Fix The System Before You Automate It

I watch people hop onto the latest software. The latest productivity app. The latest shiny ai tech thing. They are chasing hope and the buzz of something new. And as a business owner I understand that.

However, I always say the same thing to my clients: build the system before you automate it. No system. No outcome. Add tech to a mess, and all you're doing is accelerating the disaster!

Documenting a system is one of the hardest things a business owner will ever do. Although some of you are actually wired for it - in which case you'll love it. But for most business owners it's difficult.

I also find it hard to write systems. I do verbal instruction really well. Written instruction is much harder for me.

You have to do what works for you. For some people it's a Loom video. For others it's dictating, writing, or drawing a diagram. It doesn't matter which process you use. What matters is that you actually document your systems.

Once you document your systems, you don't have to hold them in your head anymore. You don't have to return to it, explain it again, or remember it for someone else. Can you take a moment to imagine how freeing that is?

Every system you put in place hands you back a little more of your freedom. Then, and only then, automate your systems. Document before you automate.