What systems and toothache have in common

Last week I was featured in Management Today, which was fun.

The article was all about my take on what small business has to learn from McDonald’s. You may have seen it, but if not then you can read it by clicking HERE. It’s a really good article, and well worth five minutes of your time.

Reading what someone else had written about the benefits of modelling McDonald’s though, got me thinking again about why most don’t.

We all know we need systems in our business; we know they keep everything uniform, consistent, reliable. But the fact is that many feel about them, the same way they feel about the dentist – with the anticipation of pain and suffering.

Many don’t go to the dentist for that reason. They suffer on with toothache, in pain, complaining to anyone who will listen, not doing the one thing that would relieve the pain, and solve their problem.

Until that is, the pain becomes unbearable, they visit the dentist, realise it’s not as bad as they had imagined, and feel immediate and lasting relief.

And so it is with systems.

You know you need them; you know that your team will perform better for having them, that your business will be more consistent, more profitable, more scaleable, but you’re just not in enough pain yet; or you feel it’s just too big a job; or you just don’t know how to get started.

But you need to start somewhere, and as someone said to me just last week, ‘The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The next best time is now!’

Start to build your systems, start small, but start now – because as your business grows that pain is only going to get worse.

For more information on how MPL can help you visit www.mariannepage.co.uk or contact me on hello@mariannepage.co.uk