It’s a common misbelief that if your clients are unique that you cannot have systems in your business. The two are not mutually exclusive. Mother Nature has a system for creating snowflakes.

Every business runs on systems.

This is obvious in a business that produces a physical object or where things get produced on an assembly line. It’s sometimes less obvious in a business that is based on individualized attention and customer service.

“Less obvious” doesn’t mean “less true.”

One of the most common things I hear from service-based solopreneurs — especially real estate agents — is that,

I can’t have systems in my business because every client is unique.

This is a huge limiting belief. And it keeps you small.

If you believe you can’t have systems then you’ll constantly be reinventing the wheel.

You can’t grow that way.

The good news is you already have systems. You likely don’t see them because perhaps you don’t always follow them.

The first step is to acknowledge that you do, in fact, have systems.

The second step is to see the places in your business where systems exist.

The third step is to see the system itself.

This requires slowing down enough to see the system.

The fourth step is to write down the system. Write down all the steps. What you do first. Then what. And so on.

Once you have the steps written down, you have a documented system.

Now you have a tool to help you teach your system to someone else.

You also have a standard. Your system is a statement of how you do that thing when conditions are ideal. It sets the standard.

Having a system doesn’t mean you can’t make exceptions to the rules. Sometimes it makes sense to bend the rules.

But you’ve got to know the rules to break the rules.

Find the rules. Then create the exceptions.

If you’re having trouble seeing the systems in your business, start small.

Pick one aspect of what you do and look at it through the eyes of someone who has never seen what you do. Pretend you must explain it to that person.

What’s the first thing you do?
What comes next?
What comes after that?
Then what?
And so on.

Write down each step. That’s your system for that piece of your business.

Practice this when you’re out in the world. Pay attention to what people do, and soon you will see systems everywhere. This will help you notice your own systems more easily.

Recognizing your systems doesn’t make your clients less unique.

Snowflakes are unique. And Mother Nature has a system for creating snowflakes.

As much as we want to believe we are special, we also find comfort in knowing that we are not alone.

When you can tell a client that you have a system to get her the result she wants, your client will trust you more.

Your system instills confidence that you can help her.

Find your system. Embrace it. It is a sign that you’re not just shooting in the dark. Systems tell people that you are serious and seasoned and you know what you’re doing.