Why Your Systems Need to Change as Your Business Evolves

The first question we usually ask ourselves should not be, how do I fix this? We need to ask, what has changed since I created this process? And I think it's a much more helpful place to start because it really reframes how we look at things. Welcome to the Mind Your Time podcast.

I'm Shannon Baker, your confidence-loving host, business strategist, and systems expert. And I guide consultants towards systems that protect their time and elevate their expertise. If you're ready to run a business that supports your life and not the other way around, you're in the right place. Each episode shares grounded strategies rooted in my power and motion framework to help you lead your client experience with clarity and confidence.

So grab a cup of coffee or your favorite beverage and let's dive in. Ever since our family moved into our new home about three months ago, I've been thinking more about how things change and not necessarily a big change like the one that I just went through. But I'm talking about changes that happen over time. So you don't really notice it until one day, something that used to feel very easily, suddenly it feels harder.

And even if it isn't harder, you don't get the same results that you used to. And the more I thought about this, the more I realized the same thing happens with our business processes. You can have a process that has worked for years, and then one day you find yourself scratching your head, wondering, why has this stopped working all of a sudden, right? The first thing we usually assume is something is broken.

But I've learned over the years that it's usually a sign that you and your business have evolved, but your business structure, including your systems, doesn't match where you are today. This reminds me of something that actually happened while we were unpacking the kitchen and the new home. Before we moved, I had it all figured out. I knew exactly where my coffee station was going, I knew where my plates were gonna go.

I had mentally unpacked the entire kitchen before we even moved into the house. Actually, before the truck even parked in front of our house. Sounds simple, right? Well, as soon as we started putting things away, I realized that my plan was not gonna work the way that I thought it would.

I kept moving things around thinking eventually I'd land on the perfect setup. Huh, guess what? That didn't happen. And it finally hit me.

It wasn't that there was something wrong with my plan, it's just that my plan was designed for a completely different kitchen. So when my mom unpacked the first box, the dinner plates wouldn't fit into the cabinet. The mixing bowls that I thought would stack up nicely, they didn't. And suddenly I was standing in my kitchen surrounded by boxes, thinking, well, now what?

And to top it off, we have a tiny pantry. So it seemed like I was rearranging it every day because we couldn't find anything. I mean, I swear, I think I moved the ketchup like three different times before it finally ended up on the other side of the kitchen in a place that all of us could remember to get it. Even the canned sodas only fit in the pantry after I stacked the boxes together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Eventually I realized that I wasn't searching for or trying to create the perfect kitchen. I was actually learning how to live in a different one. And by the end of the first week, I stopped trying to make it perfect and just wanted to stop opening the wrong cabinet every time I needed something. I think this is also something that happens in our businesses.

We create systems based on what we know at that time. Then we design them to support the business that we have at that time. If they're good systems, they serve us really well for quite some time as long as we check them on a regular basis and make adjustments as needed. But then our business changes.

Maybe we add a new service or we stop offering something, or something in our life changes, whatever it is. The reality that we created things in, those systems no longer support where we are today. But we keep expecting them to support this new version of us and the new version of our business. And that's where a lot of business owners get discouraged.

They start questioning whether they created the for the right process in the first place. Then they start looking for a new piece of software. Some wonder if they just need to burn everything down to start over. Sometimes the answer isn't throwing it all out and starting over, though.

Sometimes it's as simple as moving the ketchup bottle. But the process isn't always the problem either. The first question we usually ask ourselves should not be, how do I fix this? We need to ask, what has changed since I created this process?

And I think it's a much more helpful place to start because it really reframes how we look at things. So instead of looking for what's broken, we need to start looking for what has evolved or changed over time. One thing we tend to forget as business owners is things are constantly changing. And whether you are operating as a team of one or you have a small team, when things change in your personal life, you have to make changes in your business in response to that, not the other way around.

Here's an example. Maybe when you started your business, working in the evenings wasn't a problem because your children were younger and they were in bed by eight o'clock. And this was a great time for you to schedule emails for the next day after dinner or do some client work because that's the season that your life was in, and that allowed that time for you to get work done. Or today, maybe you're helping aging parents.

So that means you've got doctor's appointments and caregiving responsibilities that require you to be available during the day, which wasn't required before. Or it could be that you hired a VA or you stopped offering a specific service. Maybe you have fewer clients, but a few larger ones. Maybe you're making twice the revenue and you have half the workload.

Whatever the change is, I think this is where capacity becomes an important part of the conversation. Your personal priorities determine your capacity, and your actual capacity impacts how you run your business. That means your systems need to change to support the current season your life is in. And sometimes we spend way too much time trying to preserve the current version of the business that we built, and we forget to make room for the new version that it has become.

So, what version of your business are you protecting? It's very easy to forget that along the way, we've become a different person too. We're always changing with every client, with every life experience, with every investment we make in professional development. It all sparks change.

