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How to Get Your Business to Run Without You

by | Business Growth Tips Blog, Create Your Dream Business, General, Management-Leadership, Management-Leadership, Time Management/Productivity

Take it from the CEO of Jetsmarter (a.k.a the Uber of Private Jets), Sergey Petrossov: reducing time and effort wasted on inefficiency can revolutionize your whole business. He upped his company’s annual business by over seven times, simply by spotting an inefficiency. 

Common inefficiencies stem from a lack of communication, getting stuck in outdated procedures and a constant search for something new (the shiny object syndrome). Therefore you have to root out these inefficiencies so that your business can run smoothly.

This requires shrewdness, a can-do attitude and professional coaching.

Are you ready for it?

#1: Know Every Inch of Your Business

Knowing every inch of your business means observing what you are currently doing and asking yourself:

  1. Do I have a clear understanding of what’s important and what’s not?
  2. Am I simply focusing on each task or crisis as it comes along?
  3. Can these tasks be systematized?

Observe your current patterns to determine your strength. Then, apply those useful principles to the rest of your business to systematize the entire process. You can‘t really be objective about your company’s situation if you’re constantly carrying out daily tasks, as the ‘doer.’ You have to step back, zoom in and observe.

“Those who are most successful are capable of ‘higher-level thinking’ – i.e., they are able to step back and design a ‘machine’ consisting of the right people doing the right things to get what they want.”  – Ray Dalio, Founder of Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund

This is the only way to create a system that allows you to remove yourself and let the business take care of itself. Principles by Ray Dalio is a great resource to learn more about this approach. As is Work the System by Sam Carpenter.

Once you’ve built your machine, improve it over time. Create a solid diagnosis of your goals and the problems blocking their path so that you and your team can stimulate creative solutions.

Google was famous for empowering their employees with ‘secret’ information and involving them in Q & A meetings where they could openly discuss anything with anyone. A clear and open communication flow can help you identify bottlenecks, generate better ideas, and build an effective business machine.

Would you agree? If so, you may benefit from a mastermind group that allows you to brainstorm core business challenges with fellow CEOs. Get that conversation started.

#2: Determine What Your Communication Strategy is Lacking

Don’t just say: “I can’t transfer my knowledge to my team.”

Instead, Ask yourself:

  • Which team member, and why?
  • Is it a problem of time or a lack of shared language?
  • Poor follow-through?
  • Lack of clarity?

It’s Only when you’ve identified a problematic pattern can you get to work designing a solution. Get your team in the habit of raising issues and risks that they feel are out of their control or impossible to deliver.

Communication is a tricky problem for most organizations, but it is absolutely your responsibility as a business owner to get it flowing.

So, Make your vision and your values available to your team in file that is accessible to everybody in your company. This way your employees and contractors can keep coming back to whenever they are unsure of the direction of your company. Having a set of principles accessible to everyone means you don’t have to constantly re-exert effort to explain yourself. Document everything, including common Q&As, guidelines etc. Have them organized and updated, often.

Good ideas come from all places. If you have a team that understands company goals, encourage them to ponder and speak up. Let them bring their disagreements into the open where it can be discussed and settled logically.

Are you taking advantage of communication tools like Slack, Basecamp or ProsperWorks? Use communication technology to automate internal processes while decreasing inefficiency, human error and unnecessary delays.

Bonus tip: Outlaw long and complicated emails. Communications should be razor-focused on a task, an update, or a process.

#3: Remove Bottlenecks with Technology

Leveraging technology is the best thing you can do for your business. The benefits are endless: smoother operations, greater customer experience, increased productivity and higher profits.

Jetsmarter made it easy for customers to access technology and information by letting them directly schedule their flights through an app.

As a result, agents were removed as a booking bottleneck and re-directed towards other tasks.

For better or worse, every company is now a software company. There are hundreds of applications that can be used to run business tasks.  It’s all about connecting people, processes, technology and data.

For your business to run smoothly and be highly adaptable to market needs, it needs digital integration. Use the proper tools to get you from knowledge to action in a systematic way.

How can you empower your business with technology?

Every industry has different needs.

Companies with manufacturing, transport and large investments may need to improve operations and take advantage of their infrastructures.

Other companies may want to focus on customer relationships and platforms.

Use technology to support your own goals, decreasing the amount of time and effort that you as a business owner need to focus on daily operations.

#4: Get Help So You Can Focus on the Big Picture

This means passing along some responsibilities when it becomes highly problematic or time-consuming. In other words: seeking help.

