**Business is hard until you build systems like this โ€” Transcript & Summary | SozAI** Source: https://sozai.app/transcript/business-is-hard-until-you-build-systems/ Ross Harkness explains that business systems are machines with inputs, processes, outputs, and a feedback loop, and shows how to map, track, and fix bottlenecks to scale with less time. ## Key Takeaways - A system must be a results-producing machine with inputs, processes, outputs, and a feedback loop, not just documentation. - Map every task to a function goal (marketing, sales, operations, finance) and write the steps to complete it. - Use feedback loops and tracked data to find the bottleneck limiting growth before scaling marketing. - Fix one bottleneck at a time, since fixing everything at once creates confusion and solves nothing. ## What the video covers - Many entrepreneurs build SOPs and automations yet remain stuck working long hours because their 'systems' are just documents nobody uses. - A real system is a machine for producing results, made of inputs, processes, outputs, and a feedback loop. - Inputs are the raw material, processes are the assembly line, and outputs are the finished product of the business. - Every business has four core functions: marketing (generate leads), sales (turn leads into customers), operations (deliver the product or service), and finance. - Each task should be tied to the goal of its function, with the steps for that task written out to map the business systems. - A feedback loop, such as weekly team check-ins and client feedback forms, reveals what the system cannot show on its own and keeps it from becoming stale. - Business systems work like a pipe: leads enter at marketing, flow through sales, onboarding, and fulfillment, and emerge as profit, with blockages reducing flow. - Data from scorecards helps identify the single biggest constraint limiting the flow, which should be fixed before turning up marketing. - The recommended approach is to map systems, track data, fix the bottleneck, turn up marketing, then address the next bottleneck rather than fixing everything at once. - Ross offers one-on-one help through his business (selfmastery.co) to systemize businesses so owners can grow while working about four hours a day. ## Chapters 1. 00:00 The Problem: Working Hard Without Growth 2. 00:41 What a Real System Is: Four Components 3. 02:00 Mapping Business Functions and Tasks 4. 03:32 The Missing Piece: Feedback Loops 5. 06:13 Business as a Pipe: Finding Blockages 6. 08:00 Why Marketing Is the Top of the Pipe 7. 09:00 Fix One Bottleneck at a Time 8. 11:00 Closing and Next Steps Answers ## Questions about this video What are the four components of a real business system? According to Ross Harkness, a real system has inputs, processes, outputs, and a feedback loop. Inputs are the raw material, processes are the assembly line, and outputs are the finished product, with the feedback loop keeping the system improving. Why does the speaker say marketing is the top of the pipe? Marketing controls how much water, or leads, enters the system. Even with more leads, blockages in sales, onboarding, or fulfillment will limit profit, so marketing should be turned up after bottlenecks are fixed. How should you fix problems in a business system? Map the systems, track the data, identify and fix the single biggest bottleneck, then turn up marketing and fix the next bottleneck. Trying to fix everything at once is described as feeling fast but solving nothing. ## Full Transcript โ€” Download SRT & Markdown 00:00 Speaker A Have you spent hours building systems, SOPs, automations, workflows, only to find yourself still stuck working 10 plus hours a day, wondering why your business isn't growing the way you want it to? 00:14 Speaker A systemize both their personal operations and their business, I've seen the same problem at every level. And it's the difference in systems that let you scale in 4 hours a day and systems that just feel like documents nobody looks at. So, 00:27 Speaker A Well, after helping countless six, seven, and eight figure entrepreneurs systemize both their personal operations and their business, I've seen the same problem at every level. 00:41 Speaker A that's not actually what a system is. They can be features and parts of your systems. But a real system is essentially a machine for producing results. It's made up of four main components. Now, the three most basic components are your inputs, your 00:55 Speaker A And it's the difference in systems that let you scale in four hours a day and systems that just feel like documents nobody looks at. 01:07 Speaker A And like, if you imagine your entire business is a factory, your input is the raw material. Okay? Your process is the assembly line and your output is the product that is made at the end of that assembly. If you don't know what the raw 01:23 Speaker A So, in this video, I'm going to show you what really makes a system work