Its All In The Systems

Have you ever noticed french fries taste the same at every McDonald's? The same can be said for Subway and its Italian BMT. How do these fast food icons replicate themselves at nearly 40,000 locations when some eateries struggle to get it right in a single restaurant? The answer is simple: it's all in the systems.

Picture yourself waiting in line inside McDonald's. Look across the counter and you notice the shiny french fry machine. Standing in front of it is a high school student. What is she doing?

Chances are she's executing a procedure someone trained her on the first day. A system that goes something like this: "Take the bag out of the freezer. Empty french fries into the wire basket until full. Lower the basket into the hot oil. Push the green button. Return the bag to the freezer. When the buzzer rings, push the red button. Take the basket out of the oil and empty fries onto the holding area. Sprinkle the salt shaker four times over the fries. Take a white bag and fill it with fries using the silver utensil. Place the bag under the heat lamps. Repeat with different size bags until the basket is empty and all fries are ready to serve."

I spent six years in the franchising industry as head of marketing for an international franchisor. Today, as a professional business coach, I help small business leaders develop and implement systems to make their companies work like McDonald's and Subway.

Franchising is a major part of the U.S. economy, accounting for 14 percent of private-sector employment and more than $1.5 trillion of annual economic output (International Franchise Association). The fastest-growing franchising companies ? names like Curves and Quizno's ? understand the impact of having detailed systems for every aspect of their operations.

A common approach taught to new franchisees ? originating in Michael Gerber's book "The E-Myth" ? is to work ON your business and not IN your business. This means taking time to step back and plan where you want your business to go, then setting about working your plan.

Think about your employees. Do all understand their specific role in making your business successful? Or do you occasionally have thoughts of, "Why can't they just get it?" If you find things falling through the cracks, then treating your business like a franchise would mean creating a job description for each position.

These one-page summaries identify every responsibility, with specific details such as which positions take out the trash, answer the phone and batch credit card charges each day. Taking the time to create these will transform every position into a meaningful role, ensuring you have all of the bases covered. It will allow you to hire for specific positions, enabling you to focus on finding the right people, which will help you achieve greater productivity.

I previously co-founded a sports travel company. One of our biggest clients was Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex, where we often took more than 1,000 people to events. I also received executive training at the Disney Institute. From these frequent interactions with Walt Disney World Resort, I learned important lessons that I continue to share with clients. The most valuable of these are the "4 P's of Disney":

Planning ? It's almost a cliché, but it is truly important to know where you want to go?or you may wind up somewhere else. Take time to organize your thoughts, consider options and make educated decisions before setting out in a direction.

Processes ? Make sure you have systems for every aspect of your business, from unlocking the front door in the morning, to handling upset customers, to turning off the lights at night. The more organized your procedures, the better likelihood your employees will be able to execute them.

Partnering ? If you have ever been to Walt Disney World, think about all the kiosks and shops that sell merchandise. Now think about designing, manufacturing, ordering, taking delivery and disseminating products throughout the four theme parks each day. It requires orchestrated coordination between multiple departments. Whatever the size of your company, be sure your employees understand the importance of partnering together.

Performance ? Disney believes if you can do it, you can measure it. Take time to measure your performance. Then adjust your plan, re-measure and adjust again?always moving forward in a continuous improvement cycle.

Treating your small business like a franchise by developing systems that work may not make you the next Blockbuster, but it may enable you to better serve your customers and increase sales.

Copyright © 2005 by Success Handler, LLC. All rights reserved.

The Coach, David Handler, is the founder of Success Handler, (http://www.successhandler.com), and specializes in helping small business leaders find clarity and take action. He understands the challenges of running a business, because he's been there ? as a small business owner, franchisee, franchisor, corporate leader and trainer. Much like sports coaches, his coaching will show you how to compete on a level playing field in your industry.

