I know you’ve heard me say this again, and again and again. But processes and procedures in your business that are followed by your staff are the unseen value in your business.
Lets look a scenario where there are two businesses, same profit, same industry, same amount of employees. One business doesn’t have systems and processes, this means the employees are always going back to the owner to make decisions. Things aren’t consistent in their business. The second business has processes and procedures, the staff follow them, output is smooth and consistent.
In this situation, Business 2 is actually valued higher than Business 1 – because there is less reliance on the ownership and the staff can make decisions.
Another bonus is the owner of Business 2 doesn’t need to be involved in the business as much on a day to day basis, freeing up his or her lifestyle.
The amount that you ultimately sell your business for effects your lifestyle for the rest of your life
Think about implementing systems and procedures in your business. We always suggest that you think about selling your business three years before you sell it. If you have ever read the book “built to sell” by John Warrilow – every business should be started with the end goal of selling and all actions during the business lifetime should be looked at with the ultimate end in mind – I agree wholeheartedly with this premis.
If you want some help on setting up systems and procedures, have a chat with us. We’re not going to do it for you, but we’ve got contacts, we’ve got people who can assist you to do that.
Our ultimate piece of advice is: video. Make sure you record stuff, even the little things, how to use the photocopier, how to use the coffee machine, how to operate the door, grab your phone, video the process as you’re doing it, talk through it and then you’ve got a process and a procedure. The trick is then to store that somewhere centrally where staff can get easy access.
However, do remember not everyone loves video. While a lot of people (more the younger generation as a rule) are happy to watch videos, others also like flowcharts or written instructions. In our office we try to use a combination of all 3 – produce the video then extract a flow chart and written instruction – there’s more than one way to skin a cat so to speak.