Good planning is part of any successful business. Many of us have the perception that we have to constantly come up with new and innovative ideas to be successful. The more innovative the better.
I think innovation is important but at the same time, I think most success comes from repeating things that are working. In fact if I apply my 80/20 rule (Which I do to a lot of things), 80% of your success comes from repeating things that have a proven track record of working. This is called a system.
A system is simply repeating a process that works, over and over again.
Cook with Recipes
Do you have a favorite recipe? For me, I have Steak Neptune recipe that has garnered a lot of attention. It’s the Neptune part of the recipe that makes the meal special. If you think about it, recipes are a good example of systemization.
ACTION ITEM – In your business, you probably have systems in place that are working and may not even know. Part of good business planning is taking some time to recognize what is working for you. Ask yourself this question: What really worked well for you in the past year? Was there a system around this success? If not, then take the time to write down a process that can recreate this success. If there was a system, ask yourself if the process can be improved?
Tweaking systems from time to time
My Neptune recipe has been a work in progress. The first time I tried the recipe on some guests it was a hit right off the start. I’ve made that same recipe for a number of guests now about a dozen times and I’ve tried tweaking the recipe from time to time. Sometimes my tweaking worked and sometimes it did not.
Although systems may be working fine, there’s nothing wrong with trying to improve upon the process. Remember, there’s always room for improvement.
Innovation is taking ‘old’ ideas and making them ‘new’ to you
In my opinion, there is not a lot of true innovation out there. Most innovation is simply taking someone else’s old idea and making it a new idea to you. One of the things I try to do every year is to try at least 3 new things. Last year I delved into social media. This year, I am going to jump into the world of video blogging. These are not new things, they are just new to me. How many ideas are simply old ideas that are refreshed?
ACTION ITEM – Did you try anything new in the past 12 months? If so, take the ones that worked and turn them into a system or process. If these new things did not work, ask yourself why and then make a decision to either stop doing them or give it a tweak and a little more time. When you are planning your business, what new things are you going to try in the next 12 months?
Early in my career, a good friend told me the importance of working smarter by simply repeating things that work and avoiding things that don’t work. I think this captures the essence of why putting systems in your business are important.
Good planning is about recognizing the things that are working and the things that are not working. When you know what works, turn it into a process and repeat over and over. A business with good systems can’t help but be successful.
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