Order must replace chaos

"For a small business to grow, order must replace chaos."

By Catherine Wijnberg

I am best known as an entrepreneur and small business specialist. It is the way I think and act. This makes me a great champion for the cause and able to understand the challenges of SMEs and find solutions for others just like me.

The danger in being so passionate about something though, is if we are unable to see the good in something else; when our eyes and ears are closed to another way because we believe so strongly and so passionately that our way is the right way.

I have, at times, been challenged by this in large organisations, which differ so markedly from the hierarchy-free SME.

For example, corporate systems and processes are often frustratingly slow, but it’s these systems that deliver consistency and order. Templates, rules, and guidelines ensure that all staff know what to do and when. This alignment allows the organisation to grow and function optimally at scale.

For most entrepreneurs, this high degree of order is a bit of a nightmare. Start-ups are exciting precisely because of disorder and chaos. It is the lack of order that allows rapid change, innovation and the creation of new boundaries. That is the excitement that drives the entrepreneur in us.

But a lack of systems and processes often trips small business up. It can result in uneven quality, inefficiencies and staff who are unprepared or unsupported when performing the task at hand.

If the small business is to grow, order must replace chaos. Systems and processes, formal job descriptions, contracts, staff growth paths, disciplinary measures and all the litany of structures are essential. Systems are the foundation stones of growth in a business. Without them the business will fail in its quest for growth.

The art, though, is to create systems that leave a window for individual expression so each staff member can express their individual talent whilst operating efficiently and seamlessly as a unit. The ideal is a blend of entrepreneurial creativity underpinned by systems to ensure consistency.