As the end of another year approaches, it’s normal for us as entrepreneurs to look at our goals and to consider our results and see how well we have done – did we meet or beat our goal? Did we miss the mark? And of course, to look at what will do next year.
One other area that I recommend looking at once a year as well – and this is a great time to do it, is the support and systems that support our goals, and, in turn, support our income.
Some questions to ask yourself:
- Do I have the right team?
- Do I have the right mentors?
- Do I have the right technology?
- Do I have the right clients?
- Do I have the right systems? Do I even have systems?
- And most importantly – Do I have a single point of failure?
What is a single point of failure?
Simply put is a system in your business that if it stops working for any reason, can stop your operations, and/or your income flow.
Here are some examples:
Method of accepting payment
If you accept credit cards in your business, you no doubt are familiar with some of the hassles that can be created by merchant processors, from holding back funds to freezing accounts, etc. This can happen at the most inopportune times and sometimes without warning. So just imagine if you are planning a big launch or sale and you suddenly can’t accept payment. I always recommend my clients have more than one way to accept payment so that they have a backup just in case.
Phone system
If you are a coach or consultant, or another expert and most of your business is done by phone, I always recommend having multiple ways to phone.
For example in my business, I primarily use a VOIP phone system, and just recently during a group session the system crashed. This has never happened in the 3 years I have used the system, and I was caught by surprise. Thankfully I also have Skype so that I was able to dial right back in, and keep going, instead of having to troubleshoot and end the call.
Team Member
How amazing is it to have a team member that makes things happen like magic? How even more amazing it is when they are an expert in things you know nothing or very little about?
However, that amazing team member can become a single point of failure if they keep all their knowledge and procedures in their head! IF they leave, get sick, or you terminate them – you can lose all of their intellectual capital which can really cause a setback in your business, your operations, customer service etc.
It’s very important, even if it’s a contractor or virtual assistant to ensure they document their procedures down to the smallest detail so that in the unfortunate event there is a change, you minimize disruptions while you train someone new.
Technology
As the owner of your business, I don’t believe you need to know the details of how all of your technology tools work. And you definitely should not be the one doing it!
BUT I do believe whole heartedly you need to understand what it does and how it works at a 30K foot level, especially if it’s a key marketing tool (in other words link to your income) in your business, such as a CRM system or Webinar Platform.
All too often I have seen clients or colleagues frustrated or in tears because their contracted team has made a mistake or has changed staff, or done something really strange, or billed what seems like an enormous amount of hours and they feel absolutely powerless and frustrated, while they lose leads and income because someone else made a mistake, yet they actually didn’t with 100% certainty know exactly what it was they needed to ask for.
It’s one thing not to know something, it’s a whole other scary situation when you don’t know what you don’t know.
For example, I remember when I felt that powerless the time my virtual team sent a reminder for a webinar I was hosting out 2 hours AFTER the webinar. I remember wondering why my attendance was so low, and then got the reminder. I had no idea that my system was using a different time zone so didn’t know to ask them to check their time zones.
Just a few examples
Many of my clients are solopreneurs or entrepreneurs with small and/or virtual teams. Many of their systems are in start-up and implementation mode, and when not clearly defined, most likely don’t have a backup in place, and the first step to implementing a backup system is taking the time to review and look for potential failure points.
While I can’t list every possible failure point in one short article, I’m hoping that by giving you a few examples it got your thinking caps on and investigative juices flowing. As often times the failure point isn’t necessarily that obvious until it does fail.
So take a few moments this year, as you review your goals and accomplishments, to take a good look at the systems that support those goals and if you do identify a potential failure point, I’d love to know what you found, and what backups you will put in place! Just let me know in the comments below.
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