Outgrowing Your Business Systems? Let’s Fix That | 105
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Podcast Description
Are your current workflows secretly slowing you down?
Setting up business systems is one thing, but making sure they still work as your business grows? That’s where most solopreneurs get stuck.
In this final episode of the behind-the-scenes mini series, I’m pulling back the curtain on what it actually takes to create scalable business systems that evolve with your growth.
What you’ll learn:
- Why aiming for “perfect” business systems can backfire
- The 3 questions that make any productivity system sustainable
- How to prep your workflows for growth, delegation, and changes
- Real examples of how I built flexible systems into my membership backend using Trello for business
If your systems are breaking under pressure, or you’re tired of redoing your workflows, this episode will help you build smarter, not harder.
Links Referenced in Episode:
▶ Episode 104: 5 Steps to Manage a Massive Offer Revamp Without Overwhelm
▶ Episode 103: How to Keep Your Membership From Burning You Out
Connect with me:
Episode Intro
Hey, I’m Lucy Reyes, your host of the Cheerful Productive Chats Podcast, where I’m on a mission to help online entrepreneurs that like you focus on all the right things and kiss overwhelmed goodbye. Here, you’re going to learn strategies that will boost your productivity so that you can scale your online biz and impact lives sooner. It’s your time to shine. So let’s get started
Hey hey! Welcome back to the Cheerful Productive Chats Podcast. Today is a special one because we are wrapping up our little behind the scenes mini series, all about revamping one of my core offers, the Systems Savvy Society.
So if you’ve been following along, you’ve already gotten a peek into why I chose to revamp it, how I approach the process and today, we’re diving into a topic that’s honestly the heart of why systems matter in the first place, which is how to build business systems that don’t break as you grow.
Listen. There is nothing more frustrating than putting time and energy into creating a workflow or organizing everything so beautifully, only to outgrow it in a few months or a few years, and then have to start all over.
But the good news is that a good system isn’t perfect, it’s adjustable. And that’s a mindset shift that can honestly change everything for you. So in this episode, I’m walking you through how to design systems that are flexible, scalable, and easy to update as your business evolves. And I’m going to share three simple but powerful design questions you can ask yourself to future-proof every system you create.
If this is your first time listening, hey! I am Lucy Reyes. I’m a productivity and Trello strategist, and I absolutely love helping you get time back in your days and not have to hustle harder. We’re all about efficiency around here and doing things more simpler and getting as much off your plate as possible while still getting a whole lot done.
So if that sounds like your vibes, go ahead and follow this podcast if you haven’t already. And if you are a recurring listener, then welcome. I am so happy that you’re back for another episode. And if you love it, I would absolutely love for you to leave a ratings or review and even share this with someone else who could really use a systems uplift to.
Systems Should Evolve
All right, so let’s go ahead and dive into this episode. Because I really want to start with this key principle of the fact that your systems should evolve. I feel like we think that it’s just a one-and-done type of thing, and unfortunately it’s not. Nothing in business really is, and I know that sometimes we want to set up our systems to be “just right” before we can actually move forward.
But like I said, systems are not a one-and-done kind of thing, and they shouldn’t be. Like, they should not be because the best systems are actually the ones that make change easier, which things are changing in our businesses and lives every single day. It’s inevitable.
So, systems, good systems, good, simple, effective systems are the ones that make change easier, not harder. And that’s literally their job. That’s literally their job. So instead of aiming for perfection, think of it like this. Your systems should evolve the way that your morning routine probably has evolved in the past.
Before you had kids or before your schedule got packed with new pets, health challenges or even job demands, maybe you had a much more calm, maybe a little bit more structured start to the day. Maybe you got an opportunity to journal, maybe had a full quiet sit down breakfast and a slow cup of coffee.
And now, it might be a quick protein bar while getting your kids’ shoes on, or a five minute scroll through your planner before you just dive into work. Maybe you have had, or maybe you haven’t had this type of morning in years or even decades, and that’s fine. But either way, your routine has shifted throughout the years, probably multiple times, and it’s shifted to something that’s working for you now, or at least it’s working better than the last routine would have, right?
And that’s exactly how your business just systems should feel. They should feel supportive, flexible, and able to adjust as your life and business grows. The goal is not to get everything figured out perfectly the first time. It’s to give yourself the tools and structure to grow yourself and your business without falling apart. So let’s go ahead and talk about how to actually do that.
