Create Systems for Your Business and Sell for More

by Vanessa Lovie 13th of May, 2025

Create Systems for Your Business and Sell for More

One of the smartest ways to increase the value of your business before selling? Create systems.

Why? Because buyers don’t just want a business, they want one they can run without you.

If your business relies on you for everything, it’s not really a business, it’s a job. And buyers don’t want to buy your job.

Buyers to invest in a business that can run smoothly without the owner having to do all the heavy lifting.

What Do We Mean by “Systems”?

Think checklists, templates, schedules, software, and written procedures. Systems are what make sure tasks get done the same way every time, even if someone new steps in, like the buyer.

You should have systems for every part of your business before your start selling. Ideally, your business could have over 300 systems, from how to refill the coffee machine, to dispatching an order, or even how to order new pens.

Anything repetitive should have a system.

Some key areas to systemise include:

Onboarding new staff
Onboarding clients
Handling customer enquiries
Processing orders
Marketing and sales
Daily operations and admin
Financial tracking and reporting
Website updates and management

Basically, if it’s repeated, it needs a system.

Of course, there are specialised tasks that don’t need to be systemised. For example, a dentist doesn’t need a system for “how to do a routine clean.” But they should have one for “how to update a client’s record” or “how to greet a patient.”

Systems let your business run like a well-oiled machine.

They let you step away and let the buyer step in. Which, at the end of the day, is the whole point of your business sale.

Why Systems Add Value

The biggest reason to have systems in place is simple, it increases the value of your business.

Buyers see more value in a business they can easily step into. Whether you run the business under management or work in it day-to-day, systems make the transition smoother.

They also help your team, making it easier to onboard new staff, share knowledge, and move between roles.

Basically, systems make life easier for everyone - especially the buyer.

How to Create the Systems

If you're starting from scratch, breathe. Because it is not a quick process.

It might feel "easy" after all, you know everything about your business, but in reality, it will be very time consuming.

1. Mind Map It

My advice, start with a Mind Map - you want to know all the areas of your business and start to map out the systmes you need.

Think departments... Finance, Sales, Delivery, Admin, Human Resources, Marketing

Then break it down... Say for instance in Marketing, you could have this...

Marketing > Facebook > How to Post to Facebook
Marketing > Facebook > How to Respond to a Comment
Marketing > Facebook > How to Update the Header Image
Marketing > Facebook > How to Increase Followers

And on, and on it goes.

When your mapping out all your sections, you can easily get over 500 systems.

2. Create the Systems

There are plenty of platforms to build an intranet or training site. Personally, I like Google Sites. It’s simple, effective, has a search bar, and you can link internal docs, sheets, PDFs, videos -whatever you need. The main drawback? You can’t restrict access to specific sections yet. So, if you’ve got a finance area, you might not want everyone accessing it.

The type of platform you use will depend on the size of your business and its complexity.

In 2025, your systems should live on an internal website your team can access from anywhere.

Each system can be built as a webpage with sections like: About, Process, Videos (screen recordings, walk-throughs, etc.), Images (photos or screenshots), and Links (relevant resources or tools).

3. Get Your Team Involved

You cant do this by yourself. No matter how fast you type!

You need to get your staff involved. Use the mind-map and allocate a section to your team. Ask them to create 5 systems a week. Figure out how long it will take to create all the systems you have identified.