The Michael Gerber E-Myth book revolutionised business thinking when it was first published. However, the fundamentals still apply today and documenting processes and systems is all about increased efficiency - read more from the E-Myth team on 5 steps for documenting systems.

Unfortunately, many business owners and entrepreneurs think that systemising and documenting their procedures is time-consuming and a loss of control.  We recently came across a simple example of how good systems benefit a business in two recent transactions.

1. Car dealer #1: we consider our vehicles to be tools of business fulfilling our need to have reliable and safe transport.  We went off to see Dealer #1 in February to replace a company vehicle.  It took multiple visits and emails to get everything documented and resolved.  We kept receiving emails and calls either asking for new information (which someone had forgotten to ask earlier) or requesting information provided previously.  It was super frustrating, and a huge waste of our time and I think we dealt with a total of 7 different people.  Furthermore, that dealership is clearly running very inefficiently and all the staff we dealt with just a few months ago are all gone.
2. Car dealer #2: Just a few months afterwards we started looking at replacing another business vehicle. On a Monday we completed an online enquiry to a dealer with regards to a particular vehicle.
3. Car dealer #3: We drove in to have a look and there was nowhere to park, every bay had a car in it.  The staff were all working at their desks or in their offices and we did not see any customers, but there was no way for us to park and go in, so we drove off.
4. Car dealer #4: We then went to look at another car we were interested in and signed up on the day. Throughout the process, we only dealt with 3 people the entire time and they updated each other seamlessly in the background.  At the first meeting, we were provided with a list of information required, which we noted down.  By the time we looked at our email later that day, they had already completed a company search and provided us with an updated list of information.  As we are pretty organised, we provided everything in a single batch of documentation by the next business day.  Everything was finalised within 3 business days without any confusion or fuss.  

We had already picked up the car and been driving it for over a week when we received a call back from dealer #2 almost 3 weeks after our initial inquiry, deal lost. So, in the terms business model, which business would you like to own?  From our customer experience, #4 was a slick operation with client care and excellent systems, no wasted time and frustration and I bet they are more profitable than any of the others.  Time is money and wasted time is money down the drain.  Think about systemising your business and increasing your margins. If you want to hear more attend one of our upcoming sessions on this topic.