and how you can use it to scale faster while you work less. 01:35 Speaker A Well, you can't. And the same goes for your business. If you don't know what your inputs are, how the processes flow, and what output you're supposed to measure for each system, how can you expect to scale your business to 01:46 Speaker A Now, when you hear system, you probably think of SOPs, checklists, maybe a few automations, but that's not actually what a system is. 01:59 Speaker A built is a business that burns your time and energy and gives you no signal. It gives you no freedom. It gives you no reward. But luckily there's a really easy fix and a quick win you can get here and that's to stop thinking about 02:10 Speaker A They can be features and parts of your systems. 02:24 Speaker A these four are in every business. And then you want to identify the goal of each function which for marketing is to generate leads, sales is to turn leads into customers. operations is to deliver your product or service and finances to 02:35 Speaker A But a real system is essentially a machine for producing results. 02:42 Speaker A A mistake I see here quite often is people don't write down the real goal. 02:46 Speaker A It's made up of four main components. 02:56 Speaker A followers, but really as a business, the goal of creating content is to generate leads. So what you'll notice after you do this is that every task has a goal that aligns with the goal of the functions. So put every task under the 03:09 Speaker A Now, the three most basic components are your inputs, your processes, and your outputs. 03:21 Speaker A people onto your email list. Then for each task write out the steps you have to follow to do that task. Once you've done that you've mapped out your business systems. Now depending on your business that might take 20 minutes or 03:32 Speaker A Now, I'll tell you what the fourth component is in a minute, but guess what? 03:42 Speaker A your business so you can grow in 4 hours a day click the first link in the description below pay me and I'll help you turn your business and time into something you have complete control over. But now even once you've mapped 03:53 Speaker A Most entrepreneurs don't even know what their inputs are or how their processes flow or what output they're even measuring. 04:02 Speaker A system that well doesn't. It's the part that turns an okay system into a system that scales your business. It's a feedback loop. Without a feedback loop, your system quite simply becomes steel. 04:12 Speaker A And, if you imagine your entire business is a factory, your input is the raw material. 04:22 Speaker A Everything looked perfect. Okay. tasks were signed, emails were automated, forms were collected, but something just wasn't right. Clients kept ghosting him after week two. So, he thought it was a sales issue, that it was a mindset issue. Turns out, one of the onboarding 04:36 Speaker A Okay? 04:46 Speaker A important things in business is clarity and first impressions. A bad onboarding can ruin everything else. even if the entire thing of delivering your product or service is perfect. And guess what? 04:56 Speaker A Your process is the assembly line, and your output is the product that is made at the end of that assembly. 05:07 Speaker A That is the power of a feedback loop. It shows you what the system can't tell you on its own. So if you want your systems to work, if you want them to actually blow up your business while you work 05:17 Speaker A If you don't know what the raw material is, if you don't know how that raw material is supposed to be put together, assembled, or you don't know what the end product is even meant to be, then how on earth can you run that factory efficiently and effectively? 05:29 Speaker A and basically a way to track your data for every system so you're not guessing and so you can see objectively what's working and what's not. Now, I've made videos in the past on building scorecards and using them. So, if you 05:40 Speaker A Well, you can't. 05:48 Speaker A that. But, of course, not everything can be tracked of a metric. So, feedback loops can look as simple as asking your team on a weekly basis, what's not working here? And asking your clients regularly for feedback like where did 06:00 Speaker A And the same goes for your business. 06:13 Speaker A doing. It's why at selfmastery.co I have forms weekly and monthly that I give my clients to fill in so I know exactly where they're struggling, how I can help them best and what I need to improve. So having both forms of feedback is 06:26 Speaker A If you don't know what your inputs are, how the processes flow, and what output you're supposed to measure for each system, how can you expect to scale your business to millions of dollars a year? 06:38 Speaker A not getting smarter. It's not improving. And that's exactly why your systems don't work. But once you have that feedback, what do you do with it? Well, here's what you need to understand. A system is really like a pipe. And the 06:49 Speaker A You can't. 07:00 Speaker A system is blocked. So, if we run with the pipe metaphor here, if you picture your business system as a whole, as a whole, as a pipe carrying water, that pipe is different sections. Each section corresponding to your business system. 