By: Stephen Pirie, Posted 22nd Dec. 2009.

If you're seeking or wanting to

• spend less time on the day-to-day running of your business,
• sell your business,
• improve employee morale, engagement and productivity,
• have more fun at work, in a relaxed environment,
• help employees "fire up" with creativity and enthusiasm,
• sustainably increase efficiency, turnover and profit,
    or
• simply take a holiday, free of worry about business performance and activity

then you will benefit greatly by 'systemising' your business so that it effectively runs itself.

The value of good business systems

Try this Quick Quiz, a quick litmus test  for any small business owner:

1. The Barack Obama Time-out Test
   Are you able to take "big chunks of times during the day when all you're doing is thinking"1 about your business? Can we assume President Obama has good systems, and competent people able to take care of business while he's taking 'big chunks' of time to think about climate change, and the fate the human race?
2. The Time-Away Test
   If you were unable to be contacted - no mobiles, emails, nothing! - for two to three weeks, would your business run as normal? Or would you need to be there, because you're "indispensable", micro-managing the business, having not yet systemised and delegated the day-to-day running of the business?