Apart from size, the number one difference between a big business and a small business are systems. I’m talking about how-to guides that are documented and followed by most employees. More than that, these systems are so ingrained into the big company that it has essentially become intertwined with something known as company culture.

Don’t get me wrong. Small businesses follow systems too. However, many small businesses remain small because they have to reinvent their systems over and over again. In essence, they don’t have a system; at least not one that they can package and sell.

A number of years ago, I was worked for a very small business. My boss at the time asked me to complete a mini-assignment. I went to work on it and turned in my finished project in a flash. I was proud of myself for being speedy. In exchange, the trade-off that I made was that my finished project was not exactly reusable.

Wouldn’t you know it? My boss snapped at me and said, “We are a small business. The last thing we can afford is to rewrite code every time! Make your code reusable and document it in a binder so that you can step away.”

I was in my early twenties at the time, yet his words stuck with me to this day.

If a small business wants to become a big business one day, the small business owner would be wise to start writing down systems. The goal of every small business owner should be the ability to step away from his business and have it still hum along fine.

One more thing, if your business is even smaller than a small business, creating and following systems becomes even more important. This is because you need your systems documented in order to outsource. A really small business can only survive for so long with it’s owner doing everything. Eventually, as in, soon, the owner will crash and burn.

Don’t risk crashing and burning. Create systems, outsource, then grow to the next level.