What Are The Systems I Should Use To Operate Like An Actual Business Rather Than A Side Hustle?
I love this question because I was talking about this with a couple of my friends recently. We had noticed that a lot of entrepreneurs struggle with the operations part of business. I've had a number of experiences where I've reached out to different businesses or people I really want to work with, and I get crickets. Seriously, I am ready to work with people and spend money with them and send them an email, only to get nothing back. Or I call and get a full voicemail box.
I’m sharing this to say that as you grow and build your business, the ratio that you're spending on client delivery versus business infrastructure is going to shift and change. When you start early on in your business, 80%-90% of your time could be in client delivery, and only 10% is spent in business infrastructure. But as you grow and scale, and you surpass the six-figure mark, it's going to be about 50%, if not more, leaning towards focus on the business infrastructure, because it's like going from having a school of 1 classroom to a school of 30 classrooms.
You may not need a procedure for dismissal when you got 1 classroom, but you better believe you’re going to need a set plan and infrastructure for everything from lunch to dismissal with a 30 classroom school.
I want you to use this to help yourself get into the mindframe of a six-figure business owner. Because when (yes when and not if) you get there, you’re going to need to anticipate having systems in place. You may be able to get away with it early on, when you have a small group of clients or one part-time team member, but in order to grow and scale with ease, you’ll need to be ready with systems.
I want to share three types of systems that I use in my business. And the earlier you can implement these systems, the better it will help sustain you as you grow. Now, there are certainly some things that you can just put in place as you need them, but there are other things you want to be prepared for and get ahead of.
System #1 - Internal Communication
In order to go from a side hustle to a business, your team is going to grow. As your team grows, you're going to need some type of system for team management and team communication. So for me, I ensure that we have a meeting structure, a project management application and a quick communication tool.
I’ll show you what this looks like for me and my team below:
Meeting Structure - I meet with my Operations and Coaching Team (separately) once a week, every week. My EA maintains an agenda for our time, and we review everything going on for the week, month and quarter (if need be). Our agenda is Structured like so:
Check-In/How You Doin’?!
We greet each other and do a quick catchup
KPI Review
We review our KPI’s or Key Performance indicators for the previous week and how they are fitting into our monthly and annual goals
Social Media Review
We review anything that needs to be scheduled for social media. If something new needs to be created, we discuss and assign the task (s)
Operations Review
We review anything our operations team needs to discuss in relation to anything we are currently working on or launching.
Calendar Review
We review our anything upcoming on our calendar
Any Additional Notes
Our team meeting is 90 minutes and it’s the one of the best ways to ensure that nothing upcoming catches us by surprise. Now you may need more or less time for your team meeting depending on your team size and what projects you’re working on, but that’s the idea.
Project Management - You’ll need a project management system that houses all of your team projects, to-do lists and moving parts of your business. That way, there is a common reference point for what is happening that all of your team members can access. It’s also a great way for you to be able to see what still needs to be completed, task by task. So, my team uses Asana, but I know plenty of people who use ClickUp and Trello as well!
Team Communication Tool - So, you can certainly use email to communicate with your team, but I found that sometimes you just need a quick way to communicate that is kind of like texting, but not actually on people’s phones, because some people have boundaries around their phones which is totally fine!
So for my team, early on when it was just me and one other person, we were texting. But when we added a third member to our team, we switched to Slack, which is basically an Instant Messenger where you can send quick messages.
System #2 - SOP (Standard Operating Procedures)
SOP’s, standard operating procedures, basically outline the procedure for how you do everything in your business such that anybody can step in (or out) at any moment and things don't fall apart.
So I want to give you a quick school example of why you need an SOP. A lockdown is an SOP. Let me tell you, every year we always had to make sure the lockdown process was crystal clear, because the second we had a sub in, the universe would send us a lockdown drill. And if the sub didn't have a SOP for a lockdown, it'd be the one classroom where the door is unlocked, or the window isn't covered, or everybody in there chit chatting and talking. 🤦🏽♀️ Not what you want for a successful lockdown drill.
So, I'll just share with you a quick strategy for how you can build SOP’s in your business. You can definitely Google SOP templates and stuff, but for my business, when I say SOP, I mean a document that lists the step-by-step procedure of how a task is done (with pictures!). Here’s a brief example of what my SOP’s look like now-a-days.
You can see that I include links to the resources and tools being used in the procedure. I encourage my team to include screenshots as well, because everyone learns and absorbs information differently. I also ensure the steps are written out for that reason as well.
Sometimes I don’t have the time to outright create an SOP for a task, so I’ll record a video (usually using Loom so that it’s easy to share with my team) of me doing whatever task I would like my team member to do and send it to whoever needs to know how to do that task. Ultimately, that team member will take the Loom video and create an official SOP from it as well.
We house all of our SOP’s in an airtable with a space to link the related documents, Loom Video, and any additional notes that might be useful. Here are a couple examples of SOP’s and what I include in them for my business.
Client Onboarding - When you get a new client, what is their welcome process?
Do they receive any sort of email confirmation showing that they are being welcomed with next best steps?
If so, who sends that email? Is it automated?
Is their first step to schedule a time to meet with you?
How do they schedule a time to meet with you? Through a Calendly/Acuity link?
Are there certain days that you are available to meet?
How long is the appointment?
Does your new client need to complete an intake form?
What happens if they don’t complete their intake form? Who on your team reaches out to that new client to remind them to complete the form?
Failed Payments - What happens when you have a failed payment?
Are you notified? If so, how?
Is your client notified? If so, how?
What is the process for collecting a failed payment?
What happens if the client is unable to complete the failed payment?
The main goal of SOP’s is to have a clear, written process that anyone can understand so that if need be, anyone can step in and manage the process.
System #3 - Policies
You need policies and I want to be clear around the difference between policies and procedures. A procedure is how you do something. A policy is a rule. So when I say, for example, “What is your refund policy?” and your policy is that you don’t give refunds, then that’s a rule. Now, if you do give refunds, then you would need to create a procedure of how, when and why refunds are given.
Here are a few examples of policies:
Contracts - Contracts are a form of policies. Contracts often include your termination, confidentiality and payment policy. They are usually a culmination of a ton of different policies. That's why contracts are so important, because it's an agreement that you're both agreeing to these policies or rules.
Terms of Service - Terms of Service is another example of policies, especially for those with an online course. Your students may not be signing a contract, but by agreeing to the terms of service, they are agreeing to the set of rules laid out in them. An example of a policy in terms of service would be “you cannot use my content outside of this course platform or forum.”
Privacy Policy - A privacy policy, which if you're collecting any type of information online, you should have a privacy policy, basically lets your clients know the rules of how you will use their information should they choose to share it with you.
So, I would lump all of those things under the legal bucket, and as you grow, your legal structures have to be tighter. Your independent contract agreement, for example, may need to have a confidentiality policy added to it, or it may need to be edited and updated. You’ll also want to review the termination clause in your agreement.
So, those are just three examples of systems that can elevate you and your business from side hustle to six-figure business. Again, these are things that, early on in your business, you can get away with not having, but as you grow, they become more and more critical which is why I hope you’ll take this information and implement it as best as you can into your business now, so you aren’t scrambling when the time comes.
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