When you’re wearing all the hats in your business, it can feel like you're constantly reacting—chasing emails, handling orders, updating your site, sending invoices. It’s exhausting, and it can hold you back from growing. But what if just one round of organization could actually make your business feel smoother for months to come?

That’s the power of systems—and it’s a core lesson from Michael E. Gerber’s The E-Myth.

Think Like a Business, Not Just a Busy Person

In The E-Myth, Gerber explains that many people start businesses because they’re good at their craft—but they don’t always think like business owners. So, they end up stuck doing everything manually, every time.

Instead, Gerber encourages entrepreneurs to build systems—simple processes that get repeated the same way, so they don’t have to reinvent the wheel every day. That’s how big businesses run, and it’s how small ones can grow, too.

Start With What You Do Repeatedly

If you’re doing something more than once a week, it’s probably worth organizing. That could mean setting up email templates, creating a social media calendar, or building a checklist for launching a product or working with a new client.

Once you’ve created a system—even a simple one—it’s easier to hand it off, streamline it, or do it faster the next time. You’re not just saving time—you’re creating consistency.

Systems Don’t Have to Be Complicated

You don’t need fancy software or a 20-page manual. A Google Doc, a shared folder, or even a sticky note system can count. The goal is to get things out of your head and into a repeatable flow.

Build Now, Relax Later

When you take a little time to organize upfront, you free yourself to focus on creative work, big ideas, or just take a real day off without your business falling apart.

Final Thoughts

If your business feels messy or overwhelming, you're not failing—you just need better systems. Start small, and remember: getting organized once can mean running on autopilot later. And that’s when real momentum kicks in.

 

This article is part of our Business Coaching blog series. At Dataczar we talk to a lot of small businesses. We’ve found a few books that we keep recommending time and again. To better help our customers, we’ve added a Reading List for Small Businesses to our website. We encourage every small business owner to read and keep these timeless business books on their office shelf.

Submit

---