Don’t feel bad if you skipped the “operations part” of building your business. I promise, you are not alone! Many people don’t think about their operations strategy (the processes, policies and templates that make your business run) until they need it and it’s not there. In the worst case, something has gone wrong – a product emergency, an unhappy customer, a budget that’s stretched too thin. In the best case, you’re ready to grow but don’t know how to onboard new employees, vendors or clients.
There are a few reasons this happens, and a number of tools that can help you build the foundation that will let you overcome these obstacles and grow.
1. You’ve been focused on the product and the customer.
Of course you have! You’ve worked hard to perfect your skills and turn your expertise into a business. Your first priority is building the product or service. Next, you’re securing new customers and serving the ones you have. It is very common to forget about the operational foundation in light of the time and effort it takes to get started.
2. It seems hard and not very fun.
It’s okay, I take no offense. Many businesses and organizations don’t have the knowledge or expertise on their teams to think about operational strategy. And it's not as fun as working on your product or talking to customers. After all, you started your business or organization because of what you’re passionate about, not to build processes.
3. You’re the founder - or, it’s just you!
When you are the one driving the ship, or the only one on the ship, you might not have considered the importance of getting things down on paper. Everything you need to know, YOU created. And “having it all upstairs” allows you to move quickly and can be a benefit to your productivity… until it’s not.
Do any of these sound like you? Congratulations! You’ve realized what you need and are on your way to building a foundation that will help you feel more efficient, better serve your customers and free up resources so that you have the time to implement other ideas. What’s next? Identifying and prioritizing where you need an operations strategy the most, and implementing the processes, policies and templates that will keep you moving forward, faster.
If you need help identifying your roadblocks and the strategies to overcome them, you can set up a quick chat with me here.