As a business owner, you probably wear a dozen hats—client work, admin, marketing, finances—the list never ends. If you constantly feel like you’re drowning in tasks, struggling to stay on top of everything, or missing opportunities because things slip through the cracks, the solution isn’t working harder.

It’s working smarter. It is time to build or review the solid foundations under you. 

By planning and implementing strong business systems, you can streamline your workload, automate repetitive tasks, and create a business that runs efficiently—without you being in the trenches every second of the day.

So, how do you plan systems that actually work for your business? Let’s break it down step by step.

Step 1: Consider what is working (and what is not)

Before you even start building a system, you need to first understand what the gaps are. What is it that actually needs to be your first priority? Rome wasn’t built in a day. And neither will your systems. In fact, they will probably grow and change with you over time as your needs and technology changes (and as you learn cool new tricks). But to start with… What is priority number 1? 

Where do you lose the most time? 

What areas feel disorganised, overwhelming, stressful or like they just take waaaay longer than you know they should? 

Where do things get missed, or worse, where do mistakes get made? 

What processes do you repeat often? 

Review your list and note down the areas that are your highest priority. Here are some places where you might want to get started. 

Client management

You might need systems here if you lose a great deal of time managing enquiries, onboarding or follow-up. This might also be a priority if you are often forgetting leads, if onboarding is a lengthy process, if you regularly can’t find client information or if you are not holding the client retention you hoped for. 

Sales

If your clients or customers need to jump through 15 hoops and find that one magic button, if you forget to send invoices, or if you are looking to scale… then you need better sales systems! 

Marketing and Content

This might especially be an area to focus on systems for if you are struggling to keep up with your content, or if you would like to outsource this task. You need file management, planning systems, scheduling tools and a way to delegate to help you streamline this area. 

Financial

This area of your business often requires multiple systems running to help you keep on top of expenses, reporting, invoices, and sales. Getting systems in place here means you can set a sustainable rate, maintain strong cash flow and keep on top of financial obligations. 

Admin and Operations

I know this is the boring area… But this is one place you really want some systems behind you if your brain is busy! Setting up systems to help with admin operations means having places to manage tasks and deadlines, establishing SOPs that help you through executive dysfunction and help you delegate effectively! 

Step 2: Map it out

Once you have chosen an area to work on and identified which systems to start with, now it is time to start mapping out what that might look like. 

You can do this by writing down the steps, mind mapping, videoing yourself doing the task, using a tool like Scribehow to record the steps, creating a diagram on a tool like Lucidchart or Clickup whiteboards or even asking ChatGPT to help you identify the steps in your process. 

Here is an example. Let’s say you are creating a client onboarding system. Your process might currently look like this: 

1. Inquiry form submission
2. Automated email confirmation
3. Discovery call booked
4. Call notes and proposal sent
5. Contract sent with invoice
6. Welcome email & onboarding materials sent
7. Project begins

This is your process, and this helps you create the workflows within your tech tools that will support you. Mapping it out helps you spot inefficiencies, such as manual tasks that could be automated or steps that could be streamlined to save time. 

Step 3: Choose the right tools 

New tools are fun, but sometimes they are just shiny objects. Before you go subscribing to the latest tool, start by reviewing what you already have and what functions it has. E.g. do you really need a membership tool? Or do you actually have one inbuilt with Squarespace? 

If you need a function that you don’t already have then it is time to explore some new tools. Start by looking at what integrates well with the tools you already have and love using. Be sure to consider how the different interfaces feel for you, too. You might LOVE a list-based tool like Asana or… you might hate it. You can use Capterra or GetApp to explore, but here are some of my frequently used tools. 

• Project & Task Management: ClickUp, Asana, Trello, Airtable
• CRM & Client Management: Dubsado, Moxie, Indy, ClickUp, Honey Books
• Calendar management and booking: TidyCal, Google Cal, Zoom, Calendly
• Marketing & Content Scheduling: MailerLite, Kit, ActiveCampaign, Publer, Planoly, Repurpose.IO
• Finance & Invoicing: Rounded, QuickBooks, Xero, Wave
• Automation & Integrations: Zapier, Make

Step 4: Automate and Streamline 

This is where the real magic happens. Once your workflows are mapped out and your tools are chosen, it’s time to set up your system, customise it to your business, integrate with the rest of your tech stack and automate repetitive tasks.

Examples of automation that save time:

• Auto-send invoices and payment reminders
• Automatically add new leads to your CRM from your website form
• Create email sequences to nurture leads and onboard clients
• Set up task templates that apply automatically when a project starts
• Trigger a new folder for a new client
• Automatically redistribute posted content
• Give yourself reminders before tasks are due or when events are coming up

One of the biggest time-wasters in business is manually repeating the same tasks over and over again. If it’s something you do often, chances are you can automate it.

Step 5: Test, Refine, and Improve

Now, I’ve got a little secret to tell you. Lean a little closer No system is perfect from day one.

Once you’ve set up your business systems, test them. Run through your workflows and see what works—and what still feels clunky. Please don’t skip this step! There are often little kinks that need to be worked out where your trigger wasn’t quite right, a formula was a little wrong or where a connection failed. Name your automations, review them and keep a copy of your mapping for future reference. 

You can also gather feedback from your team or clients to help you make improvements over time. Business evolves, so should your systems.

Final thoughts: Planning your systems well is the key to sustainable growth.

You can have a bunch of systems running all band-aided together, sure. But your business is most able to thrive when you have invested in properly planned systems that mesh together perfectly. This is how you scale, reduce burnout, ease the noise in your business brain, manage your time and make sure your business is going to hang around long term. 

So, take a step back and audit your current systems. Where are the gaps? What could be easier? What would save you the most time?

Start there.

And if you need help figuring out where to begin, let’s chat. A strategy session or VIP Day might be exactly what you need to map out a system that actually works for YOU.