3 Design Questions to Future-Proof Your Systems
So whenever I’m building or tweaking a system, there are a few key things that I like to keep in mind, especially if I want to work months from now, not just today, like if I still want them to work in a few months and a few years from now. These aren’t the only things that you could think about, but if you want them to grow with you, then these are three questions that are a really good place to start when trying to figure out how to future proof your systems for a bigger and better version of yourself and your business.
Question #1: Will this still work if I double my clients or content?
So question number one is, “Will this work if I double my clients or content?”
So think about it. Can your current workflow handle more volume without you having to do double the work? For example, are you using any batching templates that you can easily duplicate and tweak instead of having to start from scratch every single time? Do you have scalable folder naming conventions that make it easy to find things as your library grows? Are your workflows reusable instead of being a one-time use?
These are all small details that make a big difference when your business starts to expand. So you really want to think about, is this a system that is going to sustain the growth? Because if not, that’s a problem. That’s a big problem and it could be something that’s actually holding you back without you even realizing it.
So take a moment to really think about, if whatever content client, anything were to grow, if it were to expand, can I actually handle it with the current systems and processes I have in place?
Question #2: Can someone else follow this if I need to delegate it?
Question number two is, can someone else follow this system or process if you need to delegate it? And this is your VA-proof question.
So if you handed this system or process to a virtual assistant or even a future version of yourself. Would you or they know what to do? That means you’re using clear naming conventions. You have broken things down into bite-sized steps and linking to SOPs, standard operating procedures or instructions right into your workflows.
And even if you’re not delegating right now, building your systems with this in mind will save you so much time later on. Okay? And it really forces you to work on what you have going on. It forces you to get clarity on your own a process, which is going to be ultimately a really good idea for you because it’s going to make things so much easier and smoother for you to run as well.
So you really want to think about, can someone else, can I give the system a process to someone else? And for the most part, they’ll know what to do. If not, then my friend, you have a pretty messy system that’s mostly living in your head, and that is not the way that you want to scale. If you want to scale and grow, you have to be able to hand off certain things, hand off certain tasks, hand off certain processes, even if it’s a tiny task, to someone else with ease, without overcomplicating it without.
Let me take a step back ’cause I’m about to derail a little bit. If you do have this messy system and it’s just living in your brain, and eventually you do know that you will want to bring in an assistant or a copywriter or anyone to help you with your business, it’s going to be so much harder for you to do so if you don’t have these clear systems and processes in place that have been future-proofed.
So don’t wait until you have reached a certain level or status or revenue stream before you start creating these simple, more effective systems.
Question #3: Can I easily update this later without rebuilding from scratch?
Now let’s move on to the final question, which is, can I easily update this later without rebuilding from scratch?
You know that things change. Change is inevitable. Your offers change. The tech tools you use change. You change, your life changes, everything around you changes. So the more flexible your system is, the easier it will be to adapt without starting over. So this is where using tools like Trello or Google Docs can really, really shine.
I love these two personally because they are very template friendly. They’re easy to update, and they don’t require a full overhaul every time you need to tweak something, especially if you have set them up in a way to make them repeatable and “duplicatable.” I don’t know if that’s a word, but in a way for you to easily duplicate them for the same process or system.
For example, if I’m writing a blog post, and that’s part of my marketing strategy, do I have a system in place to where I don’t have to rewrite the steps to write a blog post every single time? I have a repeatable template that allows me to follow the same steps for every blog post I write. That’s what I’m talking about.
And if later on you decide to use a different keyword research tool, or you decide to change your hosting platforms or just anything in the process has changed, you can easily go into that template, make a few tweaks without having to rewrite everything from scratch. That is what I’m talking about with this question.
This is how you build sustainability right into the bones of your business because you are making them in a way that is going to help you scale. It doesn’t matter if things double, your systems can handle it. Someone else can help you when you are finally able to delegate, whether that’s now or later, and you can easily make changes and updates to your system without having to pull out your hair and without having to rebuild from scratch.
So we’ve talked about these three questions to help you future-proof your systems and your growth.
How I Future-Proofed My Membership Systems
So now let me give you a little peek into how I personally did this when and as I have been revamping the System Savvy Society. So I mentioned that in one of the other episodes of how it was just starting to feel heavy on me.
So go back and listen to the other two episodes in this mini series to really get a little bit more context to what I’m about to share because it is super, super relevant. So as I was updating the content, I also made it a point to update the systems that support the membership. That meant going into my existing Trello boards and Google Docs and make sure that they actually reflect the changes that I was making right then and there.
