Small business owners talk to me weekly about why their business is “stuck.” They ask me for advice about why it’s not growing.
Of course, there are several possible causes, but one common one is what I call “System Bottlenecks.” These “bottlenecks” will keep your business from growing, preventing you from taking it to the next level.
You’re probably familiar with traffic bottlenecks. When you are driving along a highway or road, and there’s a traffic jam, it can be the result of a bottleneck. Whether there’s an accident, construction, or another problem on the road, the lanes will typically narrow to a couple, maybe even one. At this point, traffic is creeping along, and no one is getting where they want to go because of the bottleneck.
Think of your business, your customers, your processes, sales, etc., as going down a freeway. If everything is working as it should, traffic is flowing, you’re doing business, making profits, and delivering your services or products. Things are great! But if there are bottlenecks, things could be moving more slowly, and even come to a halt, if they aren’t solved.
A System of Systems
It is helpful to view your business as a large system. This large system has many “sub-systems.” The 5 core sub-systems of every business are:
- Marketing
- Sales
- Customer Fulfillment (or Delivery of your Products or Services)
- Admin/Back Office
- HR
Every business has to address these 5 issues and develop systems for each. Any one of these systems may contain multiple bottlenecks that prevent your business from growing. Sometimes, the business owner is not even aware of how each of these systems is working in their business. But it is important to realize that your system is perfectly designed to get what you are getting!
Think about it. If you don’t want anything to change, keep doing what you’re doing. Your business and systems are perfectly designed for the results you are currently getting. If you want different results, fix the bottlenecks! Get the tow truck down the freeway to get the stalled car out of the right lane so traffic can start flowing again!
If you want something different from your business, you must change its business systems.
Clearing Bottlenecks Within Your Business Systems
Enlist employees or team members to help you assess how these critical systems are actually working in your business. Have someone write it down, maybe creating a flowchart with the steps being followed.
Take a critical look at your systems and ask yourself these kinds of questions:
- Are there bottlenecks?
- Are there processes, procedures, or other tasks that are preventing this system from working effectively?
- Are there ways we can make them work more efficiently?
- What gaps, barriers, etc., are holding them back?
You may even want to engage an outsider, such as a business coach, to help you look at your core systems objectively. They will be able to help you identify potential bottlenecks and improve in each of these core areas.
It is not uncommon for one relatively small adjustment to open the gate for dramatic growth! One small change could be a huge point of leverage. This is one reason system bottlenecks often go unnoticed until an intentional, objective assessment is conducted. A little tweak could make all the difference!
If you’re looking for help identifying bottlenecks in your business systems, contact us for a no-obligation strategy session so we can work together to clear them up!
