Policy Shift
Each decision you automate frees you for higher thinking.
After reading The E Myth by Michael Gerber a few years ago, I plunged into a flurry of business systemisation.
Adam codified my thoughts and added his own and we ended up with a 199-page brain dump called The Ways of Empire.
Today, I mainly use this mighty tome for buying pens and acknowledging client payments.
Broken Dreams
Gone are my dreams of franchising for $100K or selling for $2M.
Perfect copywriting seems way too nebulous and complicated to lay out in a manual ‘normal’ people can use successfully.
Our systemisation work wasn’t entirely in vain, however. There are many decisions I no longer have to think about.
Pen Pal
Take the ‘magic red pen’ I use to pierce authors’ hearts. The Ways of Empire says:
When editing or proofing, use red pen Uniball UB-120. It’s sharp and clean, it works on most papers and you can write really small with it.
Bingo! I order these little beauties in boxes of ten. Once I’ve coloured in a few dozen government tenders, I buy another box.
I never have to spend energy trying other pens or choosing from several options.
And if anyone handles an Empire overflow job, they get a pen that makes their work easier (while keeping it in sync with my style).
The good thing is, this stuff is a no-brainer. It’s automatic.
Many Thanks
Another handy area of systemisation is client policy. One Empire policy is to give thanks for every client payment I receive.
I got this idea from Malcolm.
Even if a client has been with me for years, I thank them for every cheque or EFT payment they send. I don’t feel silly, and I never forget, because it’s a written policy.
It’s the way I do things.
While my clients don’t go nuts over these thank-you emails, they do seem to appreciate them.
I don’t think there’s a lot of it about.
Well, that’s how I operate. How does all this look to you?
- Smart move.
- Dumb idea.
- You’re a freak!
Please express your views in writing.
Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, The Feisty Empire
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Paul, you’ve been reading my mind or my Facebook updates. Do I sense a reluctant entrepreneur? Im dragging myself through E-Myth Mastery, where Gerber realises that the systems creation will just turn into work and burn us out if we dont reconnect with the passion of being an entrepreneur and the passion of creation. My MIL asked if it was like sharpening the saw, to which I replied it’s more like sharpening & cutting & secretly wanting to be a skier instead. I dont think you have a passion for a million dollar franchise, I think you have a passion for the artistry of your craft…you just want to be free to write without all of the business worries, but you want the freedom of not being dictated to by a boss. I think you’ll find a lot of people are in the same boat.
-Sonia
Dear Sonia, YOU are the mind reader! How much do I owe you for that amazing insight?!
Gerber’s very smart, but it can be a drag doing him by the numbers. One of these days I’ll post my E-Myth Empire org chart. It has 18 boxes. I’m in 13 of them. No wonder I’m a bit tetchy some evenings.
Always great to hear from you. Thanks a lot!
Always a pleasure, Paul. The technician in me is struggling with the airy-fairyness of the start of EMyth Mastery, which is exactly why I need to read it. I’m resorting back to problem-solving, give me the answer mentality, which would then turn into more work. Will let you know if the rest of the book releases any more insight on this topic .. I’m sure hoping so!
I can just imagine the 13 of you having a nice big argument about how you’ve all had a busy day .. when all the other roles that you play in life join in too (like the One responsible for cooking dinner and the One who must ensure you have clean clothes).
It is tricky. Nine of us don’t get on at all!
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by PaulHassing: The Magic Red Pen – a professional editor’s weapon of choice: http://bit.ly/c6QQPj…
Our friends from @CarboniteAU posed this via Twitter regarding documenting business processes:
‘Documented enough of them to be able to walk away for a few weeks but not everything. Can you document everything?’
Anyone got any thoughts on that?
The only way I can walk away for more than a fortnight is to hand the reins to Adam.
That’s because we have some good systems AND he knows the Empire inside out.
An outsider wouldn’t have a hope.
So, according to Gerber, I’ve built myself a JOB, not a BUSINESS.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Paul Hassing, MYOB, Megan Wilson, Arthur Koulianos and others. Arthur Koulianos said: RT @myBRC: Is systemising your business a good move or a waste of time? Have you documented key business processes? http://bit.ly/alMzRK [...]
Megan, I don’t think you can or should document everything. It certainly differs depending on if you are selling a product or providing a service. But I think it’s also great to add the line of ’systemising the routine & humanising the exception’. Give your team free will to handle any hiccups by using their own initiative to make the customer happy .. up to a value agreed by you (e.g. if it will cost less than $100 to fix it, go for it without my approval).
EMyth also have an opinion on business systems creation for solopreneurs: http://www.e-myth.com/cs/user/print/post/systems-for-solopreneurs
Though I despise their products, ethos … in fact everything about them, I was once struck by a fast food outlet’s statement.
They said that, because they have such a comprehensive manual, they can hand the keys to an entire ‘restaurant’ to a bunch of 16 year olds (who can then run it without blowing up it or themselves).
This is impressive from an organisational viewpoint, but then you must consider the hideous ‘food’ and utter lack of flexibility (e.g. mandatory pickles).
I don’t think you can have your organic sourdough rye bun and eat it too.
I’m not sure about mind reading – I think maybe Paul is engaging in some kind of espionage. How is it he always seems to write on topics I’ve just had a conversation about, or some other experience with. It is getting a bit weird!
You see, just last night I was having dinner with my good wife and a friend of ours. He has started working for a large-ish accountancy firm, and he is working in their dept that sells their documentation system to other smaller accountancy firms on a subscription basis (several thousand dollars per year). He loves it because he was already a fan of the E-Myth, and it is right up that alley.
I was fascinated as I am trying to systemise some processes myself at the moment. I started reading E-Myth last year, but didn’t finish it. Both my friend and the folks here have motivated me to get stuck into it again.
I think Sonia is on the money (again!) – not every business can be neatly systemised and sold/franchised etc.
I think it is not possible, nor should it be the goal, to have a clinical procedure for everything.
As Peter Drucker said, “‘What are the expected results from this work?’ is…the key question in making knowledge workers productive, and it is a question that demands risky decisions. There is usually no right answer; there are choices instead. And results have to be clearly specified, if productivity is to be achieved.”
Some situations don’t need a procedure, they need an intelligent person making decisions based on what they know are the desired results (like Sonia’s ‘don’t ask if it costs less than $100 to fix a customers problem’ policy).
FWIW, I too am a big fan of uni-ball pens – my every day writer is a uniball jetstream 1.0 ballpoint.
Always nice to see your smiling face, Stephen!
My next post will reveal exactly how I’ve been detecting the movements of you, Sonia and other readers.
I’m delighted to hear you’re a uniball fellow and grateful, as ever, for your eminent contribution to yet another discussion.