So I was creating checklist templates all over again. I was tweaking card formats and I was adding the updated content into my membership content board, even if it was just a tiny title change or just a slight shift in order. No matter what it was, I was writing it down and let me tell you. This is not the funnest process.
Even though I love systems, even though I am the systems person, I don’t always like to update my own systems. I also drag my feet a little bit, but I know that when I don’t do that, the future version of myself is so pissed. So pissed at the version of me that could have done it, that could have made those updates, and now I’m stuck not knowing what to do or having to update the process.
When I’m like in “Go! Go! Go!” mode, I’m running behind on delivering the membership deliverables and I have to create the template. Like, it is not the funnest thing to do. I will admit that. Okay, but this… And this definitely slowed down the overall process of revamping the membership quite a bit. It would have been faster to just rush through all of the content updates and then leave all of the backend stuff for later.
But I know that that later version of me would have been so annoyed. Trying to remember what I changed or why something looked different or what the new templates were or what I’m going to say now. So instead, I decided to take a deep breath and I left behind a breadcrumb trail by adding comments directly into the Trello cards anytime I made an edit or update or just updating any process and system in the backend, that is going to help a future version of myself.
So even small stuff and tweaks got a quick note because I know from experience that even those little notes, even those tiny changes will make a big difference down the line. So it’s this whole “Do it once. Reuse often.” approach in action. And even though it does take a little bit more effort upfront, it is so, so worth it because everything stays streamlined, easy to follow, and it’s ready to grow with me.
And once the Systems Savvy Society is completely done and revamped, I’m going to feel so freaking good that the backend systems and templates that helped me manage and run my membership on a monthly, daily, weekly basis are ready to go.
I’m going to be so freaking happy, even though right now I might be a little bit like, “Ugh! I wish I could just get this done. I wanted it to take me a month, and we’re going into the second month and it’s not done yet! AHH!!” But I know that just this process that I’m doing right here, even though it slowed me down, is going to make the version of me in six months, three months from now, so freaking happy, make the process for me so much easier, and I’m gonna be so happy that I took the time to do this, to future-proof my system so that way the future me can be happy.
Episode Wrap-Up
So if you have been feeling like your systems just can’t keep up with you or that every time your business grows or shifts or changes a little bit, that things start to fall behind or start to fall apart in the backend of your business.
If this is you, then I want you to take a step back and ask yourself the three questions that we covered today. Will this still work if I double my clients or content? Can someone else follow this if I need to delegate it? And can I easily update this later without rebuilding from scratch? While there’s definitely more questions you can ask yourself, even just asking yourself these three will give you the reality check that you might need to know whether your systems have been built in a way that won’t break as you grow.
So if you answer, “Hmm… I don’t think that I have systems like this,” to any of these questions, then it really truly is time for even a small systems refresh. And that is the exact kind of thing that we dive into inside of the system Savvy Society.
We are building flexible, scalable, sustainable systems because they’re not just a nice-to-have. It’s how you grow your business without burning out. So if you do want support with this and refreshing your systems, then come join us inside of the Systems Savvy Society. I will help you get your system set up in a way that feels good and keeps working even as your business grows and evolves.
The link to join is in the show notes. All right, friend. That is a wrap for this mini series. It was a three episode mini series, and I really hope that it gave you a fresh perspective on how your behind the scenes backend systems can evolve alongside your business growth. So I would love to hear your biggest takeaway.
Just snap a screenshot of this episode, share it to your Instagram stories, and tag me @cheerstoproductivity. And if you wanna go the extra mile, then send me DM and tell me which of the three future-proofing questions hit home for you the most. I would love to see which one sparked that “Aha!” moment for you.
All right, thanks for tuning in and I’ll catch you in the next episode. Thank you so much for listening to the Cheerful Productive Chats Podcast with me, Lucy Reyes. To view the full transcript and all the links mentioned in today’s episode, visit cheerstoproductivity.com/podcast. And before you go up, make sure you follow or subscribe wherever you’re listening so that you know once the next productive chat is released. Talk soon and cheers to your productivity and success!
Episode References + CTA
Links Referenced in Episode:
▶ Episode 104: 5 Steps to Manage a Massive Offer Revamp Without Overwhelm
▶ Episode 103: How to Keep Your Membership From Burning You Out
Don’t miss a single episode so that you can get productive and grow your online biz without overwhelm.
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