1. Step 2: Build Business Systems
1.1. Eliminate
1.1.1. Bottlenecks
1.1.1.1. Do your employees have to wait for your approval
1.1.1.1.1. Empower them to make decisions
1.1.1.1.2. Eliminate you as the bottleneck
1.1.1.1.3. Have them CC you on decisions
1.1.2. Reduce
1.1.2.1. If you can't eliminate all of it, how about just part of it?
1.1.2.2. "Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away" --Antoine de Saint-Exupery
1.1.2.3. Examples
1.1.2.3.1. Emails
1.1.2.3.2. Meetings
1.1.2.3.3. Phone Calls
1.1.3. Optimize
1.1.3.1. Might be hard to eliminate if you look to close. Look at the big picture and optimize the whole system.
1.1.3.1.1. Are you duplicating effort that someone else is doing?
1.1.4. Eliminate Risks
1.1.4.1. Credit Risk
1.1.4.1.1. Visa/Mastercard/Amex are happy to do this for you
1.1.4.1.2. Don't be a creditor for your customers
1.1.5. Inventory
1.1.5.1. Inventory in service business is hours you're paying an employee that they're not working
1.1.5.2. Scale up with contractors when you need to, and scale down when you don't
1.2. Automate
1.2.1. Invoicing & Billing
1.2.1.1. Freshbooks
1.2.1.1.1. Automatic Invoices & Late Payment Reminders
1.2.1.2. Quickbooks Online
1.2.1.2.1. Automatic Sync with Banks
1.2.1.3. Expensify
1.2.1.3.1. No manual entry for expenses
1.2.2. Email
1.2.2.1. Autoresponders
1.2.2.1.1. MailChimp
1.2.2.1.2. aWeber
1.2.2.1.3. Constant Contact
1.2.3. Social Marketing
1.2.3.1. HootSuite
1.2.3.2. Timely
1.2.4. Timely info
1.2.4.1. Google Alerts
1.2.4.2. CNN Breaking News
1.2.4.3. Site is DOWN!!
1.3. Outsource
1.3.1. Why
1.3.1.1. Do stuff you don't have the skills to do...
1.3.1.1.1. Examples
1.3.1.1.2. Everyone is comfortable with this. Many don't think of it as outsourcing.
1.3.1.2. Do more work than you could do by yourself
1.3.1.2.1. Additional Resources
1.3.1.2.2. Build a "just in time" network
1.3.1.3. Do work faster than one person could do it
1.3.1.3.1. Timezone Arbitrage
1.3.1.4. Do it cheaper than you could do it in house/in country
1.3.1.4.1. Offshoring
1.3.2. Who
1.3.2.1. Job Marketplaces
1.3.2.1.1. oDesk.com
1.3.2.1.2. Elance.com
1.3.2.1.3. New node
1.3.2.2. Agencies
1.3.2.2.1. Phone Answering Services
1.3.2.2.2. White Label Services
1.3.3. How
1.3.3.1. Make your operations repeatable and replacable
1.3.3.1.1. Define structures / process / proceedures
1.3.3.1.2. Your role needs to be especially replacable
1.3.3.2. Create teams that work together and manage themselves.
1.3.3.2.1. Set communication standards
1.3.3.2.2. Set role expectations and decision making levels.
1.3.3.2.3. Who to report to, and when.
1.3.3.3. How do I keep track of people on the other side of the world?
1.3.3.3.1. Video
1.3.3.3.2. Project Management
1.3.4. Excuses
1.3.4.1. "I don't have the money to hire people, I can't afford to outsource what I do"
1.3.4.1.1. Understandable concern, but not necessarily true.
1.3.4.1.2. "What is your time worth?"
1.3.4.2. "Only I can do it"
1.3.4.2.1. You might do it better, but if you kept that mindset, you haven't built a business...you built yourself a job.
1.3.4.2.2. "The graveyards are full of indispensable men." - General Charles De Gaulle
1.3.5. Challenges
1.3.5.1. Communication
1.3.5.2. Culture
1.3.5.3. Timezones
1.3.6. Action
1.3.6.1. Hire a Virtual Assistant
2. Step 1 - Fire Yourself
2.1. Why?
2.1.1. What's this mean?
2.1.1.1. Your job as a business owner
2.1.1.1.1. Build business systems to run themselves
2.1.1.1.2. So that you can go build more business
2.1.1.2. AUTOMATE YOUR BUSINESS!!
2.1.1.2.1. This is REAL growth. Growth that turns into true value and PROFIT.
2.1.2. Get your time back
2.1.2.1. If you're too busy to work ON your business, you'll never grow
2.1.3. Stop working IN the business, and start working ON the business.
2.1.3.1. Entreprenuer vs. Self Employed
2.1.3.1.1. Self Employed = a job
2.2. Start with Furlough Fridays
2.2.1. Take one day where you don't work IN the business
2.2.2. Spend that day working ON the business
2.2.3. Force yourself
2.2.4. Things will break and be difficult at first
2.2.4.1. You're learning the parts of the business where you're a bottleneck
2.2.5. You're not the only one that can do the work
2.3. List all your tasks and responabilities
2.3.1. Chose one to eliminate, automate, and/or outsource
2.3.2. 1) Can I Eliminate this task completely or partially?
2.3.3. 2) Is there a software program or service that automates the process?
2.3.4. 3) Can another company or contractor do this for me?
2.3.5. Congratulations, you just built your first business system.
3. Step 3 - Grow the business
3.1. If I don't do it, WHAT THEN do I do?
3.1.1. BUILD YOUR BUSINESS of course!!!
3.1.1.1. Design more business systems.
3.1.1.2. Add more services
3.1.1.3. Build more sales channels
3.1.1.4. then start automating those...and repeat.
3.1.1.5. GROWTH...ah how sweet it is.
3.2. Add new services to offer
3.2.1. SEO, Website Optimization services, Analytics, etc.
3.3. Open new sales channels
3.3.1. Partner with synergistic companies
3.3.1.1. Partner with ecommerce platforms you know well.
3.4. Create new Marketing Campaigns
3.4.1. Guerrilla Marketing ideas
3.4.2. Callback to the previous Marketing Talk
4. Intro
4.1. The Entrepreneurial DILEMA
4.1.1. How do you find time to grow your business when you spend all your time working in the business
4.2. How many people in the audience are busy?
4.3. Why your business can't grow
4.3.1. Growth = more business
4.3.2. More business = more projects
4.3.3. More projects = more of your time
4.3.4. All your time on projects... who is going to build the business? = NO GROWTH
4.4. Work on Automating Your Business
4.4.1. This will enable you to grow
4.5. Matt & Brandon
4.5.1. Host of AMSB
4.5.1.1. Teach Entrepreneurs tools and techniques for making their business more efficient