Setting up processes and automations with the right tools, at the right time in your business

An important part of building and scaling your business is ensuring it’s sustainable. Business ownership and everything it entails – from marketing to lead generation to content creation to sales to customer service – is all about the long game. 

That means: 

• Automating processes where it makes sense (particularly repetitive tasks where you don’t need to be the one doing it)

• Hiring support and asking for help when you need it 

• Making data-based decisions, rather than jumping on each new marketing bandwagon or new business idea you have 

• Being mindful of the resources your business has available, and working within them

• Implementing new tools, systems, and processes to improve efficiency 

Essentially – moving slowly and intentionally so as to avoid burnout, while simultaneously adding support in the form of new hires, automations, and tools to streamline processes further. 

To support you in your pursuit to accomplish more in your business, without running yourself into the ground, I’ve compiled a few of my favourite productivity and creativity helpers here.

I’ve also previously written about why building systems and processes is worth the effort, and how to start creating systems and processes in your business.  

However, these tools, automations, and processes are only useful if you implement them strategically and at an appropriate speed. 

Business growth doesn’t have to mean burnout 

One of your goals as a business owner is likely expansion. Especially when first starting out and things are slower you might dream of being “fully booked,” having a waiting list, or not being able to keep up with demand. 

Business growth can open up endless opportunities for you when it comes to expanding your mission, creating change, supporting others, and increasing your profit to build the lifestyle you desire. 

But, this same growth can also lead to burnout if you’re not scaling sustainably and strategically. 

As you grow your business, the number of tasks you’re responsible for each day, week, and month also expands. 

For example, 

• Marketing tasks might include creating a marketing strategy, setting quarterly marketing goals, building content calendars, creating graphics or shooting video for social media, building your website, copyrighting, writing blog posts, running ads, and responding to private messages or comments (which will likely expand with business growth).

• Sales responsibilities might include pitching yourself to media outlets or podcasts for exposure, cold calling or messaging potential clients, or developing a referral program.

• Financial tasks might include monthly account reconciliation, tracking time, paying employees or contractors, invoicing clients, and filing taxes. 

• General business efficiency tasks can range from creating new products or building out new service offerings, to shipping out orders, to having client calls. 

• Admin tasks include answering emails, filing documents, setting appointments, reviewing your calendar, or data entry. 

• Human resource responsibilities may expand to include managing internal disputes, creating a positive working culture, conducting employee review meetings, and hiring or firing more frequently. 

You’re expected to do a lot as a business owner – maybe even more than you realized when you started your company. 

Implementing appropriate processes and tools in your business can help you to fulfill your dreams of being busy, without getting overwhelmed. 

You can’t do everything on your own

You have a limited number of hours in the day, and a limited amount of energy, to check tasks off of a to-do list. 

And as your list of responsibilities grows with your company, you’re going to hit a wall. There’s no avoiding it! 

While asking for help can seem uncomfortable, it’s necessary to bring other people and tools into your vision if you want to continue to grow. 

Note: when talking about business growth I always like to include a caveat that while hustle culture encourages endless striving for more, it’s also completely okay to be content at a certain level. Even at this level though, implementing processes and procedures into your business can be supportive in helping you reclaim more of your time.

That help can come in a number of forms – hiring a coach or mentor, joining a supportive community to bounce ideas off of, automating a task, hiring a contractor or employee to delegate to, or utilizing a new piece of tech to streamline your work. 

When you enlist the help of other people, systems, and processes, you expand your capacity to accomplish goals that will move your business forward.

How can systems, processes and tools support you? And what’s the difference between them?

You can think of your business as its own ecosystem, with each employee having their own role and responsibilities, and all working together to support the overarching goals and functioning of the company environment. 

Systems, processes, and tools can support the efficiency of your business by helping you complete tasks with less energy, effort, and frustration, with less mistakes, and in less time. 

Here’s an overview of the difference between a system, process, and tool. 

Process

A process is your unique way of completing a task. A process might outline how you create social media content each month, or the steps you take to onboard a client. 

When you begin documenting your company processes, it allows almost anyone in your organization to complete the task because they have step-by-step instructions of what to do and what the final product should look like.

These processes can be tweaked and refined over time for better results or efficiency, and when you have a process that works, it can be endlessly repeated. 

