Have You Built a Better Mousetrap?
May 8th, 2007 Uncategorized Landon Ray
As small business owners, we are prone to running our businesses like firemen… speeding around putting out fires. It’s no wonder, because most entrepreneurs have a natural talent for handling problems as they arise and feel comfortable in the face of the avalanche of tasks.
But I submit that the cost of being a fireperson is far greater than we typically recognize, and that there is an enormous opportunity available to those who, as Michael Gerber says, will focus their best efforts ‘working ON their business, not IN it.’
As entrepreneurs, it’s our job not just to get the job done but to build a system that gets the job done. When we focus on building a system, we become true business owners… not just employees in our own business. When we’ve got a system that works all kinds of new opportunities are available.
First, we see opportunities to replace ourselves. When we’re putting out fires, everything needs OUR attention. An assistant can’t put out the fires as well as we can. They can’t have those critical phone conversations, and can’t make meaningful decisions on their own. They can’t even deal with the mundane paperwork, because everything situation is unique and requires our decision-making.
But when we’ve got a system that works, we find that there are all kinds of processes that can be handled by others. When there’s a 
process, assistants know the answers and can handle the calls. They know what needs to happen next, and can manage the paperwork.
The miracle is that you get to spend more time doing your highest-value work, which can be dealing face-to-face with clients, creating a new marketing program, or building systems in other parts of your business.
Another major benefit of systematizing is scalability. That is, when you’re putting out fires, there’s only so much you can manage. When you have a system in place you can take on more business and manage it effectively. The best systems can manage an infinite amount of business! You’ll know, for example, that one assistant can manage five transactions at a time. When you’re at that level, you know it’s time to hire and train someone else… which is done systematically.
There are many more advantages of working ON your business, as opposed to IN it. You can begin to automate repetitive processes like marketing and lead management. You’ll find that there are less peaks and valleys in your business, and that you’ll see them coming.
But there are two last points about creating systems that are serious biggies.
One is that what you can systematize, you can measure. And what you can measure, you can improve. In time, your job becomes the constant improvement of the various aspects of your business. You’ll ponder and solve questions like “How can I improve the experience my clients have during the negotiation process?” or “How can I increase my close percentage from 50% to 70%?” Like a mechanic fiddling with wrenches in the garage, you’ll constantly see ways of improving every process that makes up your business.
Finally (for now!), when you’ve got a system that works you’ve got something of real value. That is, you can sell it. Many Realtors hope that at the end of their careers, they’ll have something that they can sell to fatten their retirement, but for most this is an illusion. A list of past-clients isn’t worth a lot. Even a brand name is tough to sell, particularly when it’s so closely associated with an individual (that’s quitting).
But a proven, profitable system for generating clients, serving clients excellently, and managing happy and productive employees is like gold and is exactly what business-buyers are looking for.
Of course, building systems takes time. It’s work. But it’s what we’re up to as entrepreneurs, and it’s the best work we can do.
I’ll write more about process as a competitive advantage, as a marketing advantage, and more in blogs to come.
