Some people view success differently. Some may define success as having millions in their pockets, and some may define it as having a significant influence on people. For me, success is attained when you have freedom in your business. Entrepreneurs must be able to work ON the business instead of IN the business. And I achieved my business freedom through systems and efficiency. So let me tell you how to succeed in business and how I scaled my business, Vodien, from $0 to S$30 million.
How It All Started?
Today, users can choose the messaging platform to communicate with their friends due to a myriad of options. But I remember we only had mIRC back then.
It all started when my father got his first computer. This equipment consumed and mesmerized me. I used mIRC a lot and utilized the “scripts” on the platform. After that, however, I wanted to customize my own scripts. This was when I got into programming and designing.
I self-learned programming and designed websites back then while studying at Victoria Junior College. I first offered to do web design for one of my relatives and earned money from it. That’s when I thought I could earn money if I had a stream of customers who wanted web design services.
I wanted to hone my programming and web designing skills, so I left Victoria Junior College and enrolled in Temasek Polytechnic. And on my first orientation day, I sat beside the man and would-be business partner for 17 years!
How to Succeed in Business with Systems and Efficiency?
After doing many school projects together and excelling in class, my partner and I decided to run the web design business. I already had a few clients under my belt and thought two heads were better than one.
We had a good run for the first two years. Then, however, we realized we could do more for our customers. We were offering only web design services at first. But we also sold web hosting from third-party services. And we thought, “why not make our own web hosting service?”
We purchased our first hardware for the web hosting service with all our savings. Of course, it wasn’t always smooth sailing, like how any other business initially starts. But I finally figured out how to gain efficiency, and it all started through SYSTEMS.
I define systems as a set of repeatable actions. Having systems is a considerable advantage when aiming to achieve efficiency and steer clear from the wrong opportunities.
Systems also encourage entrepreneurs must break away from the growth mode and embrace the scale mode. This is the only way you can increase gross profits.
In growth mode, your expenses increase, giving you a low-profit margin. On the other hand, scale mode maintains your expenses while keeping your gross profits high.
Here’s a Graph to Show GROWTH vs. SCALE Mode:
6 Ways Systems Can Super Scale Your Business:
Having good systems in place is key when you’re looking into getting past the growth mode. Running a business means you’ll be faced with so many opportunities, both wrong and right. So you want to make sure that you’re saying NO to the wrong opportunities and YES to the right ones.
Also, creating systems lets you prevent fires instead of finding yourself putting out the fires frantically. Finally, systems help business owners avoid pitfalls that impede success. So here are six ways how to succeed in business using efficient systems:
1. Understand Fundamentals –
The first way creating systems benefits business owners is understanding why you’re doing certain things in the first place. Next, you’ll understand the bases of every step or process in your business. This is to prevent the fallacies in your logic that don’t help the entire process.
2. Increase Consistency –
Some entrepreneurs tend to be complacent with the current business processes. However, brands need to stay consistent, and that’s how to succeed in business. Systems allow you to maintain consistency and encourage everyone in your team to follow a set of steps. This way, you can eliminate steps and processes that don’t improve areas that help in business scaling.
3. Prevent or Reduce the Impact of Change –
Systems can benefit your business by rising amidst various industry and customer behavior changes. Although we can’t control these changes, systems make changes more predictable and help entrepreneurs reduce the impact.
4. Training Employees –
It’s recommended to always hire the right people well-suited in your business. Unfortunately, some employers hire the first applicant they come across if they’re overwhelmed. Systems help recruiters and employers set some standards in hiring the right people.
5. Make Your Business Sellable –
Based on my experience, systems allowed me to work on the business instead of in the business. It increased the attractiveness of my business by making it sellable due to these reasons:
- Organization
- Low reliance on individuals
- Process-driven
- High renewals or subscriptions
- Positive, predictable growth
- Low employee turnover
6. Measure Progress –
Another way to succeed in business is if you measure your progress and performance. Systems set metrics in finance, sales, marketing, human resources, and customer service. If you measure your progress, you can tweak the areas that need improvement to reach goals faster.
Wrapping Things Up:
Every entrepreneur has various ideas on how to succeed in business. But the most important thing is you don’t fall prey to processes that don’t improve your organization. Set rules and boundaries and create systems that help you achieve success. Take it from my experience. My success with systems allowed me to sell the business for S$30 million. And, that, for me, is the most significant achievement in my life.
