In addition, being entrepreneurs we are often bold and uncompromising when it comes to finding a solution, If something isn’t working, we tend to have a knee-jerk reaction to fix it immediately until such time as we can devote more attention to it (which, surprise, never seems to come along).
All of this tends to snowball until it becomes an unfathomably large and unwieldy problem that we can’t afford to ignore any longer. When that happens, it’s time to look into a business operating system.
What is a Business Operating System?
A business operating system can be boiled down into a suite of tools or processes designed to help businesses to operate more efficiently. This is often centered around a very specific area of focus such as sales or finance.
The problem with this more narrow restriction, however, is that it only serves to help prop up one critical area of your business, rather than all of them. And although finances and sales are vital parts of what keep a business running, neglecting other areas of the business that do not have an operating system behind them can cause a ripple effect of fires needing to be put out; fires which drain you of time, resources and people.
Signs You Need a Business Operating System
Despite our insistence that we can do it all ourselves, there comes a time in the lives of many businesses where our growth trajectory stagnates. We move from Startup to Survival and stay there, never breaking through to scalability. While you may be making a profit and appear to be growing, there will eventually come a point at which business will plateau. The survivability phase simply isn’t sustainable and leads to burnout, resentment and turnover.
Before you get to that point, ask yourself if your business is currently experiencing any of these common stagnation issues that are keeping you locked in a constant management loop.
A Lack of Standardization
A lack of standardization seems low on the ladder of business priorities in the grand scheme of things, but it can have a ripple-effect that seeps into every corner of your operations.
Having a standard set of processes for how things get done not only creates consistency and predictability but also helps minimize errors and improve customer and employee satisfaction.
A Lack of Efficiency
How much of your day is plagued by repetitive tasks and freeing up resource bottlenecks? Having a business operating system in place helps you anticipate and sidestep these common pitfalls while concentrating on the actions that improve productivity company-wide. Efficiency isn’t just centered on processes, however, it’s also found in people, strategies, management, company culture and core values. Being able to address all areas of improvement will yield.
A Lack of Scalability
Too often, entrepreneurs get sidetracked by the mind-numbing but necessary work of management which can easily swallow up hours of time. When systems aren’t primed for growth, they stagnate and begin to break down. The right business operating system shows you which metrics are worth your attention and allows you to focus your efforts on scaling the OKRs that will move the needle toward greater growth.
A Lack of Visibility
Are all of your key performance indicators on track? Do you know that for sure? Having visibility into the metrics that are driving your business growth is imperative and forms the foundation for you and your team to be able to make informed decisions and course-correct where needed.
A Lack of Accountability
With the right business operating system, goals and tasks are clearly stated and team members understand what it takes to achieve them to the best of their ability. When these two points are in place, it cultivates a sense of responsibility and agency among them so that they take responsibility and are held accountable for their work. If no one knows what’s clearly expected of them and how they are to achieve it, how can they ever fulfill it?
A Lack of Innovation
Oftentimes a business will be humming along achieving a decent pace of growth, but without much in the way of innovation, it won’t be long before a competitor comes along to knock it off its perch. Incorporating the right business operating system not only shows you what’s working in your business, but it also opens up the floor for the mutual exchange of ideas while zeroing in on areas of improvement.
There Is No Operating System for Entrepreneurs (Until Now)
All of these signs will be instantly recognizable to any entrepreneur that has been in business for a while. The problem is, too often, the business intelligence and operating (system platforms available centered around the management and improvement of a very specific area of focus. Trying to create an operating system for entrepreneurs would mean knowing the metrics that mattered for every conceivable business and industry out there; a task far too vast and involved for one single system to handle.
which is precisely why we rose to the challenge of doing it.
With the Entrepreneur’s Stack, you now have a powerful, streamlined, done-for-you dashboard at your fingertips that gives you exactly the information you need to plan, execute and fulfill your biggest marketing goals, backed by a comprehensive meeting system that’s tailored to help you take control and get radical results.
Whatever your company, whatever your industry, there’s an eStack out there that’s custom-built for you. Apply now to see if you qualify to have our team build and launch your own personalized operating system in 30 days or less. If you don’t at least 2X your ROI within 60 days of launch, you get your investment back.