This week, I will continue our discussion on Process and Automation. If you need a refresher about what I wrote so far, don’t hesitate to go back to article #2.

I want to give you an example from my own experience. When I began in Property Management, I had 6 properties under management, with no system to speak of, barely any commercial experience, never mind a process to perform the required activities efficiently.

As the business grew, I was drowning in work, long hours and admittedly, the results that I was getting, were not what I had hoped for. Being lax about the workload wasn’t the issue.  I was putting 60-70 hours a week, driving around 600 miles a week, chasing after late rents, meeting contractors that needed to get paid, and dealing with other issues that needed my attention. By the time I reached 50 properties, help was needed! I couldn’t continue at this pace, I was getting burnt out.

As you can see, I wasn’t afraid of work, but I wasn’t working smart. I couldn’t deliver the same consistent results month after month, because I didn’t know how to. But, keep in mind, and this is key, if you don’t have a process to complete your job, can you hire help? How can you train your new help, if you don’t know where to begin?

Moreover, can you take any time off? Can your business survive without you? Most likely, your business will implode. In essence, without processes to follow, you are running a “controlled chaos.” Is that what you want for your business? Think about it!

Following on my previous example, after hiring some help and continued to adding more properties under management, I began to learn about systems to help get more organized, to have better interaction with clients, residents and owners, and to be able to run the operation more efficiently. I began implementing systems, one at a time, and I saw how the work load began to ease up. Now, for the first time, I could begin thinking more pro-actively as opposed to reactively.

Today, my company is very streamlined, which allows me to keep adding more properties without missing a beat. The systems that I designed and integrated were done in such a way that the business can grow into the systems and not the other way around.

Our Mini-Series will continue next week…