Where I see that entrepreneurs lose the most amount of money is when they ask the following question: What do I do next?

If you are in the middle of any operational process and you do not know automatically what to do next, you have just lost money. When you hesitate, do not act, or do not act in accordance to a logical system within the business, you have potentially lost a client or the opportunity to earn more money.

It is important to recognize that your business process must be highly developed. The better your business systems are developed and implemented, the more decisions are made automatically in your system. If your system requires you to make some kind of value judgment and it is not absolutely clear which way you must choose, you just lost time, and you have lost money. Have your system development be so efficient and refined that there is nothing that happens in your business that catches you by surprise. There should be nothing in your business that causes you to pause and think “What comes next?”

The thinking and the creative process comes in developing your business system or improving your business system, not when regularly conducting business. Brainstorm and think about how you want something to work before it actually occurs. Your creativity is left to the business creation process. When you are actually serving customers, writing code, or taking people through your sales cycle, if you are thinking about what to do next because you do not know what comes next, you have left value on the table. Any time you have to think about what comes next, that is a signal that a process improvement needs to happen.

I want to clarify this point for new businesses. As a new business, you have to go through that window where there are not processes or systems in place. You are not going to be nearly as efficient or profitable as you could be, but at the same time, you are learning and that learning costs money. You have to go through that planning stage, and you have to go through the trial and error of learning what systems will and will not work. There is almost no way around it. There is no getting past it. Recognize that the idea here is for you to consistently develop, and to consistently improve business processes and your skills. Recognize that you do not get to rest until you’ve had a business that you understand all aspects of and how decisions are made

Although you have to go through this learning process, there are ways to make it simpler and less painful. A business coach can help evaluate your current business processes and help you create the systems and operational procedures that are missing or inefficient. Having someone who is experienced at operational processes means less of a learning curve and less money lost. Contact the Confident Solutions Coach to schedule a consultation.

Author's Bio: 

Hugh Stewart is a business coach committed to helping those who are ready to move their business to the next level. His confident solution coaching will enable you to…
○ Cultivate a personal culture of change
○ Optimize how you spend your time and focus
○ Design workflow around your most profound talents
○ Develop masterful delegation and outsourcing habits
○ Work on developing and streamlining your work processes
○ Create the clarity, focus, action & results you deserve

You will discover how to...
• Master time and attention management
• Maximize income and rewards based on your best talents and abilities
• Hire and delegate effectively
• Develop business systems
• Create a sustainable and referable experience for your customers