Common advice shared for entrepreneurs on social media → "eliminate, automate, and delegate."

This is the core outcome of the business system creation process. And without a strategy to pull these off, you end up overworked, burnt out, or forgetting certain crucial tasks.

But the real question is "what's the framework and how do I get started with the system building process?"

Below is my # step formula to do just that...

Step one: understanding your processes

Establishing business systems does not need to feel complicated.

All you need to get started is clarity on how your business operates.

Every single thing you do in your business—whether you realize it or not—has a step by step process.

These are the sequential events that occur when a trigger happens.

Example trigger → Client purchases your product.

What's the first thing you do after someone buy your service?

Example step one: You email them an onboarding form.

Example step two: You receive the completed form from them and then request login access to their account.

Example step three: You confirm access to their account functions correctly and then set them up in your project management software.

and on and on and on...

Step two: document those step-by-step processes

Congrats! Clarity is the biggest piece and you're on your way...

Now all you need to do is get these steps by steps written down and saved somewhere.

ClickUp, Notion, or even Google Drive are all good options.

Step three: compile 4 pieces of information

For every single step of a business process, you'll want to answer these questions:

1. What is the purpose of this step?
2. Is this actually required?
3. How long does this step take me to complete?
4. Besides myself, who could perform this step if I was to hire someone else to do it?

Bonus question → How much do I enjoy doing this step?

Step four: evaluate your answers

Questions 1 and 2 will help you determine what you should eliminate from your business.

If a step does not serve an important purpose or is not required to complete the full task, eliminate.

Question 3 will help you determine what you need to automate.

If a step or task is sucking away all your time, that's a sign something needs to change. Those time-heavy tasks? Automate.

Question 4 will help you determine what you can delegate.

If a particular step in your business requires detailed knowledge of the topic, then it's expensive to outsource and likely requires your specific expertise.

If a particular step does not require detailed knowledge and is cheaper to outsource, delegate.

The bonus question will help guide my lifestyle-centric solopreneurs...

If you do not enjoy a particular step, this is a sign you need to remove that task off your plate even if it's a larger stretch financially.

If you're starting this business building process for the first time, where should you focus...?

You will waste a lot of time if you aim to document and systemize your entire business all at once.

I recommend time-blocking a little bit of time each week to review processes one by one, in this order:

1. Anything you hate doing 
2. Admin tasks
3. Client onboarding
4. Client delivery
5. Client off-boarding
6. Marketing activities
7. Sales activities

TL;DR

Above are 4 steps you can follow to begin the system building process as a solopreneur...

Then:

Eliminate → Anything that is not critical to business operations
Automate → Anything that does not require a higher level of expertise
Delegate → Anything you hate doing. Anything that saves you time so you can focus on higher-leverage tasks

I hope this article helps.

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