Last week, I encouraged taking a good look at all of the tools and systems used in your business and, based on self-reflection and an understanding of your important relationships, deciding what should stay, what should change and what should go. (It’s that self-reflection part that most business owners miss, and what ultimately makes all the difference. But more on that in another post…)
When you get to a place of toolbox hell or system overwhelm, the problem might not be the number of systems you’re dealing with, but rather that those systems do not work together. It’s the disconnection that causes suffering. Hmmm…sound familiar? Yep, as with our selves and each other, disconnection from and among our systems feels… chaotic, frustrating, isolating. Now all those must-do’s become painful chores and you end up neglecting the business end of your business!
Fortunately, most quality online/cloud-based systems available for small and micro-businesses are interconnectable. You may need to do a little digging – look for links on your systems’ websites that say things like “Add-Ons” or “Integrations” – follow the instructions and get connected. I mentioned some of the systems I use in last week’s post. Some of my connections, that I welcome YOU to make include:
- Highrise, (client/contacts management system) connected to:
- MailChimp (marketing email system)
- Freshbooks (time-tracking, bookkeeping, invoicing)
- Gmail (Email)
- MailChimp connected to:
- Website
- Website connected to:
- PayPal
- ScheduleOnce (appointment scheduling system), which is also connected to my Google Calendar, connected to Gmail
Or, perhaps for you, it’s a different story. This is where knowing yourself as a business owner really comes into play. You may look at everything above and want to run and hide. There are some all/[many]-in-one systems out there that, while more expensive money-wise, could be a significant savings for you time, energy, sanity and otherwise. For me, these are next steps; for you, they might be first steps:
So, tell me readers:
- If you’ve been in business for a bit – how did you start and what are you using now? Are you feeling connected or chaotic?
- If you’re just starting out – what’s your inclination; save the money and go with several, connected systems, or save your sanity and start up with an all-in-one?
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Yes! I love when my tools play nice in their toolbox together!
For me, a big focus is the community I’m building with my clients – so it’s making sure my HootSuite is connected to the MyMiBoSo Twitter account, Facebook account, and personal Facebook account so that I can keep the conversation going throughout the day.
Then making sure those Facebook and Twitter responses are connected back to my email so that I don’t miss the connections!
And of course making it easy for my clients to find my website from my social media accounts – and vice versa – so that there’s a seamless flow of back and forth as I continuing offering more and more through my practice!
Thank you, Sabrina! These are some excellent examples that I hope readers will use!!
I’m a family photographer and I also teach an online photography workshop for parents called The Photosanity Workshop. I started out with NOTHING integrated, mostly because I wasn’t even aware that you could integrate all the parts and pieces! I’m slowly working on integrating everything but still need to make some switches in providers so that everything plays nice together – I wish I’d started out this way and planned accordingly!
Thanks for sharing this, Alethea! An important part of my work with people just starting out is exactly what you’re describing – getting them set up with tools & systems that are as integrated as possible right from the start. It’s so much more difficult to have to go back and make significant changes later!
Right now I’m following the “less is more” approach. My ultimate goal in my business is personal connection. When I start to feel overwhelmed or that my systems are taking me away from that goal, I pull back a bit and make a course correction. I love your insights and suggestions. This is the kind of post I’ll want to bookmark for future reference! Thank you.
Thank you, Sue Ann for highlighting a really simple, yet powerful point: if your systems (or any of your business practices) are taking you away from your goal, make a change.
It’s when we forget that goal that we create trouble for ourselves – and it can be easy to forget, especially for small business owners who are doing everything themselves!