If you want to grow your business you need other people...whether they are partners, associates or affiliates...whether you find them on Elance or you employ them...if you want to get beyond trading your life for money...to grow your business without killing yourself...other people are essential.

Many business owners shy away from employing as an option...

'Ooh I tried that once and I'm not going down that route again!'...

No way! Far too much hassle'...

'You gotta be kidding me...I can do the job better and quicker myself'

...you hear them cry!

Others who have employees are either struggling with, or hugely frustrated by, the whole experience...

'Ive told them a million times how to do this...why don't they just get it..?'

'I just can't get them to stop playing on their mobiles...'

'Why do they keep making the same mistakes..?'

Maybe you recognise your own grumblings here...

The truth is though that if you have the right systems in place...and the right mindset...employing people is not only straightforward, but also hugely rewarding.

By the right systems I'm talking about your systems for hiring, for personal development and for performance management.The 3 essential systems that keep everything consistent and controlled, that keep everyone informed and engaged, and that make your employer brand as reliable as your business brand.

When you think of People systems my guess is that the words HR, legal and discipline spring to mind. The soul-shrinking, limiting side of employment! So I challenge you to adjust your thinking, to change your mindset...

Think helping individuals to fulfil their potential.

Think working with engaged employees who want to do a good job and get recognised for it.

Think running a consistently efficient business where you have control without having to be there 24/7

Here's the thing...

If you only bring the right people-people who share your values- into the business

...if you show an interest in them and develop them as individuals

...if you give them all the information they need, and logical systems so that they can do the job to your high standards

...if you manage their performance-give them structured feedback regularly and consistently-making sure they know the consequences, good and bad

... if you recognise them and reward them for a job well done.

...your business will grow...to whatever size you want it to, without the hassle you currently experience, or have experienced in the past.

Look to the likes of McDonald's, to Virgin, to Apple if you doubt what I'm saying.  Successful business is based on the strength of your employer brand as much as the brand you market to your customers.

Build your people systems, build your business.

...And if this is still a dark art for you...if you get the What and want to know more about the How...either pick up a copy of my book ‘Process to Profit’ which shares a lot of info about setting up your people systems...or/and drop me a line, and I'd be happy to talk through some options with you.

For more information on how MPL can help you visit www.mariannepage.co.uk or contact me on hello@mariannepage.co.uk

It's September...so as usual, spiders are running amok in my house.  Big ones, little ones, short, fat, hairy ones...all scuttling round the house in search of a mate.  Apparently it's a 'bumper spider year' this year...deep joy for the arachnophobes! 

Personally I'm not scared of spiders.  I don't like them running up my arm, or startling me by making a dart across the kitchen floor, but I quite like them as creatures, and I'm impressed both by their gutsiness, and by the systems they put in place to survive and thrive.

Study a spider, and there are lessons you can learn for life and business...

They are resilient.

Ever tried to kill a spider?  It's not that easy is it? Brush them away, shake them out of an upstairs window, flush them down the toilet...and they'll come back for more.  Dogged and determined, there's a reason why they continue to thrive.
How dogged and determined are we to achieve success? How many times are we prepared to get back up when we get knocked down? Resilience is an absolute necessity for every business owner.

They fulfil a need

In simply doing what they have a talent for, spiders fulfil a need that we, as humans have...to have less bugs! Our little eight-legged friends eat more insects than birds and are better at pest control  - 2000 bugs per spider every year.  They don't wait to be asked, they don't suffer from a lack of confidence, they just get on and do what they do best.
What need do we fulfil? How well do we use our skills and experience to take someone else's pain away? Do we just 'get on with it' or procrastinate and waste our 'god-given' talent?

They have highly-developed, yet simple systems

The spiders in your bathroom are following highly-developed systems that put the silk mills of 19th-century Britain to shame. There are systems for building the web, for monitoring activity in the web while they are in a remote nest, for continuous improvement of its structure...even for recycling the raw silk when the current web has outlived its usefulness.
Every spiders' web begins with a single thread. Every system in your business begins with a single process.
Developing simple effective systems in your business that are going to make your life easier, does not have to be an overwhelming task.  Start with a single thread, and build from there.

They don't over-complicate
Despite their tiny brain, a spider can undertake pretty complex activities like capturing prey and building a web.  They are also good at recognising behaviours that aren't working for them and trying something different.
We can all be guilty of ploughing on with things that just aren't delivering the results we're looking for, unwilling to cut our losses and try something different.  Are you doing this now in your business?

They adapt
The reason that spiders can live in many different places on earth is because they have adapted to those environments. They've recognised the need, and made the changes necessary to survive and thrive.
In business, we need to be just as aware of changes in our environment, in our customers' needs, in our industry.  We need, not only to keep up, but to stay ahead of the game, to achieve our success.

Spiders are the superstars of the insect world.  So next time you have a spider in your sink, think about its awesomeness before you flush it down the plughole.

For more information on how MPL can help you visit www.mariannepage.co.uk or contact me on hello@mariannepage.co.uk

I was in Africa last week...a great place to spend time, if you haven't already done so.

One of the first things you notice in Africa is how big the sky is...it's huge.  Very big and very blue and seemingly endless...with vast horizons and extensive landscapes.   You see things very differently in a place like that.

The detail becomes secondary to the beauty of the big picture.

It's like when you go up to the top of a skyscraper...the Shard for example...and look out over the city.  How different that experience is to being on the streets below.  It's more peaceful, you don't have a million and one things invading your senses, you don't have to deal with all the hustle and bustle...you can see the big picture in all its glory.

In business, we often get caught up 'on the streets below'...we can't see the beauty of the forest for the density of the trees...there's no vast blue sky above us...only gathering clouds.

So when we plan...when we begin to look at systemising our business...we start small, we focus on the minutiae, and give all our attention to the near and the immediate.

Plans and systems are two-sides of the same coin.

They both help us to get where we want to be.  They both make our life easier.  And they both require an investment of our time to set them up effectively.

But they won't be effective if we don't start with the big picture, and ask ourselves:

What am I trying to achieve...and why?

 Too often we plan for the short term with no clear idea of what our end game is...what success really looks like to us...where we're going.

Too often we create systems to get us from A to B, without stopping to ask ourselves why we want to go to B...is it logical...is it serving our customer...would it be easier and more effective to go straight to C?

Knowing what we're trying to achieve has to be our starting point, whether we are building plans or developing systems.
Start with that beautiful big picture...and work back to the detail from there.
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For more information on how MPL can help you visit www.mariannepage.co.uk or contact me on hello@mariannepage.co.uk