Business systems are NOT those things you see sold on 1 page websites where someone claims that you can buy their guaranteed “system” and just plug it in and have it earn money for you. That kind is always a fraud.

Business systems are any one of the following things:

• Tools that streamline a repetitive task.
• Routines that facilitate smooth functioning of a specific segment of your business.
• Processes that are implemented to ensure fast and predictable results.
• Anything that you analyze, improve the performance of, and then repeat at higher performance.

Good business systems help to keep a business moving forward and help it absorb changes in personnel, clients, and projects. Good systems adapt easily to change, and are designed with sustainability in mind.

When I first learned about business systems, I realized that my father had taught me about them long ago. He just did not label them. I remember him saying, as he taught me to vacuum the shop floor, “Do it systematically!”

I also realized that I had already been using systems in our home – with a big family, certain things have to be done around routines, and standards. We had a daily routine. We had systems for giving haircuts, washing dishes, preparing meals, answering the phone, and yes, vacuuming the floor.

Within a family, some people wonder whether routines will replace humanity. In a business the same danger exists. This is why the best systems are flexible. They take into account the differences in individuals, and the need for periodic assessment and change.

Once you realize the power of systems, they become a terrific tool for keeping order in either a home, or a business, and especially when the home IS the business! They can smooth out regular annoyances, get you over the hard times of day, and help your kids know what is expected so they can meet that expectation.

In a business, they become the glue that holds the business together during the busy times, and through growth. That’s a powerful tool!

Sometimes it is difficult to know just how much to say publicly. If you tell a story about a client, that client may read that story, and even if you omit names, they may put two and two together. So when you have examples of negative things, you have to be careful what you say, and how, and to whom. Even if you don’t hurt their business, you may offend.

It is even more sensitive with family. How much do you say, when they may be the next visitor to drop in on your blog, just because. How many of these blogging mommies out there will one day be hated by their children for the things they said of them in public?

That said, sometimes it is very hard being a mother with grown children, with both of you trying to carve out an identity and a career. Kids, like clients, can often be difficult to communicate with. In the age of communication ease, the task of actually HEARING hasn’t really become any easier.

One thing is certain – we must make sure that what we say online does not become a substitute for what we say each day to our loved ones. They aren’t going to read our blogs to find out that we were pleased with something that we felt was brag-worthy. And they could care less that someone on such and such a forum knows that they did something great, if we have failed to say it to their faces.

The internet has truly added more tools for talking. But I think it has also added layers of complexity to the simple tasks of relating to those whom we most need to talk to.

His eyes lit up as the knife was held out to him. His first chance to use the knife to divide something. He eyed the pie carefully, considering how he could cut it into six pieces while still reserving the largest piece for himself. He poised the knife to cut, just a little off center, and then froze as he heard his mother utter these words:

“You have to take the smallest piece.”

Suddenly his entire goal shifted. From the goal of getting more, he now has the goal of being scrupulously accurate! He now has a responsibility to be fair, added to what he thought was merely a privilege! He considers more carefully, and checks all options before he makes the first cut.

He learns more as time goes on, about being the one with the responsibility for the wellbeing of more than just himself. And much of it goes back to those words on the first occasion that he was entrusted with the knife – “You have to take the smallest piece.” He learns that even when he tries his hardest, sometimes inaccuracies WILL happen. And that he must accept the outcome even when there was no fault on his part. Sometimes there are consequences that we don’t intend, that we have to make up for anyway. We musn’t require others to do that for us.

Privilege is often thought of as something ungoverned. It is only as time goes on and we mature that we realize that it comes with a price, and that it must be earned. And that the hidden responsibilities that go along with it are far weightier than we had originally considered.

In business, this marks the difference between true integrity, and the mere appearance of it. The appearance considers only what they perceive that people will notice, while in the background, retaining the thought, “How can I get a bigger piece than they do without making it LOOK like I did it on purpose?”. True integrity means you always take the smaller piece when you were responsible for creating the pieces. That you look out for the interests of your clients, associates, and even your competitors. That the Golden Rule is carried through every level of everything you do.

The result is pretty awesome – customers who come back again and again because they know you will never cheat them. And beyond that, they know that you will consider their needs and situations as carefully as you consider your own. All other things being equal, such a business will always do better than the competition.

We are watching an evolution in our marketplaces. It has been happening for many years, and it has gained a little attention, but perhaps not what it should.

Manufacturers are changing durable goods, to consumbable goods. Durable goods are those that last long enough that purchases are infrequent. Consumable goods are those that we “use up”, and purchase more of. Traditionally, durable goods included clothing, tools, appliances, equipment, etc. Today, we see a trend, inspired partly by greed, to make durable goods consumables.