Escalation is not a failure — it’s recognition of responsibility.

Your business is meant to grow and run smoothly without your constant input. Because it becomes successful only when treated as a separate entity worthy of investment.

If time is the problem, get a virtual assistant to help you in a variety of areas, including administration, research, invoicing as well as marketing, sales and operational support.

If you have a core business challenge, consult a business coach who can “shift your mindset and perspective on your business which then allows for powerful breakthroughs in the strategic direction of your company.”

Seek help.

#5: Define the Roles and Responsibilities of Your Staff

Did you know that there is a significant relationship between employee performance and clarity about roles and responsibilities?

According to one study: “Role ambiguity, which is absence of clarity for the roles, is considered to be one of the great bottlenecks for the effectiveness of the team.”

The research went on to indicate that employers who are clear about performance, evaluation and delivery improve their business tremendously. Not only are employees happier with their own performance; they uplift the entire organization.

How clear are you about your expectations?

If not, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Almost 50% of employees across different sectors lack role clarity. With start-ups, the problem stems from a fluid environment where everybody has to do everything. However, For larger organizations, it’s due to poor communication.

We’re talking about goals, priorities and boundaries.

Your Employees need to understand not just how they fit into the puzzle but how the other pieces fit in, too, and how the whole thing comes together. 

There is a freedom and passion that comes with clarity.

This includes you as the employer, CEO or business owner. The only thing you should be focusing on is making the best decisions for your business. Remove all the other noise from your head – you’d be amazed at how many different tasks there are that you can get someone else to do for you.

Seriously – here’s 84 examples!

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Conclusion

Are you ready to find out what it means to run a business that is so effective that you can pursue bigger and better goals? It’s possible. Schedule a 30-minute complimentary session today and find out exactly how you’re going to do it.

QUESTION: What inefficiencies have you found in your business that have allowed you to pursue bigger and better things? Share with us in the comments below!

Katrina McKinnon is a leading online innovator with over 20 years’ experience building and operating high performing businesses. In a market hungry for skilled online professionals, Small Revolution powered by Katrina McKinnon’s proven insights, is the fastest, most effective way to get the expertise to tap into this growing opportunity.

You Don’t Need to Build Your Business Alone

by | General, Build Your Dream Team, Business Growth Tips Blog, Create Your Dream Business, Management-Leadership, Management-Leadership, Success Mindset

build a business

Running your own business is hard. Running your business all alone is even harder.  😩

There’s so much advice out there it’s hard to know what to do and what to focus on first. You’re worried about following the wrong advice, or just as bad …. The right advice at the wrong time.

You can commit to working harder …. But, what if you’re working hard on the wrong things? You’ll easily waste months and even years spinning your wheels. 😭

Your friends and family don’t know what it’s like to be an entrepreneur. They don’t understand the challenges you face running your own business or how to solve the problems that keep you up at night.

Right now, you have no one to talk to who can give you meaningful support and actionable advice. 

📍You need to FIND YOUR PEOPLE. 

Take the first step … right here … right now.

✅ WHAT IS ONE DECISION YOU NEED TO MAKE IN YOUR BUSINESS RIGHT NOW?

Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. By sharing a decision you’ve been delaying to make or a challenge that’s got you stuck … not only could you receive some 💡great ideas 💡 to help you … you’re also helping so many others who are facing the same challenge in their business. 

How to Build Your Small Business Dream Team

by | Outsourcing and Hiring Tips Blog, Business Growth Tips Blog, Management-Leadership, Management-Leadership, Time Management/Productivity

You need a quality business dream team behind you if you want to find success in this day and age. There’s no such thing as a one-man show. If your team of small business employees isn’t doing what you want to them to do, it’s easy to get frustrated. Small business is big business. Small businesses with less than 100 workers account for over 98% of all small businesses, and that means your team matters more than ever.

Small business is big business. Small businesses with less than 100 workers account for over 98% of all small businesses Click To Tweet

When your team doesn’t do what you want, you don’t have a team problem. As much as it hurts to admit, you likely have a leadership problem. Before you blame yourself, take some time to reassess the situation. Learning how to be a great leader is all part of mastering how to start a business. All hope is not lost. There are many things you can do to get your small business team back on track for success.

1. Hire the Right Employees

If you’re noticing a trend in dissatisfaction amongst your current employees, you might not be hiring the right people to begin with. It’s worth being choosy with your team members in this era. When you hire the wrong people for the job, they don’t enjoy the work they do, and you won’t be impressed with their results.

