Small Business Today Magazine SEP 2014 ELP ENTERPRISES | Page 23

EDITORIALFEATURE The Secret is the System Part 1 of a 2 Part Series By Howard Partridge  I n last month’s column, I talked about “GPS” – getting you from where you are in your business to where you want to go.  GPS stands for Goals (where you’re going), Plans (how you’ll get there), and Systems (the vehicles that will take you there).   Your business is a vehicle.  If you have more than one business, you have more than one vehicle.  A vehicle is a system or a set of systems.   My good friend Michael Gerber, the world’s #1 small business expert according to Inc. Magazine, says “the secret is the system”.  He recognized that all phenomenally successful businesses have effective systems.   If you have staff, you are probably familiar with the story of “Somebody, Everybody, and Nobody”: Somebody was asked to do something that was the job of Everybody.  Everybody thought that Somebody was going to do it but Nobody did it.  When Nobody did it, Everybody asked why Somebody didn’t do it.  Somebody said it was the job of Everybody.  Everybody said it was Nobody’s job, therefore, Nobody did it. Can you relate to this story?  Even if you don’t have staff, systems are critical to your business.  Here’s why - •The key to profitable growth Have you ever seen companies that grow quickly only to discover that more money is going out than is coming in?  The bigger you get without systems, the more money is going out the door in reinventing every day. Your business is a vehicle.  If you have more than one business, you have more than one vehicle.  A vehicle is a system or a set of systems. •Employees perform better When your employees don’t have to depend on you to direct their every move because they have a system to work in, their performance increases. • Fewer surprises Have you noticed that human beings do weird things?  The stuff people come up with sometimes is mind-boggling.  Like the time one of my clients had an employee who wrecked a company truck.  Instead of calling the own