Business Systems Assessment
Business Systems Every Small Business Needs
The seven core systems a small business needs to run smoothly, what each one must do, and how to tell whether yours is covered or missing.
7 min read
Most small businesses do not need more software. They need each essential job to have exactly one home, and for those homes to talk to each other.
Seven systems cover almost everything. Read each one and mark it covered, duplicated or missing.
1. A place customers find you
Your website, and the listings that point to it. It must load quickly on a phone, explain what you do, and offer one obvious next step.
2. A way to capture enquiries
Forms, booking links and messages, all arriving in one place. Enquiries scattered across three inboxes are enquiries that get missed.
3. A single customer record
One system of record holding who your customers are, what they bought and when you last spoke. Everything else should feed it rather than compete with it.
4. A way to communicate at scale
Email marketing or messaging, with one list rather than several. This is the category where duplication is most common and most expensive.
5. A way to get paid
Payments, invoicing and reminders. Automatic follow-up on unpaid invoices is one of the cheapest cash flow improvements available to a small business.
6. A way to deliver the work
Project tracking, course hosting, scheduling or fulfilment, depending on what you sell. The test is whether a new team member could see the current state of every job.
7. A way to see how the business is doing
Numbers you can get in five minutes
Revenue, enquiries, conversion and outstanding invoices. If any of these take an afternoon to assemble, your reporting system is the gap.
One place to look
A simple dashboard beats four beautiful reports nobody opens.
How to use this list
- Covered once: leave it alone, it is working.
- Covered twice: this is your consolidation shortlist and your fastest saving.
- Missing: check whether a tool you already pay for includes it before buying anything new.
See this in your own business
The Free Tech Stack Audit lists every tool you pay for, your real yearly spend, the overlaps to remove and a 30, 60 and 90 day plan.