How to Build Your Small Business Dream Team

Remember that the most experienced employee might not be the best fit. You’ll need to weigh things like company culture, expectations, and experience level when making a decision about who to hire. In addition, make sure you’re presenting your company and the role accurately. The internet job platforms are full of poorly described positions which will only lead to more confusion.

2. Improve Employee Happiness

How are your employees responding to their daily work environment? Is it full of stress, confusion, and dissatisfaction? If so, you need to reevaluate employee happiness. While nobody should expect to have a fun, exciting day at work (at least, not all of the time), that doesn’t mean it can’t be a satisfying, stress-free place to be.

There are new ways to improve employee happiness that don’t cost you a thing. The first is simply delegating work effectively. When employees feel they’re reasonably able to handle their daily tasks, they perform better. We’ve all dealt with the stress of not being able to meet deadlines and requirements.

Another way is to offer flexible work options. Telecommuting alone shows 82% lower stress levels. Thanks to modern technology, remote work and flexible hours are easier than ever, and you don’t have to compromise on the quality of work. Learn more about modern employee scheduling tools here.

3. Maximize Employee Productivity

Finally, one reason your business dream team might not be doing what you want them to do is because they’re spending too much time on inefficient tasks. So many of our workplace practices today can be automated thanks to new technology. Yet, so many small businesses, in particular, are still holding onto the older ways of doing things. The older way tends to take longer, be inefficient, and wastes valuable time.

How to Build Your Small Business Dream Team

Chances are your employees likely know more about these inefficient tasks than you, and they should be your first line of defense for solving these problems. The employees time is valuable. How much of it is going to waste doing things that could be automated or skipped altogether?

Conduct regular team meetings to discover if there are any areas you could invest in automation, artificial intelligence, or modern solutions. The cost of implementing these programs likely will be more than worth it in the long run.

When your team doesn’t do what you want, you don’t have a team problem. As much as it hurts to admit, you likely have a leadership problem Click To Tweet

4. Run a Better Business

Your business needs strong leadership that pays attention to your employee’s mindset and feelings. These tips above help you put your small business dream team first so you can get more done together. It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-do stress of being a small business leader, so taking the time to notice where your employees need support is key.

Even just taking the initial steps to bridge these gaps in communication will go a long way to repairing employee morale. Your employees want to do their best. Make sure they’re in a position for finding the most success.

QUESTION:  What is 1 key aha you’ve had from thinking through these 4 tips? Share your comments and questions below. 

5 Keys to Bringing Out the Best in Your People

by | Success Mindset, Management-Leadership

Listen to the audio of 5 Keys to Bringing Out the Best in Your People.

Click the play button below:

 

Transcription of the audio on 5 Keys to Bringing Out the Best in Your People is below:

Hello … Hello! … It’s Yoon Cannon here. I’m excited to tackle the topic of motivating your team in today’s episode. Whether you’re listening in from the east coast, the west coast, UK, Europe … whatever time zone you’re in … I’m honored and privileged to have you joining this discussion.

When it comes to business growth one of the most common challenges I hear from SMB’s is how to keep your people highly motivated.

If you’re a business owner or Sales Manager you know that bringing out the best in your people isn’t always easy, but it’s worth it. We all want to attract self motivated people … but the reality is … like anything else … when left neglected the natural effect is people tend to lose motivation and when that happens performance falls flat.

The added problem is that lack of motivation is contagious and if left unmanaged, will spread like a virus to the rest of your team pulling everyone down like a dead weight.

If you are leading a team who is not performing at their full potential, the easy thing to do is dictate “shape up or ship out” . That military style of leadership might give you the illusion you’re running a tight ship, but taking that road just leads to high turnover.

The best route to creating highly motivated high performing teams begins with creating a culture of personal development. That is the harder thing to do but when you shift to inspire and empower your people you end up reaping loyalty and personal excellence from people who want to grow with you for the long haul.

Here are five foundational success principles to teach, preach and reinforce in your organization, so you can empower their self motivation to personal excellence.

Grab a piece of paper … write down today’s date. … Look back on this as the month you finally bought into the power of goal setting.

Your life should be a constant quest towards something … if you’re not moving forward, you’re moving backwards.

No goals; no glory.

If you were to ask people ‘what’s your goal?” You’ll get a lot of answers like .. my goal is to be rich and happy. … But being rich and happy is not really a goal … those are by-products of setting the right goals.

I meet many people in life who DON’T succeed. I rarely meet people who CAN’T succeed.

