Working the Systems

I've been re-reading "The E-Myth" by Michael Gerber. In it he maintains that there are three different personalities within each of us, the Technician, the Manager, and the Entrepreneur. All of them are necessary to building a successful small business. The problem is, most of us who start businesses are primarily Technicians.

I'm afraid I fall into that class.

I do enjoy just doing the work, but that isn't sufficient. To be successful, I need to not only work in my business, but also work on it, too.

Lately I've been working on developing my inner Manager. This is the part of me that builds systems to make sure that the work gets done. It's been a slow start, but I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. I started using "Remember the Milk" on a daily basis to keep track of my tasks. I've been using Google Docs to record my networking and sales progress. Of course, I've had a system of folders to sort and categorize my email for some time.

I think one sign that I'm starting to get the hang of this is that I'm starting to combine the systems. Now my email gets categorized and turned into tasks on my RTM "to do" list. My business card processing technique gets fed into my networking and sales tracking.

Oh, I still have a ways to go, but it's a start to a more organized me. The good thing is, the more I have things systematized, the more I can later delegate to someone else. According to Gerber, that's the first step to owning a business and not just owning a job.

Now I just have to get busy developing my inner Entrepreneur!

So, what systems have you developed that have made your life easier?