Build A Business That Runs Itself.
This is a better way!
"The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one who gets people to do the greatest things." - Ronald Reagan
"True leaders strive to make themselves completely irrelevant. The goal of a great leader is to help their team grow. Their primary task is to build a machine that can run without them. The best way they can do this is to duplicate themselves as many times as possible. By that I mean they teach and support others to step up and take over certain jobs and tasks. They "duplicate" themselves, allowing them to hand off jobs one by one until they are no longer needed in the daily functioning of the team. Many times, leaders support their team members so much that the team members surpass the leader's own skills and talent." - Anik Singal, Author of eSCAPE - The 4 Stages of Becoming A Successful Entrepreneur.
Is your business dependent on you? You should own a business that runs itself!
Turn your existing business into an 'Owner-Independent' business - one that runs just as well when you're gone as when you're there. Start by asking yourself; "How can I get ____________ done without 'ME' doing it?" "Sure, anyone can achieve success independently, but you can accomplish a lot more if you have a strong team that's aligned with your vision." - Read: '17 Experts Reveal How to Build a Successful Team from Scratch' - IFP 'Insights for Professionals.'
Custom Apps + People = Efficiency
Sustainable Recurring Income
"Productivity is about doing more to increase output. Efficiency is about doing less to increase output." "Growing a company is different from scaling it. Most businesses grow. Very few scale. You grow a business by doing more to get more. You scale a business by doing less to get more." "Scaling a business is not about less work. You must put less effort into those outcomes, but more thought. The hard work is the thinking." - Mike Michalowicz, Author; Clockwork, Revised and Expanded
"Recruiting is a core competency for any company. It should never be outsourced."
- Peter ThielWhy build a team?
Leverage people, technology and systems to replace you as the one doing the actual work.
"You need a team to accomplish your dream. If your dream does not have a team, it is not big enough." - Laszlo Nadler (From The Book; 'The Million-Dollar, One-Person Business, Revised' by Elaine Pofeldt). One way to accomplish more is to lead teams working with you who automatically perform tasks for you.
Minimize your busy work!
Buy Back Your Time! The odds are that someone else or some piece of technology can do it for you! Make more effective use of your time by automating and/or delegating all those routine tasks that deprive you of the time you need for the activity that actually increases your income. Why are you spending hours upon hours performing tasks that someone would gladly do for you for only $6 to $15 to $25 an hour or Ai can do faster and for less?
Pay for results. If you provide your individual team members with custom apps that help them get the results they want along with the ones you need - they'll prosper and so will you. Members of your team don't have to be employees to share your vision. Your team can be independent contractors, joint venture partners, virtual assistants, freelancers, and various professionals.
Enjoy greater freedom in every area of your life! The point is, if you're a business owner who'll 'spend money to save time' rather than one who just 'spends all their time to save money' then you can grow your company with a team at a much faster rate and have free time too - by systemizing everything.
The 'L factor' enables you to earn an income without having to show up and perform a task.
"The hallmarks of the Participation Age are simple; participation and sharing. Companies are discovering that if they invite everyone to participate in the building of a great company and to share in the rewards, both the company and the people, profit more..." - Inc. Article: Embracing the Participation Age, Inviting Stakeholders to participate, share and rehumanize the workplace.
"Make more money in less time." - Chuck Blakeman, Author: 'Why Employees Are Always A Bad Idea' '...build a stronger culture, turn managers into leaders and employees into self-managed adult Stakeholders, and ultimately achieve long-term growth and stability.'
"Great companies are giving everyone their brains back. Companies of every size are leaving behind the outdated management practices of the Industrial Age to grow exponentially faster with fewer employees. They’re doing it with a Participation Age culture..." - Crankset Group
"Most people think they know what they are good at. They are usually wrong. ...and yet, a person can perform only from strength." - Business guru Peter Drucker (1909-2005).
Master the art of delegating. Endeavor to match the strengths of your individual team members with the tasks they need to perform. But what are their individual strengths, and yours, and what's the optimum way to match them up? Use STRENGTHSFINDER 2.0 from GALLUP and Tom Rath. Relevent Books: 'StrengthsFinder 2.0' and 'Strengths Based Leadership'.
"Key Result Area" is a term you'll hear Dave Ramsey describe when you listen to him narrate his book -Entreleadership
Team members should know what's expected of them. Establishing KRAs is a great way to create a system of accountability.
"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going." - Jim Rohn
The 'Secret Sauce' is this...
Psychological Ownership! When team members see themselves as stakeholders - your business can grow into a 'Self-Managing Company.'
Legal ownership is not required. Why do you think it is that some employees say; "My company..." when they don't legally own it or any part of it? You can elevate your company to where every employee cares as much as an owner. Read or listen to chapter 6 of Mike Michalowicz's book; 'ALL IN How Great Leaders Build Unstoppable Teams.'
I have found that team management is less about managing people and much more about managing the systems they use.
Provide each of your team members with custom apps that solve their problems and create better ways for them to work. Easier said than done? It can sometimes be difficult to do because there's a 'technology gap' that often limits small businesses. Most 'off the shelf' apps do too little or the available systems are too rigid and expensive, which has a limiting effect on your potential growth and the opportunities you can take advantage of, but we've found a way to bridge the 'technology gap.'
How do you bridge that small business technology gap? Our recommendation is to use Zapier with Google's 'Workspace' or use the 'Claris FileMaker®' platform together with 'Claris Connect' like we do for both internal and extranet operations. You'll bridge the 'technology gap' by making either of these powerful technologies accessible to everyone who works with you - no matter their physical location. It gets even better, now with our assistance - you can provide your team with custom marketing apps that work from their smart-phones too.
Leverage people, technology and systems to replace you as the one doing the actual work.
Escape The Hampster Wheel!
Automate Repetitive Tasks!
David Jenyns, Author of SYSTEMology says; "...it's best to focus on perfecting your messaging, getting clients and building a reputation for delivering great results for your clients. This will allow you to build a small team before you build your systems. SYSTEMology will replicate what's already working but you must get some traction first. Now, if you already have a team and you still find the business owner at the head of almost all of the departments, that's okay too. We'll work on this. For now, just be aware that the goal we're working towards is removing them (you) from those key positions."
Using Chuck Blakeman's process mapping strategy will help you identify the specific roll of those whom you should add to your team.
The 'One-Person' Business: Some self-employed professionals prefer to work alone (solo) without hiring employees but still work with others by delegating to contractors that they simply pay by the task or project. If that's your preference, you can still have a fully operational "Owner-Independent Business" by using others, non-employee independent contractors, to achieve your mutual goals. It's likely that as much as 96% of all the tasks in your business which must get done - can be performed by others. You can use teams of independent contractors for product development, customer service, accounting, and marketing. Make working with you easier by providing your team with artificial intelligence (ai) in a digital workflow system so that you and they can work less, earn more, and enjoy life!
