Yesterday was my daughters birthday and rather than go to the shops and get her a cake she actually wanted we decided to make her this monstrosity instead! Whilst she wasn’t impressed (“I don’t like that cake daddy”) I was quite happy with the results and it even tasted pretty good. Pretty amazing considering my baking experience is limited to watching Great British Bake Off!

So how did I manage to pull off such an impressive feat? A recipe. As simple as that. Someone wrote down the exact ingredients and how they should be mixed. How long to put it in the oven and at what temperature. Easy!

But if it’s so easy then why do most business owners still carry about most of their processes in their head, unwilling to pass it on to anyone else because “they need to do it”. If Mary Berry needed to come round and bake everyone a cake for their daughters birthday then she wouldn’t have much time to herself!

Systems are vital to the growth of a company. They allow you to scale up and train staff efficiently and effectively.

They also dramatically increase the value of your company. If you have two businesses with similar turnover and profit margins then the business which is highly systemised (compared to the business which is reliant on the owner) sells for roughly twice the price!

Which makes complete sense because if I’m coming in to buy your business and I know it’s systemised then it will run itself, I maybe just need to hire a manager to take it over. If it’s totally reliant on you then I need to keep you on – if you leave then the company has no value! Also, from the sellers perspective, if you’re selling your company do you really want to then work for someone else doing the same job!

What recipes does your business need to succeed?