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needs to be done, the time frame for completion, and what success looks like. I can’t stress enough how important clarity is. The next step is to stop chasing and start attracting. In nearly all of the consulting work I’ve done, I see entrepreneurs chasing instead of attracting. There are four keys to being successful with building out systems and processes that can run without: 1. All systems and processes need to be documented thoroughly. 2. You need good people to run and manage the systems and processes. 3. You or another leader has to inspect what you expect. 4. You need to review and update the systems and processes frequently. Stop chasing shiny objects in marketing, gadgets, etc. They are not going to save you from all your business problems, no matter how much the salesperson claims they will. One of the keys to being successful in buying back your freedom is that you need to get used to many aspects of your business being boring. This includes marketing. I love boring marketing that works. In fact, it is my favorite type of marketing because it doesn’t need constant updating or new ad copy, etc., yet it still makes me money! Increase the amount of inbound marketing you do. It is slower and more difficult at first, but in the long run, inbound marketing is more profitable and will provide better customers. Stop chasing the cheapest labor you can find and, instead, spend more and hire A players. An easy example of how this actually will create more profits for you are Chick-fil-A and In-N-Out Burger. In-N-Out’s average retail employee makes $20.02 per hour, and Chick-fil-A’s average retail employee makes $17.77 per hour. They both have some of the highest net profit margins in the industry.
The second-to-last step is to make your first of many lists that I call “Stuff I Don’t Want to Do!” You’ll make many of these lists on this journey, but the first time you make the list, it may be very long, and that’s okay. Once you’ve made your list, look for anything you can move off your plate now. Then make a goal to move off as much as you can over the course of the next few months or throughout the year. Look at this list often and move that crap off of your plate as you build out the previous steps. As you move the stuff you don’t want to do off of your plate, that will free up time so you can build out each of the following steps and ultimately buy back your freedom. The final step is to create reporting and tracking
so you can manage your business from anywhere. Ideally, this is a single page that provides you with all the up- to-date information
you need to keep tabs on the health of your business. As an added bonus, if you follow the plan I’ve outlined, you’ll also drastically increase the value of your business. I
know this from firsthand experience. In 2019, I had placed Newsletter Pro for sale. I received offers from $15 million to $20 million and was only required to stay part of the company for six months after the deal closed. One of the primary reasons for good offers and the short transition time was the systems and processes I’d built. At the time, the broker estimated that those systems increased my multiple on profits from 5 times to 7–8 times profits.
–Shaun “He has filled them with skill to do every sort of work done by an engraver or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, or by a weaver—by any sort of workman or skilled designer.” Exodus 35:35
THE WORD
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