---

What to Do When Trust is Low

Trust is essential. You can't run a business without it. Customers leave. Risk taking evaporates. You find yourself surrounded by naysayers ? or worse ? yes men... Read More

Managing Dickheads

"We are so different and individualistic that we can't work together." Subroto Bag chi, a senior executive in wipro technologies and Indian Technology MNC, said to his... Read More

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Employee Ideas Achieve Work Life Balance

This article relates to the Work/Life Balance competency, which investigates how your staff feels with regard to the balance between work and personal life. It explores issues... Read More

A Renewed View of the Modern Business Culture

Life can sometimes be unexciting if not refreshed by the will to create according to one's own conscience and freedom. Often, the power of passion fuses into... Read More

11 Strategies on How to Work in An Open Plan Environment

Many work environments now are open plan, with only a few senior managers having offices of their own. This style of work can have great benefits for... Read More

Great Hires: Avoid Costly Mistakes

Picking people for a job is like going to the store to buy apples. Before you go, you ought to know whether the apples are... Read More

Organizing The Information

Putting a piece of paper in a file folder is easy; finding it again is the hard part. There are ways to make your files easier to... Read More

The New Economy

This technological revolution has organization, efficiency and productivity requirements well above what was needed in the past. And although all three of these have always been important,... Read More

10 Ways New Managers Become Great Leaders

"It is a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead and find no one there." - Franklin D. Roosevelt Persons... Read More

Increase Productivity: Five Powerful Actions

How can you make the best use of your energy to increase productivity each day? Here are five actions that can increase productivity and leave energy to... Read More

In Leadership, The Critical Convergence Drives Great Results

The Leader's Fallacy lives! We subscribe to the Fallacy when we believe our enthusiasm over a particular leadership challenge is automatically reciprocated by the people we lead.If... Read More

Better Manager Skills - How to Learn

When you first take over a department, expectations are usually high but operations are sometimes in disarray. The staff is disorganized, goals aren't being met, and hours... Read More

Business Innovation ? the Value of Structure

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this... Read More

Innovation Management ? changing the world!

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are distinct processes that enhance problem... Read More

Management & Leadership - Doing it right in the 21st Century

The Old Way ? Command and ControlAlthough workplaces and management styles have come a long way in the last decade, the command and control style of management... Read More

Business Innovation ? Organizational Culture

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this... Read More

Leadership in Troubled Times

Leadership in Troubled Times The first task of a leader is to keep hope alive. - Joe Batten Leading an... Read More

Five Steps to Successful Business Succession

The great majority of family businesses in North America are still owned and operated by descendants of the founder. The business acumen that these first, second, third,... Read More

The Do?s and Don?ts of Giving Feedback

Being able to give effective feedback is not just a good skill to possess in business, it is a great life skill to have. Because when you... Read More

How to Dodge Distribution Difficulties

It happened again. I ran into an old friend while registering for the World Masters Games last month and as we were catching up, she complemented me... Read More

Importance of Just-In-Time Inventory System

In today's competitive world shorter product life cycles, customers rapid demands and quickly changing business environment is putting lot of pressures on manufacturers for quicker response and... Read More

Check Your Communication Skills

Use this check list to assess your communication skills.Focus* Do you pay complete attention to others when they are speaking? (A wandering focus discourages open communication.)* Do... Read More

Invite Self-Managed Staff

"Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them to become what they are capable of being." -GoetheTwo hundred years ago,... Read More

Lack of Operations Manuals Stunting Your Growth?

Lack of Operations Manuals stunting your growth?CONTENTS:1. Do you lack functional Operations Manuals? 2. Use a SYSTEM to write your Operations Manuals! 3. Yes, but my people... Read More

How to Delegate More Effectively

Do this simple excercise, and transform your life.First, Make a list of recurring "to do's". (Daily To-Do's, Weekly To-Do's, monthly To-Do's, Quarterly To-Do's, Annual To Do's, and... Read More

Why Business Owners Need Security

The main reason is to stop any potential lawsuits from happening! But do you know how many individuals I have talked to about this very thing? Many!... Read More