A little while ago, I asked my Instagram followers what they want to know more about as a business mom. The majority said they wanted to know how to consistently show up for their business while also keeping the balance of work and motherhood. I know this is quite the balancing act and our days are quite unpredictable as business moms. But there is something that could help you with all of this. I’m going to let you in on the big secret to consistency in your business. Are you ready for it? 

 

 

So, what is this big secret to consistency in your business? It’s systems. If you’re anything like me, you may be feeling a little bit of pushback when you hear that word. One of my motivating factors is having the freedom to do what I want when I want, and having systems sounds like it will try to take that away. But when you start to grow a business that has become bigger than what you can do on your own, systems will be your secret weapon to showing up consistently! 

Your answers to the poll I did on Instagram are what inspired me to put together this free Business Mom School. So, thanks for being here and showing up! You’re already taking the next right step to growing your business all while being the mom you need to be for your kids. If you haven’t heard of the Business Mom School yet, you can sign up HERE! You will get weekly emails that include a podcast, YouTube videos, and worksheets that will teach you how to practically grow your business into the biz of your dreams. 

 

How to Create Systems in Your Business

 

Step #1 to Creating Systems for Your Biz: Find where you could implement systems into your business.

Usually, your systems will fall into three different categories. And those are:

• Client 
• Content
• Communication

Make a list under each category of all the places you could implement a system. I’ll give an example of where you could implement one under your client category. 

Client System Example: 

If you hire my team to do your branding the first thing you will do is have a call with me where we will talk about your business and see if this is a good fit. If it is, I will send you three emails: a questionnaire, an invoice, and a contract. Once those three emails are completed, you will use a link included in one of the emails to sign up for a one-hour brand messaging session with me and my designer. Once that is over, my designer takes it from there and does your brand, website, and emails. Then, at the end, I come in and help you with your strategy going forward.

I have this process written out from start to finish to ensure nothing gets skipped or forgotten. When you have your systems written out it helps you deliver on what you promised your client. 

The next two are systems for your content and communication. First, make a list of all the times and places you are posting content online. And a list of all the ways you communicate with your people. (This will most likely be email and text.) 

After making your list, refer to it over the next week and take note of which things you do that are repetitive and could create a system for. 

 

 

Step #2 to Creating Systems for Your Biz: Identify the steps it takes to complete these items and the frequency of each one.

Take the list you made from step #1 and figure out the steps that need to happen and the frequency in which they happen to complete each system. For example, for content, if you post a reel a day and a carousel post a day on Instagram, figure out what steps you take to make those things happen every day. 

So write down, step by step, from the beginning to the end what you need to do in order to make those things happen. I want you to physically complete this task, so open a Google doc or whatever you want to use and start typing out all of your processes. 

This may seem tedious and something you don’t want to do, but think about how amazing it will be when you can hand this over to an agency or a new hire, or whoever, and they will be able to get started working for you right away because you already have your system in place and written down. 

The biggest problem I see business moms have is having 20-30 minute chunks of time throughout the day and they end up scrolling through Instagram rather than working on their business. This is because they don’t know what to do. 

If you have your systems listed out on paper then you will be able to jump right into work because you won’t have to think about what to do next–it’ll already be written down for you. 

That’s what makes systems so amazing. Having systems in place takes away all the thinking and leaves you with the creativity–or the ability to create new things for your business.

 

Step #3 to Creating Systems for Your Biz: Schedule the system.

This is when you actually put your systems into your calendar. Because do we really get our work done if it’s not scheduled? One of the people who answered my poll on Instagram said she wanted to learn how to keep promises to herself and show up consistently. I know many of you probably feel this same way, so I just have to tell you–part of keeping promises to yourself is taking your business seriously enough that you will schedule it out. 

No one else is going to fight for you and your business but you. So make those promises to yourself and then keep them by creating these systems and implementing them into your weekly schedule. 

What does it look like to actually schedule your business? You could plan different projects for different days. For example, Tuesday is your filming day, so you’ll always make sure your hair and makeup are fresh on Tuesday so you can be ready to batch-create video content for YouTube, Instagram, etc. 

And if you are going to film on Tuesday then that means you need to have your content strategy planned before then. So maybe you will always have your content strategy planning scheduled for Monday. 

So make a plan that makes the most sense for you and write it all out in your planner. I have the perfect planner for business moms, by the way. You can check it out HERE. 

 

 

Step #4 to Creating Systems for Your Biz: Tasks and to-dos. 

There are probably things in your system that you do not have done yet. Maybe you need some templates for social media, or some contracts for clients, etc. (I 100% recommend Brittany Ratelle for contract templates! Click HERE to check them out and use code Michelle15 to get 15% off!) 

If you need to set up a client management system, then schedule that task as well. I recommend Honeybook and it’s so great. (Click HERE for a 50% off discount when signing up!) The initial steps to get this created for my business took some time up front but now it saves me hours and hours every week, so it is easily worth it! 

Alright, so make a list of the to-do items you need to complete in order to set up your systems. And then schedule them on your calendar and do them! 

 

Step #5 to Creating Systems for Your Biz: Margins and looking ahead.

This step is actually the key to everything. If you are constantly creating on the fly, you are going to get burnt out and then frustrated and then the quality of your content is going to suffer because you are a mom and you have this whole other life you are doing, right? 

Working ahead and having margins around what you’re doing allows you to be that present mom. I want to be that mom that when my kid calls home sick, I can drop what I’m doing and go get him without feeling mad. Working ahead is exactly how to solve this issue. 

There is this element of working ahead that allows you to batch-create things. You won’t be rushed and you’ll even be able to hire people and outsource things you don’t want to do. For example, if you are a podcaster you can hire my agency and we will edit your podcast recordings and turn them into blog posts and social media posts for you. This is such a big deal because you are the only one who can create your podcast (or YouTube video, etc.) but other people can edit it, right? So outsource where you can so you can lift some of the pressure off of creating content every single day. 

 

 

The Big Secret to Consistency in Your Business

I always say systems are sexy because they can make you money! And they can also take a lot of stress away from you and allow you to outsource more. If you’d like the worksheets that go along with this lesson on the big secret to consistency in your business, click HERE to sign up for my Business Mom School. It’ll be a lot easier if you have the worksheets! 

I am so happy you’re here. If you have any questions on this subject, please come send me a dm over on Instagram! I would LOVE to chat with you. You can find me @iammichellegifford. And make sure to give me a follow because I am always sharing the best tips for growing a successful biz online!