Start With a Process Map (and a Pack of Post-its)
Start With a Process Map (and a Pack of Post-its)
“I have to” vs “I get to”
Debbie has never been a decorator. Back on GCSE study leave (when she definitely should have been revising), she and her best friend decided to paint her bedroom purple. They got halfway, got bored, shut the door and went out. It stayed half-purple for weeks until her dad gave in and finished it. Meanwhile, one of us once painted giant Chinese symbols on every bedroom wall, in gloss, without knowing what gloss was. Lovely and shiny. Absolute nightmare to get off.
So when Debbie decorated a room this year (and did a cracking job, we’ve seen it), it was a bit of a moment. The secret was a small change in language: swapping “I have to” for “I get to”. It sounds tiny, but going in with a can-do attitude changes how the whole job feels.
Which brings us neatly to the job most business owners put off for ever: mapping their processes. 😅
Start with a process map
You’ve got the business name, the email address, a few lovely clients. What next? Our answer is always the same: a process map.
A process map is just a picture of what happens in your business, step by step. Someone gets in touch, then what? You send an email, then what? Keep asking “then what?” until you get to the end.
If you want to get somewhere new, you need to know where you’re starting from. A process map shows you exactly that.
Why bother?
Every client gets the same great experience. Without a process, client one gets a lovely smooth onboarding, and client five gets something a bit touch and go, chasing you for next steps. With one, you can tell every client exactly what happens next.
It gets things out of your head. When it’s all in your brain, it’s all on your shoulders. Written down, it’s out there, so you’re not trying to remember everything, and anyone who joins you later can see how things work.
You’ll spot the bottlenecks. Spending an hour on every contract is fine with two clients a month. With ten a week, it’s not. A map shows you where things will creak as you grow, and where to invest in software before it hurts.
You can actually delegate. You can see which jobs don’t need to be you, and where the person taking them on will find what they need.
You’re not alone if you haven’t done this yet. No judgement here. When it’s just you, it feels like a lot of effort for something that lives in your head anyway. But it really does help.
How to do it: a blank wall and some Post-its
You don’t need fancy software to start.
Find a blank wall. Yes, really. (Maybe check nobody else has claimed it.)
Grab some Post-its. Write one step per note and stick them up in order. Use different colours for different departments, systems or paths, whatever makes sense to you.
No Post-its? Coloured pens and a big sheet of paper work too.
Prefer a screen? PowerPoint boxes will do the job, or try a process mapping tool like Lucidchart or SmartDraw.
Start with the “everything goes right” version. There will always be exceptions, but map the standard route first. You can drill into the detail of each step later.
What you’ll spot
Even this quick exercise throws things up. You’ll notice steps you’re doing twice, or a step that’s pointless because you do it properly three steps later anyway.
And if a bit of duplication has to stay, that’s your cue for automation. Typing the same name into three places? There’s almost certainly a form or integration that can do it for you. Nobody should be copying and pasting from one place to another anymore. Come on, guys. 🙃
While you’re at it, look for emails you send over and over. If you’re digging out an old one, copying it and changing the name every time, make it a template. Outlook, Gmail and Apple Mail all do them.
Don’t build your business on rented land
Here’s a different kind of process worth thinking about: where your clients come from.
Social media is brilliant for visibility. LinkedIn in particular has been great for us, not for landing huge deals, but for real conversations and even real friends. But you don’t own anything on social media. If a platform changes its rules, or disappears overnight, everything you built there can go with it.
So treat it as one tool in the kit, alongside your website, your newsletter and good old networking. Pick the platforms that actually suit your business rather than being everywhere at once. And please, no pitch-slapping. If someone connects with you and immediately tries to sell you lavender bath bombs, that’s not networking. That’s a block. 🛑
Read the small print on software pricing
Once your map shows you where software could help, you’ll start shopping. A word of warning: pricing isn’t always as clear as it looks.
Some lower tiers look like a bargain until you realise the automation, the bit that actually saves you time, isn’t included. Others leave out one random feature that everything else depends on. Without automation, plenty of systems just look pretty.
Our tips:
* Check exactly what’s in the tier you’re looking at, and confirm with the vendor rather than relying on the website alone.
* Look at whether a tool like Zapier or Make could fill the gaps. Even free plans can handle a surprising amount of basic automation.
* Know what you need before you buy. (Hello again, process map.)
Your homework
Yes, there’s homework. Map your processes. Start with one, the one that makes you groan most, and get it on the wall.
Then, if you’d like a hand:
👉 Take the Stebbington Six to see where your systems could be working harder, or grab a cuppa with us for a chat. We know the sneaky pricing tricks, and we’ll help you find what’s right for your business.