How to Build a Kickass Business Operations Plan

 

After you’ve laid out your mission, vision, products or services, the next step is to create a foolproof business operations plan. Some entrepreneurs usually just wing this part and proceed to run their company without any established structure whatsoever. We get that you’re excited to get that cash flow moving and turn your vision into reality. However, not planning out how your operations work may cause inefficiency, mistakes, financial loss, and more.

Your Business Operation Plan:  The Key to 6 Figures and Beyond

Your business operations plan determines the who, what, when, and how of your daily operations. It tells you how your human, financial, physical, and time resources will be used as efficiently as possible to reach your goals and increase profit. It opens your eyes to the possible risks of your business and the ways you can mitigate them.

Furthermore, having a solid business operations plan can help make things easier for your company. Because you have a structure, you will be able to complete tasks quicker and better. It also makes the onboarding of new hires smooth and fast – you’ll be able to get them ready to perform properly within their roles. Your operations plan can also give you that bird’s eye view for your business. It lets you see all your strengths, weaknesses, room for improvement, and opportunities to scale.

Who wouldn’t want those? Unless you’re a firm believer in system-free business (good luck with that), continue reading to know the steps to create an ultimate operations system that will help you scale your business.

1.  Set your goals and objectives

To get to this part, you must have a business overview that states your mission, vision, and objectives. You might think that setting up goals and objectives again for this part is redundant. It’s not.

These goals need to be made more specific to your operations.

You need to set the things you want to achieve for your business operations. Do you want to be able to hire more people within a year? Do you want to keep hiring at a minimum as you increase revenue? Do you want to add more products or services? These are the types of goals you need to set.

2.  Establish your strategy

Once you’ve established your goals, the next thing to create is your strategy.

How exactly are you going to achieve your objectives?

Your strategy must determine the resources you need to operate your business, whether it’s people, technology, infrastructure, or some other element. You must also determine the tactics you need to implement the strategy.

3.  Set KPIs

Know that your business operation plan is working towards your goals by setting key performance indicators.

Don’t just set your KPIs out of nowhere. As much as possible, it needs to be a target number related to your goals. Is it the number of people working in each area of your business? Is it eCommerce KPIs for sales growth? The decrease in your operations costs by the end of the year? How about an increase in revenue? Or maybe, the amount of time a project needs to be done?

Take note that your KPIs must pressure you to work hard. Keep it realistic, however, or you’ll just end up with a broken heart at the end.

4.  Create a timeline

Speaking of pressure, setting a realistic but optimal timeline for every aspect of your business is important. Your business must establish a timeline for your company vision, operations goals, projects, and tasks. Even the smallest task must have a time estimate to know how long a project takes to be done. You must have deadlines for everything to ensure that your business is on track.

Your timeline also lets you have a clearer vision of your future. You know when the next batch of products can come in, when you’ll need to hire more people, and when to start your expansion.

5.  Create an Ultimate Operations System

Here comes the nitty-gritty part. It’s time to create a detailed process that you will use for every task and project that needs to be done for your business. From customer service, accounting, marketing, sales, and production down to the smallest things like responding to emails or setting up meetings, each needs a documented process.

You might think it’s a joke and a waste of time to have a process for things like that. It’s not.

Processes and templates leave less room for mistakes and more room for improvement. Processes also make the onboarding of new hires easier and faster. It also serves as a guide that anyone can easily go back to as they work. It also allows you to monitor progress more easily to see how your business operations plan is matching up.

6.  Build your departments

Now that you have your process and onboarding documents in place, it’s time to grow your company. Hire people based on the processes you’ve created in line with your business operations plan. They will show you the roles, skills, and experience you need for each area. It will also tell you the number of people you need to hire to achieve your goals.

Remember to build out efficiently by getting the individuals that best fit your vision and company goals. Look into their skills and experience, but also their attitude, character and work ethic. You surely don’t want to make bad hires who’ll do more harm than good.

Another thing to consider when building out is how you prefer to hire for your business. You have a choice to hire freelancers to work with you as you need them, or establish an in-house team that’s available to you throughout each week.

Freelancers will only work on tasks you assign to them. Although they are task-oriented, this does not mean that there will be minimal collaboration. You can build out using freelancers exclusively – like we did at FreeUp – and still have a highly dedicated group that has your vision working towards your goals.

They key here is to do proper onboarding, share detailed process, and hire freelancers who fit your company culture. In return, you will have a stronger relationship, more creative collaboration, and loyalty. You might think this presents a higher risk, but it’s far less risky than hiring in-house.

7.  Establish your communication system

Let hires know how you want to establish communication. You may speak directly with in-house hires every day in an office or video chat freelance hires weekly. Whichever the case, having a solid communication system is important in ensuring smooth business operations.

Determine the channels and apps you want to use as well as the frequency of updates and meetings. Tell them your expectations when it comes to delivering updates, requesting feedback, and reporting challenges. You need to be very specific with this part to avoid misunderstandings.

8.  Monitor progress

Lastly, track your operations by monitoring progress. Know the points in your business where you need more reports and frequent updates. This lets you know how a project is going and if you are meeting deadlines and goals. You may prepare a template for reports to have a better structure for your company.

Monitoring your progress also lets you know if your business operations plan is effective or if there are things that need to be changed. Remember that business processes do not stay the same forever. They should be open to changes especially as new technology and techniques enter the picture. The goal is to have an optimal system that generates the most revenue for your business, without sacrificing other resources like time and human relations.

Closing Out

Sounds overwhelming? It should be, especially if you’re aiming to scale your business more than 6 figures. It’s a lot to take in all at once, but you will be grateful for these steps as you move forward. Take things one step at a time and build each area out carefully. Then you’ll have a great foundation that supports optimal growth.