And this resistance, I don't think it's intentional, but it happens because we're told to just keep moving. We solve one problem and we're automatically on to the next. So before we know it, we're still operating based on decisions that we made two, three, or five years ago without evaluating whether or not that still makes sense. I remember working with a client who was totally convinced that she needed new software.

She told me this system can't give me the reports that I need anymore. So before we started looking into new software, I asked her to explain to me exactly what she was trying to do. And as we walked through it together, I realized the current software she was using wasn't the problem at all. She already had all the data that she needed, but the system wasn't set up to automatically pull everything together in a report the way she wanted.

So instead of replacing the software, I mapped out a few adjustments of how it was being used, made the updates, and then she could get the reports she wanted, and some she didn't even realize that the software could give her. This is a perfect example of what happens when nothing is actually broken. Her business had evolved, but the way she was using the software hadn't evolved with it. That's why we need to periodically step back and look at our business with fresh eyes, or better yet, have someone else do it for us or with us.

One of the reasons that I started working with the podcast strategist is because I realized I'm a very good planner, but I didn't know anything about strategically planning and managing a podcast so that it could be both successful and sustainable. And that podcast strategist says something to me all the time. I will never forget these words. You can't read the label from inside the jar.

Every time she says it, I'm reminded we all have blind spots. We're good at what we do. But it's much easier for us to see what's keeping someone else's business stuck than it is for us to see what's happening in our business. That's why it's so important to periodically step back and evaluate whether the business that you're leading today is being supported by the systems that you built yesterday.

This reminds me of a previous episode that I recorded about stabilizing your back office operations. In that episode, I talked about how your business quietly starts depending on you when the structure behind the scenes isn't keeping up with the business you're trying to lead. Sometimes stabilizing your business is not about creating something new, it's about recognizing that what once supported you now needs to evolve along with your business. And that's one of the reasons the first question that I asked during a legacy and motion session isn't what's broken, it's what has changed.

And I love that question because it changes the direction of the conversation. When we start by looking for what's broken, our instinct is we need to fix it. But when we start by looking at what's changed, we slow down long enough to understand what we're really looking at and what we need to fix. A system needing attention isn't evidence that it failed.

It's evidence that you and your business have evolved. And I don't know about you, but I'd rather have a business that evolves, not one that's still supporting a version of my life and business that no longer exists. So instead of seeing this as another thing on your to-do list, I want you to look at it as one of the ways that you care for the business that you've worked so hard to build. Stop asking, why isn't this working anymore?

and start asking what has changed since I created it. Those two questions lead to very different conversations and outcomes. So here's something I'd love for you to think about this week. Don't open your project management software looking for something to update.

Don't pull out all of your SOPs and start rewriting them. Just think about one process that's been frustrating you lately and ask yourself a simple question. Has this process stopped working? Or has my business changed since I created it?

Then I want you to sit with your answer for a little while. You may realize the process doesn't need to be replaced at all. It may simply need a few tweaks so it can support the business and life you're living today. Now let's take a minute to reflect on what we've talked about today.

We started with a simple lesson from me unpacking my new kitchen. The plan I created before we moved, it wasn't wrong. It just simply wasn't designed for the new space. And I think that's exactly what happens in business.

We also talked about how our business naturally evolves over time. We add services, we refine our offers, we adjust our priorities, and the seasons of our life, it changes. As those changes happen, our systems need to evolve right along with us. We also talked about our capacity.

Your personal priorities influence your capacity, and your capacity should influence the way that your business operates. So if your systems are still supporting a version of your life that no longer exists, they'll eventually start creating friction instead of giving you the breathing room that you need. And finally, we talked about asking a different question. Instead of immediately wondering what's broken and trying to figure out how to fix it, ask what has changed.

That one question will shift your focus away from failure to alignment, helping you make decisions based on the business that you're running today, not the one you started building years ago. If you've been noticing these changes in your business, that's exactly what the Legacy in Motion session is for. It's a different conversation than most people expect because we don't spend time looking at everything that's wrong with your business. We step back and look at what has changed over time.

We look at how your business is operating today, whether your communication, your systems, and your workflows are still supporting the business that exists today. And then we look at where small changes could create more breathing room and make your business less dependent on you. Sometimes the answer is not to create another system. It's simply about adjusting one that's already serving you well so that it reflects where you are today instead of where you were a few years ago when it was created.

That perspective alone can completely change the way you move forward because you're making decisions based on the business where it is now and not the one that you started building. Thank you for tuning in today. If this episode feels like a breath of fresh air, it's because you're already craving a business that supports your life, not one that steals your time. If you want help spotting what's quietly draining your time and energy, you can download the BacOffice Power Checklist at theshannonbaker.

com forward slash checklist. And if this conversation resonated with you, make sure you're following the podcast on your favorite platform so you don't miss what's next. We'll keep breaking this down together one intentional step at a time. So until next time, keep calm and streamlined.