Systems

Systems are put in place in your business to save you time, stress, energy, and money. Systems expand your processes to include the people, tools, or technologies that come into play to complete the work. 

Who is involved in each company process? What tools would further support the efficiency of the task? Who is going to be held accountable for the result?

Tools

Tools are the software or products you use to complete a given task within your process. 

While not always necessary, they can often help you to save time by automating certain elements of a task, improving how elements of the task are organized, allowing for easier sharing between collaborators, or boosting creativity. 

Having the right tools in place is essential for improving efficiency and reducing overwhelm.

How do you decide when to add a new tool into the mix? 

There are endless numbers of tools and tech available to support you with various business tasks, and almost endless ways to create systems in your business that allow you to streamline work. 

However, just like I’ve cautioned against jumping into too many new marketing tools all at once, or relying too heavily on automations, it’s important to be strategic and intentional with when and how you implement a new system or tool into the mix. 

The implementation of a new tool or process will likely carry with it a learning curve, which means you’ll be investing a potentially significant amount of time and energy into it before you see any kind of return on investment. 

And, while many online tools are free (or at least have a free version), there is also a potential financial cost when you invest in a new one. 

There’s a balance here! When it makes sense, implementing these processes, tools, and automations can be incredibly beneficial for your business. 

However, you also don’t want to become stuck in an endless loop of implementing new software, always searching for the next best thing. Or of focusing so much on the administrative side of trying to streamline your work, that you aren’t actually getting much work done. 

To help you strike this balance, here are a few questions you can ask yourself to know if it’s time to implement something new:  

01 - Do you have a clear idea of your daily, weekly, and monthly tasks, and how you like them to be completed?

In order to effectively document processes in your business, you need to know what tasks you’ll be completing regularly, and how you like them to be completed. 

Especially in the beginning, there can be a lot of trial and error involved in your business. 

You might try onboarding clients with a consult call, only to find out that you’re not getting qualified candidates on the phone. In that case you might decide to add an additional form prior to the call to filter out clients who aren’t aligned. 

Or you might start offering one service, before quickly realizing that all of your clients are actually looking for your support in another way.

As you gain clarity on your zone of genius, and the unique way you like to complete tasks, you can more effectively record your processes and implement appropriate tools. 

Begin documenting the tasks you’re doing each day, week, month, and year. If you have a team, ensure they do this too. What are the steps involved? Are they fairly consistent or are you still refining them?

02 - Get clear on the tools that would be most beneficial in your business right now. 

What processes are you struggling most with? Where is your team getting hung up? Where is money, time, or energy being wasted and how could it be minimized? Where could things be streamlined? 

Tools should be implemented when there is a specific problem that they can support.

And the areas that are causing you the most headaches, or wasting the most time should be dealt with first. 

03 - Ensure the specific tool fits into your unique business. 

Your business processes and systems are likely very unique to your company. They can depend on your company offerings, size, values, goals, and profit, among other factors. 

So, the tools you implement should fit into your unique business ecosystem as well. 

You can’t follow exactly what another business is doing and expect to get the same results. 

While no tool will be perfect, there are generally enough options out there that you can find one that offers most of the functionality you need. 

04 - Take inventory of your current tools (and maybe also the “graveyard” of tools you’ve signed up for but stopped using). 

What’s working? What isn’t? 

Do you already have something integrated into your business that essentially does the same thing as the tool you’re considering? Why are you considering making the change? What are the pros and cons of your current and new tool? 

Again, nothing will be perfect so if you already have something that’s working, it may not be worth it to make the investments required to switch. 

Move strategically, rather than falling prey to shiny object syndrome, and you’ll find the transition much more successful. 

However, if a tool isn’t working, it’s worth the investment in time and energy to find something that will. 

Make a list of your top requirements when it comes to the tool you’re looking for, and do your research to find one that checks as many boxes as possible. 

Setting your business up for success is all about the long-game

Success comes to those who strategize and plan, set clear goals, take consistent action, make tweaks to their plans as more data is accumulated, implement new tools, processes, and procedures to improve efficiency, and are patient when it comes to the realization of their goals. 

Tools are just one part of your business, but they can be a large contributor to your success if used effectively. 

When you set-up your business processes and automations with the right tools, they’ll save you time, money, energy, and effort, allowing you to scale your business more efficiently and effectively.