Problem is many people don’t understand why goals are so important or how to set them

  1. Why goals are so important to my success
  2. Why do people not set goals?
  3. How do I set a goal?

WHY Goals Are So Important

  • The right goal is what gives purpose

Proverbs 29:18 says “where there is no vision people perish”

In fact, HBR published a study where concluded people are likely to live longer if they retire after 65 … one big factor was that people stopped having a purpose and goal to work towards.

  1. The right goal fuels motivation.

JC Penny said  …“Give me a stock clerk with a goal, and I will give you a man who will make history. Give me a man without a goal, and I will give you a stock clerk.”

You know the real work isn’t the hard work, or the actual function you perform. The real work is getting excited about your work … and that’s what takes work.

  1. BHAG goals create excitement

If it’s not a BHAG kind of goal … it’s not going to take you out of your comfort zone. It’s not going to challenge and stretch you to see what you’re really capable of.

Studies found people are happier working towards goals than achieving them.

My oldest son, Thomas had the privilege as a freshman to be part of his high school Varsity soccer team the year they won State Championships. Everyone on the team not only worked incredibly hard that year. They all started training from a young age to achieve that level of mastery.

He glowed sharing how incredible it was to win at the State Cup … the sweet taste of victory to be celebrated by the entire town in a parade. But, now that he’s in college he can look back and see that win as just one moment in time. But, what he’ll remember more is how happy and excited he was in the years he gave it his all training towards that goal.

What would be an EPIC win for you and your team?

It’s not a big enough goal is losing doesn’t hurt very much and winning isn’t very exciting.

WHY Do People Not Set Goals?

1. They don’t know how.
2. Fear of failure

Ok, so how do you eliminate fear? … you change your view and perspective around failing.

“There is nothing to fear, but fear itself”

Everyone at one time or another feels the fear of failure and rejection. It’s normal. But successful people aren’t people who don’t feel those fears. But they manage to master their emotions by changing their belief about failure.

Embrace the wisdom of Henry Ford when he said “ failure is just the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.”

So, remember that failure is success if we learn from it. In fact, if you’re not failing, you’re not growing. Personal growth never comes from successes. Personal growth only comes from hard times and failure.

How many of us read the Dr. Seuss books to our kids? … But you know what? His 1st book was rejected 27X!

It’s ok to fail! It’s NOT ok to not try.

HOW TO TEACH YOUR TEAM TO SET the RIGHT GOALS?

  1. Start with the ultimate BHAG goal. (long term, epic win) …..
    1. Life is full of short term disappointments. Long range goals keep you from short term frustrations.
    2. Must be written down with a date. A goal not written down is just a nice idea.
    3. Break it down to mid term goals and short term 10-day sprint goals
  2. Must have a compelling WHY
    1. List all the benefits of hitting that goal. What will achieving your BHAG goal allow you to do that you can’t do now?
    2. What will allow you to have that you don’t have now?
    3. Who will you become in the process?

The WHY is what makes those BHAG Worthwhile. A clear compelling WHY is what makes a BHAG goal worth committing to.

It’s not a worthwhile goal is losing doesn’t hurt very much and winning isn’t very exciting. A goal casually set & lightly taken will be freely abandoned at it’s first obstacle.

Wrapping up … I want to you to reflect …

Whether you’re a business owner, the CEO … or a sales manager .. .what is your core belief around creating high performing teams?

Do you believe that people should just always be self motivated? .. If so, how is that working for you?

Well, I believe that winning teams are cultivated.  NFL teams recruit the top self motivated high performing football players … but every team has a coach whose job is to bring out the best in his players.

If you wish your employees were more motivated … if you want your sales team to be rock star players, don’t forget You are that coach for your organization. I challenge you to teach, preach and reinforce these foundational goal setting skills to your people.

Some of you might be old enough to know who Vince Lombardi is… I love his quote

“Treat them as champions and they will play like champions.”

I opened this episode welcoming you to this discussion… yes, I want to hear what you’ve got to say about this topic today. So, share your comments, your wisdom, your questions … in the comments section below..

And … while you’re here download my free checklist on Creating High Performing Teams.

 

Create High Performing Teams ChecklistPS. Curious, are you apart of a CEO Mastermind Group where you can do deeper into business challenges like this with other like minded, seasoned entrepreneurs?

If not, be sure to check out these different Business Owner Peer Advisory Mastermind Groups here: 

https://www.paramountbusinesscoach.com/ceo-peer-advisory-mastermind-groups/