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How to Scale My Business using E Myth by by Gerber or Any Other?

by IndiForce
11 replies
Dear Warriors,

I ve been plagued with problems of scaling my tech consulting business. we build complex ecommerce stores to websites to digital marketing, etc. Our clients love us. But in all modesty it is because I do the client servicing & manage my team. I cant do it anymore if I want to scale.

The problem is how do I Scale without compromising customer delight?

Let me give you an example.

My team (designers & developers) is not good with written english (leave alone spoken) & often times I have to write on their behalf.

Which essentially means I am doing client servicing by email. It is a poor use of my time.

So today, I ve begun to write frequently asked questions during various phases of the design & project process and write corresponding responses. Will ask team to use it & also send me new scenarios. Over a period of time, I want to cover 90% of the scenarios.

Now I am assuming this would help even a seasoned company to use its time resourcefully instead of rewriting the same mails & explaining the same thing to clients. Same for redundant tasks, etc

I believe e myth by Michael Gerber & Checklist Manifesto can help?

I am not looking for odesk & elance as solutions. We are an outsourcing business & cannot further outsource our work ;-)

If you folks have used it, do you have additional resources like checklists, software that you use, etc.

How did you scale your business? What SaaS service did you use? Any info will help us & this warrior community.

Thanks in Advance. Happy Holidays!
#business #expand business #gerber #increase business #myth #scale #scale up
  • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
    You recruit a project manager who not only does what you do,
    but puts in systems in place so he can bring on board others who can do the same role.

    This way you can continue to grow without being reliant on one person.

    Another words, bring in a person in to do what you yourself are wanting to do now.

    Best,
    Ewen
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    • Profile picture of the author IndiForce
      Hi Ewen,

      Glad you stopped by. I follow your posts closely :-)

      Getting a PM is one of the options I am considering. However, they come at a cost. I want to see if I can put together checklists, processes & copy-paste responses for my team (designers & developers) so that they can be auto-pilot. I feel, If we dont do this, the PM will be as overwhelmed as I am & might not enjoy (or have) time for other stuff.

      Considering he is a hired hand, he wont stay long unlike me who has a bigger financial incentive regardless of the monotonous nature of some of the tasks. I guess, I should do automate some of this stuff before I hire someone else? Any other insights, resources? Thanks.
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      • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
        Well you are making the assumption that...

        A: somone couldn't do your job as good
        Or if not better...

        B: he won't stay around for long

        Your mindset is what's holding you back.

        Having him set up the systems should be his
        first priority. You can still carry on some of
        the client management so he can do both roles.

        Once he has the systems in place, you can
        gradually remove yourself from the roll.

        Best,
        Ewen
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        • Profile picture of the author IndiForce
          You are right about A & B. That is also part of getting myself out of the systme to do stuff that I enjoy. sales & strategy!

          Any resources on 'how to put systems in place' nothing sophisticated. it could just as well be an excel sheet.

          Appreciate your inputs.

          Originally Posted by ewenmack View Post

          Well you are making the assumption that...

          A: somone couldn't do your job as good
          Or if not better...

          B: he won't stay around for long

          Your mindset is what's holding you back.

          Having him set up the systems should be his
          first priority. You can still carry on some of
          the client management so he can do both roles.

          Once he has the systems in place, you can
          gradually remove yourself from the roll.

          Best,
          Ewen
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          • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
            Originally Posted by IndiForce View Post

            Any resources on 'how to put systems in place' nothing sophisticated. it could just as well be an excel sheet.

            Appreciate your inputs.
            The new guy has to come equiped with all that.

            BTW The founder of the world's largest business coaches, Brad Sugars of Action Coach,
            got team members to write their own operations manuals
            so they could make themselves redundant from their roll.

            Best,
            Ewen
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            • Profile picture of the author IndiForce
              Originally Posted by ewenmack View Post

              The new guy has to come equiped with all that.

              BTW The founder of the world's largest business coaches, Brad Sugars of Action Coach,
              got team members to write their own operations manuals
              so they could make themselves redundant from their roll.

              Best,
              Ewen
              That's a cool idea! Thanks Ewen! Appreciate your time.
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  • Profile picture of the author EMythVisited
    Hi IndiForce,
    You absolutely have the correct idea about defying the "content" of the "process" in your business for those that execute that process. The POSITION they occupy in the system must define how they use the training you give them, how they are guided by your checklist and how they apply the unique IP that you create in your written support of your customers. Basically you are multiplying your available time by investing in this infrastructure to enabling others to do this job as well as you could, while extracting yourself from that process.
    Just a word on using a PM. This is a valid idea to outsource a process which you as the leader cannot influence by your own passion and vision. Examples may be, bookkeeping, office cleaning, provision of utilities etc. BUT, if that process is central to the essence of your company then, as Michael Gerber put it so eloquently in his book, it has to contain the essence of the entrepreneur. By definition this means you need to at least verify that the system processes that are defined by the occupant of a position reflect your vision, passion and purpose. Bottom-up definition is not wrong but, must be influenced by top-down definition/verification. This should result in a process QUANTIFICATION where you can mange to a set outcome that meets your/customers expectations.
    This single activity is the only way you can create a brand that has a golden thread that runs through every waking minute of your business to deliver repeatable and consistent messages that attract your perfect customer.
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    • Profile picture of the author IndiForce
      Hi Peter,

      Thanks for reaffirming my plan. I ve begun the process. I can tell you are an expert at it. Would you be able to share some resources, tools, templates, etc that can benefit me & others on this forum? Thanks in advance! Happy Holidays!!
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      • Profile picture of the author EMythVisited
        Originally Posted by IndiForce View Post

        share some resources, tools, templates, etc
        100% (statistics lie) of people wanting to build/scale their companies ask this question first - but these are characteristics of the outcome, they are the WHAT of execution and are a natural target for effort and activity.
        BUT, Have you considered the WHY?
        Why you do something has a direct bearing on WHAT you do, and HOW you execute. The business landscape is littered with "best practice" systems that have been undermined by the participants, poorly executed by them or even ignored. $M of direct and indirect costs can be expended on systems that fail - so what is answer?
        EMyth has a great perspective in this regard - it is to go meta. If the leaves of the plant are withered and falling then applying a system/template/tool to this symptom will overlook the root-cause (sic), that the plant is being over/under watered!
        How you lead has a direct bearing on where you are going and how you are followed and so the perspective of people first and systems second is the place to start.
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  • Profile picture of the author Henry Williams
    Banned
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author IndiForce
      Further to this, I ve signed up for a free consultation with the folks at emyth.com Not sure if I can afford the costs. However they also have an online program which costs $100. Will see how the call goes in Jan & decide next course of action. cheers!
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      • Profile picture of the author chenri
        Did you follow through using consultation or just go through yourself?
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