07:12 Speaker A And even if you know what those three components are for your business, if the input is inconsistent or the process is inefficient, or you don't know if the output is good or not, then all you've built is a business that burns your time and energy and gives you no signal. 07:23 Speaker A But as it moves through the pipe, it becomes a client and then comes out at the end of the pipe as profit. But right now, let's say the pipe has five blockages. One in sales, one in onboarding, one in fulfillment, one in 07:35 Speaker A It gives you no freedom. 07:43 Speaker A Okay, this is what most people don't understand about marketing. It is the top at the start of the pipe of your system because it essentially controls how much water enters the system because for you to get profit, you know the 07:53 Speaker A It gives you no reward. 08:05 Speaker A the top, the more leads you get that enter the system. So if you have those five blockages, even when you turn up the top marketing and get more people into your ecosystem, into your business sort of pipeline, the more water might 08:17 Speaker A But luckily there's a really easy fix and a quick win you can get here, and that's to stop thinking about systems as documents and start mapping out your systems, which to do that, first you have to identify the major functions in your business. 08:28 Speaker A blockages at once. But the blockages, they typically impact each other. So fixing one might influence and worsen another. It might not, but it might. 08:36 Speaker A Now every single business has the function of marketing, sales, operations, and finance. 08:48 Speaker A limiting the water the most. Now obviously to do this to figure out what that constraint is. You need data, which is why your scorecards are so important. 08:55 Speaker A Some businesses obviously have others, but these four are in every business. 09:04 Speaker A yes, look, this feels like you're moving slower, but if you try to fix everything at once, it feels fast until you realize you're never actually solving anything. 09:13 Speaker A And then you want to identify the goal of each function, which for marketing is to generate leads, sales is to turn leads into customers, operations is to deliver your product or service, and finance is to manage cash flow and profitability. 09:25 Speaker A flow, more water coming through the pipe, and more efficiency. If you fix your sales problems, more leads turn into customers. You fix your fulfillment problems and more customers get results, they stay longer, refer others, etc., etc. Eventually, the water runs clean 09:38 Speaker A You then want to list out every task in your business. 09:49 Speaker A drive more leads into the system. But you have to clear the pipe first, then turn up the tap once the system can handle it. Because there's zero point in turning up your marketing if all the water is going to get blocked. If your 09:59 Speaker A Yes, every single one. 10:10 Speaker A And if say fulfillment or operations is your bottleneck, you'll potentially ruin your company's reputation with service due to having more clients than you can handle. Now, obviously, there's a bit of a paradox here whereby to see if your system can handle more volume, 10:22 Speaker A And you want to write out the goal of each task. 10:33 Speaker A simple. Okay? You map the systems in your business. You track the data. You fix the bottleneck. You turn up marketing. You fix the next bottleneck. 10:45 Speaker A A mistake I see here quite often is people don't write down the real goal. 10:57 Speaker A improving marketing. Aim for progress. Okay? Aim for progress for iteration. Build the system, run it, watch it break, fix it, run it again, then turn up the tab. That is a cycle. But of course, you need data for this and that 11:08 Speaker A So, make sure you include the end goal of that task. Topics: business systems SOPs feedback loop scaling a business business bottlenecks workflow automation scorecards entrepreneurship marketing funnel operations Study this video - [Flashcards from this video](https://sozai.app/tools/ai-flashcard-generator/?from=transcript&id=83992) - [Quiz on this video](https://sozai.app/tools/quiz-generator/?from=transcript&id=83992) Free, made by AI from this transcript. No signup. --- This is the markdown twin of https://sozai.app/transcript/business-is-hard-until-you-build-systems/ โ€” the same content, without the markup. Published by SozAI (https://sozai.app). Reuse and quotation are allowed with attribution and a link back. Machine-readable index: https://sozai.app/llms.txt ยท data API: https://sozai.app/api/