Consider – How long does clothing last now, compared to how long it lasted 20 years ago? A computer, once a 5-10 year purchase, is now a 1-3 year purchase. Appliances break and are discarded in 2-3 years. Washers and dryers, which once had a 10 year warranty, now have a 1 year warranty. Vacuum cleaners have plastic parts, and wear out in a very short time under use within a family (one of ours lasted just 4 months, and it was not abused).  Athletic shoes are made to last “one season” – that is, 3-4 months.

Prices have come down on many of these items, but durability has definitely taken some heavy hits. We live in a plastic world – I don’t mind plastic in general, if it is tough plastic. But many of the items that are being made from plastic are being made from plastic that is too weak to stand up to the average use of the product.

We’ve also seen a trend of lowering the prices of durable goods, while increasing the price of their related consumables. Printers are the best example of this – A printer used to cost several hundred dollars, but the ink cost $20 for a large cartridge. Today’s cartridges cost between $20 and $45, and hold less than a quarter of the ink the old ones held. But printers are cheap. In fact, printers are SO cheap, that it was once less expensive for us to purchase a new printer on sale than it was for us to replace the ink cartridges!

A durable good allows a manufacturer to profit just once per customer, for a specific period of time. A consumable good has them coming back, again and again. But the cost of making “disposable” goods in place of durable goods runs through more than just our pocketbooks. Environmentally, it has a huge impact. And it has a negative affect on society as a whole, in perpetuating the myth that nothing is permanent, and that if something bugs you, just throw it away.

Some say this is just a reflection of the society we live in. It should not be. The trend is disturbing, and continued, will have disastrous effects on the ability of families and small businesses to survive. If you have to not only plan to get something you need the first time, but also to afford to replace it every year, your budget is quickly out of control.

I see no solution though. I think in this instance, greed will out.

Eavesdropping on our family would be horridly unexciting. The sounds lately consist mostly of sniffs, coughs, harrumphs, snorts, low pitched nasal voices, and frequent whining. When everybody is sick, everybody has to do their chores anyway!
David did it. He came home from camp with a pretty severe respiratory virus. Erik got it. Then he got something else. Then he got a cold, all in rapid succession. Then David got the cold, Alex got a fever and headache, then Adriene, then Betsy, and about the time that Alex got the cold, Kevin and I came down with the fever and aches. No cough yet. I’m TIRED of everybody being sick. I’m tired of the sounds of mucus being expelled from bodily orifices. I’m tired of running out of Kleenex! Our acetaminophen and ibuprofen budget is out of control!

So Kevin and I, neither one feeling too good, tried to build a small porch today for a trailer house. Both of us moving slowly, worn out. Like a bad carpentry show in slow motion. But being self-employed, you work. You work even when you feel sick, as long as you are able. Nobody will pay us to stay home and wrap up in a blanket and force fluids. If we don’t work, there is no income. And we need income! The result was solid – but it wasn’t much work for a whole day!

We’ve been enjoying life around the illness though. It is good to have David home, with his humor and helpfulness. I took him to pick up his brand-new glasses yesterday. He asked me how fragile the filament was that held the lense in on the bottom. I told him I though it must be pretty sturdy, after all, Kevin has had a pair of glasses with half frames for about 4 years, and it has never broken. On the way home, after getting the glasses, David made an attempt to adjust the frames, and pulled the wrong way. The filament on the left frame snapped before we were even halfway home (it is an hour drive home, but STILL!). He sat there feeling really foolish, with a brand new pair of glasses with just one lens. He contemplated the possibilities of monocles – and abandoned the idea when holding the lens in with just his eyebrow and cheekbone gave him a cramp. The glasses lay in his other hand looking pathetic. After about 10 minutes, he perked up, and said, “Maybe I could just tell the other kids that I got contacts!”

The kids started homeschool yesterday. David is a great help with it, and Erik is now learning to tutor his siblings also. I was proud of them, they got right to their schoolwork without anyone having to tell them to, and they worked diligently to finish their lessons TWO DAYS IN A ROW! I know that the honeymoon is going to be over probably Thursday. After that, there will be the usual “I can’t find my pencil”, and “I didn’t eat breakfast yet!”.

And in all of this, I made two critical business decisions. The two sites I’ve had for sale forever, which are worth every bit I am asking (hey, they make me money… people think I’m gonna GIVE them away?), which I get LOTS of nibbles about, but which everyone runs from when they realize I want an actual amount of money for it, are no longer for sale. I’ve decided to rebuild them in a CMS, so I can expand their features. A monstrous amount of work, no idea HOW I’ll fit it in, but know that I have to so they can keep earning for us. Yes, that was two business decisions… keep one, keep the other. Two choices.

We’ll also be doing a booth at the Casper Events Center for the Idea Expo. This is our target market, and it makes sense. It is pricier than our usual, but should be worth it. This is one of those scary things though – going out on a limb to gather the resources to get everything together for it. Gotta go out on a limb to get the best fruit though.

