The Power of Duplication: Scaling A Business Up One Process at a Time

A solution to this dilemma is growing a business from the inside out, by using the power of duplication.  The power of duplication is essentially focused on identifying and executing efficiencies within your business, and you can do it in five easy steps.

The first step is to view a business as a human body, with the different segments of a business representing body parts that have different functions and complete different processes.  In order for your body parts to function properly, there must be an efficient process in place for them.  For example, when a person wants to walk, their brain will send the signal down to their legs, and the legs will respond.  However, if you have a broken or sprained ankle, your ankle cannot function properly, and neither can your leg.  Your ankle knows what to do, but because your ankle is not functioning, the process of walking is broken. 

This is the same way in a business – when there is a breakdown in the process, other parts of the business cannot function efficiently.  Yet, some businesses will go months or even years without making the proper changes, until inefficiencies get worse and spread throughout the business. 

Therefore, the first crucial step in duplication is to hone the business processes.  Every function of a business, like advertising, hiring employees, shipping, selling, producing, and invoicing, has a process behind it.  It is extremely vital to examine every process of a business and then providing easy yet detailed steps for all employees to be able to understand and follow.  By providing succinct instructions and steps, the internal structure of that business unit is able to establish better protocols and increase efficiency.  While going through these steps, additional protocols can be put into place, and establish automations where possible.  By automating processes, fewer mistakes are made and the remaining mistakes can be easily traced to the source quickly.  This is the next step – to automate the process.

Automation streamlines the process to be easily duplicated and makes the process more efficient.  This will save time and money, which will increase profits.  Many companies typically give up profit margins because their processes are not efficient and duplicable.  A business does have to take on some additional expenses to establish business processes but investing in business processes will lead to large benefits.  So, the third step is to invest in better processes. 

With the seamless processes in place, any qualified individuals should be able to follow steps and execute.  After having established these efficient processes, the fourth step is to hire more qualified people to execute the processes.  This is the “clone” everyone is looking for, and it allows managers and executives to focus on other aspects of the business.  By identifying individuals that are motivated, experienced, and engaged, a business owner or manager can create a team of individuals that are like-minded and able to elevate the business. 

Now that a company has the right processes with the right people, the fifth and last step is to sell the process.  Most franchises are extremely profitable because they have a process that can be duplicated and people buy franchises for this very reason.2   These franchisees buy into a profitable process and this method can be used on a smaller scale for any company.3  By following the first four steps, a company has built a sellable product–efficient processes that improve a business.  This can now be sold and taught to other businesses who need their processes revamped.