Small Business Today Magazine OCT 2014 THE EFFORT COMPANIES | Page 30

EDITORIALFEATURE

The Secret

is the System
By Howard Partridge

T

he idea behind building systems is for
you to have more time.  If you are
“reinventing the wheel” every day
because there is no system in place
for your team to follow, you end up doing
everything yourself.  Ultimately, you want
to streamline your business so you can
have more time to pursue your life goals.
As I write this section, I have been traveling for almost three weeks.  It’s the 4th
of July and my wife and I are at our little
beach condo in Florida.   My staff knows
what to do.  They don’t need me.  We
were in Australia for almost two weeks
and I didn’t have a phone with me.   My
wife asked me about ten days into the trip,
“Have you talked to your office?”  I said,
“Uh, no.”  “Don’t you need to check in with
them?” she pressed.  “Uh, no, they know
what to do.  Remember I have a turnkey
business.”  “Oh that’s right,” she said.
One of my coaching clients built his
business from almost nothing to over $2
million per year.  He takes fourteen vacation weeks each year and travels all around
the world.  It can be done.  Now please
understand that you don’t want to be irresponsible.  You still have a responsibility
as the owner of your company.  You must
make sure that your managers are leading
properly and that things are being implemented properly.
I liken it to investment property that is
managed by someone else.  You own the
property (and therefore have