Rather than subtracting complication, we add layers and layers of extra work and unnecessary complexity. Get in the business of ease by focusing on core elements and simplifying down to the essential components.
#1: Eliminate unnecessary steps – Extra steps and hands on a task add complexity and opportunities for error. Whenever possible, eliminate steps and pare down the number of people involved.
#2: Search for simple answers – Take the time to search for a simple answer to your problem. Chances are someone else has encountered the same challenge and has found a simple solution.
#3: Give your customers ‘self-serve’ options – Often customers appreciate a DIY alternative that lets them save money so look for ways to give them a self-serve option.
#4: Put it on autopilot – Use technology tools to fill in the gaps – calendar sharing programs let people book their own appointments with you, email software sends auto messages to new prospects, scheduling tools let you preload blog posts.
#5: Make your web do the work – Set up your web site as both customer filter and sales tool. Your web site should filter out prospects who aren’t a match for your company and connect with your ideal customers.
#6: Build repeatable processes – If you are going to do something more than once, build a repeatable process to handle it, even if it’s something you always handle yourself. That way as your company grows, you can quickly hand-off tasks to new employees.
#7: Create templates – Just as repeatable processes simplify steps, templates do the same. For example, every company should have a template for new client intake, marketing communications, such as articles, newsletters and press releases, and outbound email correspondence.
#8: Document the systems – Imagine if anyone in your company was suddenly (and unexpectedly) unavailable. What would you do? Would you be able to delegate that task to a new person or would you need to go back to square one and retrain a replacement? Document everything down to the smallest detail.
#9: Hire to fill in knowledge gaps – Focus your people search on finding complementary skill sets to your own, not just people who are willing to do the tasks you don’t want to do.
#10: Delegate by domain – Don’t just delegate by task, delegate by domain. Put people in charge of an entire area, a concentrate outcome or other definable domain within your business. Doing so will get you far better results and greater freedom than assigning and supervising tasks.
Got a BIG question for The BIG Idea File? Tell us what you’d like to see featured in upcoming issues of The BIG Idea File! We’d love to hear from you.
