You May Be In Better Shape than You Think

I recently gave a presentation to a group of small business owners in Seattle about how documenting operations and other aspects of their business can help them run more efficiently.

“I’m in much better shape than I thought I was!”

That’s the response from one business owner after we walked through a short documentation self-assessment (which you can take online here).

If we think that some aspect of our business needs work, we may avoid looking at it. If we don’t look, we won’t be upset by what we find. It’s much less stressful to not see how bad things really are, right?

Working with clients, I’ve often found the opposite to be true.

They know there’s a problem, or at least substantial room for improvement. They understand that running the business out of their head makes the work harder than it needs to be.

They have tried documenting the work, but got sidetracked or didn’t know how to build the content and the framework to make it easy to use, manage, and keep up-to-date.

They have avoided this issue for awhile, usually due to time, budget, or knowledge constraints. 

But having this task on a to-do list, sometimes for years, can be stressful and draining.

When they stop and look at what they already have in place and what’s left to be documented, they usually are much calmer, less stressed, and even relieved at how the situation wasn’t as bad as they had imagined.

Now they can see the full extent of the work ahead and start making changes for the better. With a solid plan in place, they can keep on track, make progress, and feel a sense of accomplishment.

And, like the business owner above, they may find they’re in better shape than they thought they were.

If you’re tired of running your business out of your head and would like help getting started on creating user-friendly documentation, need in-depth support, or just want to find out more, book your free Discovery Call today.