Our son reports for his mission on the 24th of October. The same day our daughter is scheduled to ship out to Kuwait, for training to go into Iraq. Bit of an irony, really.

Imagine this:

You get up in the morning, shower, and have a leisurely breakfast with your family. Your kids settle down to school work (or head off to school), and you and your spouse go to work – in your home office. You each have your own tasks to accomplish, and frequently share information across the room. Sometimes your spouse pauses to flirt with you.

Lunch means stopping long enough to fix whatever you want to eat, and enjoying it with your spouse or your entire family (if you are fortunate enough to homeschool). Then it is back to work until just before dinnertime. The kids help with the family business with age appropriate tasks in the afternoon, and are given payment for their help.
Everyone pitches in to fix dinner, and then to cleanup afterward. The kids settle down to read or watch a movie, and you and your spouse go for an evening walk around town. You stop occasionally to greet neighbors who are outside in the dimming light. It gets dark when you are still several blocks from home, but you don’t worry about your safety. It is just nice being with the love of your life.

Ever had a day like that? Small town America, self-employment, working in harmony with your spouse, working in a family business where the whole family works together, being able to walk around town and know who your neighbors are, and feeling safe walking after dark.

This is my life. Every day is not idyllic.. far from it. We have to drive an hour to get anywhere, the kids squabble and have to be taught not to, just like any kids. But I live a life that most people think they dream of. They do not see the other side of it – the sacrifices we make to keep this life. The house we live in that isn’t all that great, the older cars we drive so we can afford to live where the distances eat cars and spit out the pieces, or the times we bite our tongues to keep the peace in our home.

There is no pool, there is no expensive car. There are no vacations to exotic places – the Platte River or the Guernsey Wagon Ruts are as exotic as it gets. But we don’t need those things to be happy. The real happiness comes from our relationships in our family.

Life is good. And getting better.

I can’t hardly tell you what I’ve accomplished this week. It seems like one of those weeks where I’ve been running around trying to catch up, but never seem to get anything DONE!

Had to be out all day Monday, spent Tuesday catching up on those mundane little things that leave you no evidence of anything accomplished. Wednesday I started a file upload, but due to our flaky internet, it did not finish – Kevin was sick that day, so he didn’t get anything much done either. My daughter sliced her thumb open and required 5 stitches and a tetanus shot (so we got the other kids updated on their immunizations while we were at it). Thursday the same daughter had to see the cardiologist, which took half the day, the other half of which was spent trying to finish the download, which involved finding another FTP client. Today, the day is rapidly being eaten up with piddly little things that seem to have no bearing on the work that is behind!

We have days like this. Sometimes we have WEEKS like this. Where the work on the list just sits there, the income that is needed doesn’t come, and we feel like our business is just stalled. And it seems that family needs come into the picture – not as an irritation, but just as a factor that doesn’t seem to make us feel any better.

When someone gets sick,  or when things come up that take us way from work, it is hard to get back on track sometimes. And the family stuff that gets in the way is something we rarely give ourselves credit for having accomplished. Maybe because it doesn’t PAY us!

In between this all though, I did get some things done that aren’t going to help much immediately, but which will pay off long term – I created three MicroBusiness Tree in the Rock sculptures (http://westernhillsinstitute.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32&Itemid=47)
and posted them for sale on our Institute site. I updated several course listings, and completed the instructional writing for 5 booklets. And I created a booklet brochure for the Institute, which we can use to mail out to various businesses. There were various conversations with clients, and completion of a header and several site assessments, as well as no less than FOUR “What do I do?” inquiries (the ones where people want to know how to find a good business for themselves).

All things considered, I had a busy week, and a productive one. But most of this stuff won’t pay me right now – most of it is that kind of stuff that you have to do if you want the business to grow, but which you don’t see results from right away.

Part of the reason I am writing this is to outline what I’ve done in a way that helps ME realize all that I’ve accomplished. Sometimes we don’t realize how much it is until we try to describe it.

So the next time you feel frustrated at not being able to get anything done, write down what you DID do. It just might astonish you!

I’ve known for a long time that when you are making changes, that the second week is the hardest – right toward the end of it, things get very difficult to maintain. Everyone starts resisting to the fullest. What I never expect, is how much I, myself, contribute to that.

Kevin has been home for just two weeks. And yesterday was pretty hard. We were crabbing at each other instead of working together, and it was pretty terrible. It was not until late in the day that I realized why. We are both making some huge adjustments, and this is just the time frame in which those adjustments are the hardest.

I think during the day yesterday I was ready to just throw in the towel and figure it wasn’t ever going to work if it was going to be like this. And according to everything I know about human behavior, that is precisely what most people think at the end of two weeks of attempting new changes!

