by Domini Stuart, Dynamic Business

The entrepreneurial spirit of a small business owner can sometimes be at odds with rigorous structure. Domini Stuart looks at various models to find out how systems can enhance operations but still allow the business to change and evolve.

Have you ever wondered about the fundamental difference between McDonald’s and your local hotel? Is there a creative middle ground between absolute control and complete chaos? Should systems be applied to only mundane routines in a business, or to everything?

Maggie Richardson, principal of the Small Business Centre and author of Starting and Surviving in Business in Australia, believes that systems can offer many benefits to the business and the customer. “You can go into McDonald’s anywhere in the world and each cashier will ask: Do you want fries with that?” she says. “You know you’re going to get the same experience every time. On the other hand, you could spend a wonderful night with great food at your local hotel then go back a couple of weeks later only to find everything’s changed.

“McDonald’s are systemised; they have a procedure manual that each employee refers to as they learn what is expected of them. The hotel is not. Chefs may have their own systems in the kitchen, but when they leave, a new chef would have to start again from scratch. There is no consistency and, chances are, the quality will drop.”

Jack Fraenkel is a consultant with Motivatories, a business and franchise development organisation. He describes systemisation as identifying all of the core processes of a business and writing policy and procedure manuals to automate these. “Effective business systems provide clear guidance to all employees and facilitate daily business operations, thereby freeing the business owner to concentrate on building the business to its maximum potential,” he says.

The principle applies to businesses of all sizes, according to Amanda Sarden, managing director of That Organising Place, and you can start working on your systems from day one. “Systems operate on two levels,” she says. “If you’re going to be working as efficiently and with as little stress as possible, you need ones that work for you personally—a functional filing system, strategies for keeping your work area clutter-free and ways of using storage space effectively. These will help to manage your time more effectively and increase your productivity.

“You also need to be thinking about broader systems—the ones that will help your business to keep running smoothly as it grows.”

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