Once it finally dawned on me that this was just part of a process, and that we needed to redouble and get through it, I figured I can last another week – end of the third week is when things usually start to finally come together into a new functioning pattern if you persevere. So I am going to watch and see how it all comes out then.

Because having a spouse come home to work the family business together is no small set of changes. It is HUGE, and it means that we have to insure that our relationship develops on new fronts, and that we develop new skills.

Kevin is still in the “it’s your business” mode, instead of the “it’s MY business” mindset, but hopefully that will change over the next couple weeks too.

It will be a busy week though – we have a kitchen remodel to finish in a client rental, some more work to finish in our own rental, a business fair to attend, and a lot of client and personal web work to do. There just is not enough of me to do it all, and Kevin and David cannot help with some of what needs to be done. I’m sure we will muddle through though.

I’ve always had simple business goals. I wanted to keep my family first, keep my business small, and NOT to have to handle the paperwork associated with employees. I wanted my business to stay flexible, so that I had some freedom over what I chose to do, and that was always more important to me than making lots of money. Financially, my goal was that my business justify the time I put in on it, and that it benefit our family. It certainly has done that, though many people would wonder why I was not driven to make more.

Last summer, my goals changed. I prayerfully thought about what I could accomplish, and how I could take the dreams of my heart, and by compromising some things, create something that would provide a greater realization of other dreams. Specifically, if I earned more, I’d be able to do more good. To do that though, I would have to compromise some of my preferences. It took a careful reassessment of what I COULD compromise, and what I could not.

I’d have to hire employees.

My family would STILL have to be my priority. That meant I’d have to delegate many tasks I prefer to do myself, to keep MY job flexible.

I’d have to move from technician, to trainer and administrator.

I’d have to market in a way I had never done before, and become comfortable in situations I had previously tried to avoid.

We’d have to incorporate. Somewhere I never wanted to go, but financially, it made the most sense (no, and LLC would NOT do for our particular situation).

I had to change my concept of what I was capable of achieving. That was a big step. I’ve always lived in a small town, and done small things. Suddenly I was faced with stepping outside that comfort zone and considering competing with people who were thinking big.

I had to seriously rethink my pricing, productivity, and target market. I also had to think about ways to set up systems to make our services more efficient.

For it to work, I had to determine which of my personal preferences I could give up, and which ones I could not. And I had to think and plan for potentials that I was not at all certain we could ever realize.

Did I want to franchise? No. So how would I expand my efforts if I did not want to do that?
Did I want to hire employees? Not really, but I could make that change – after all, I also liked the idea of providing employment in a depressed area.

Did I want an office outside the house? Absolutely not. But I’d have to have one… so I thought about how I could do that and still feel like I could keep in touch with my home throughout the day – we happen to own a property just across the alley, and that provided the answer. I can still work from home, set up the office on the other property, and interlink the phone systems between the offices.

I also looked hard at my strengths and weaknesses. I am a good designer – not extraordinary, nothing amazing, but functionally good. But that was something I could delegate (did, in fact, to my son). I could delegate marketing tasks (if I could find someone willing to actually DO them!), and I could delegate financial tasks – but ONLY to someone I really trusted (that ended up being my husband). I could delegate some writing tasks, but not all, and I could delegate many technical tasks, but not unless I had someone qualified, or someone whom I had trained (due to financial issues, that one is still a ways out). I could NOT delegate client negotiations. I am simply the best person for that. And I could not delegate project oversight – the buck stops with me. I also refuse to delegate childcare, except sometimes having the older kids watch the younger ones. I am simply NOT willing to give up motherhood to someone else. I’d have to supervise, and administrate on a flexible schedule, and delegate things that were not flexible, so that I could keep motherhood as my priority. I’d have to make sure my business offerings always made that possible (one reason we phased out computer repair services – not flexible enough).

I have a friend now who is looking at some of the same issues. Do I want to grow, HOW do I want to grow, and what can I give up to make that happen, and what do I, personally, have to retain, to keep my personal goals as they need to be?

It has truly been a learning process. We began the effort to seriously grow, about 6 months ago. I had to combine that effort with training my husband and son in their duties, so it has been slow. But this month I realized one of my goals – people are now starting to call ME, instead of us having to chase down every contract. Growth is still slow, but it is happening, and the income trend is steadily rising. Some projects we put into place 6 months ago are also now just starting to pay off, in a significant way, and that is pretty cool.

Everything I choose to do with my business has to fit my long term goals. If it does not fit, I adapt it, or I let it go. I’ve had many opportunities for growth come during the last 6 months, and most of them I passed on. Because growth is only good if it is the kind of growth that you can cope with. What I am ending up with, is a unique and needed service, that fits my lifestyle well, and that works for my clients and employees too.

And I am definitely still learning about growth!