Has your business experienced the big O?
Hey Girlboss! Has your business experienced the big O?!? If not...click through to read what you need to do to achieve it.
Some ladies will never experience the big O. Despite all the deep intense talks they have with their biz besties...none of those techniques will help them get that O that they crave, desire and know they've worked hard for.
Outsourcing doesn't just happen.
What big O were you thinking of?!?
Don't answer that and let's focus on the big O!
Outsourcing is more than just hiring another business owner to complete work for you. << click here to tweet this >>
Much of the information out here goes a little like this:
You're busy...you need help. Hire someone to help you. Boom! Everyone gets a unicorn!
Or like this...
You're a girl boss...you don't have to do the things you hate to do...hire someone else to do it.
And here's my favorite...
You can't afford to NOT hire an assistant to help move your business forward.
Well guess what happens to 85% of chic + savvy solos who shoot their shot with the big O the first and second time?!?
They don't see sparkly unicorns or the light or anything that looks like relief.
They experience more work...frustration and chaos.
Hiring before you are ready is an amateur move. Yeah...I said it.
You HAVE to be ready! [and not just financially]
Here's three things you need to do today before going after the big O!
1. Get your business out of your head.
Stop storing your business ideas, plan and procedures in your mind. Create a standards of operations that outlines how your business runs. The more detailed the better.
2. Make a list of the tasks that you do in your business. Then classify which tasks are:
- Money generating
- Administrative low
- Administrative high
- Zone of Genius (only you can do)
- Time suck but necessary
Things outside of your zone of genius that are money generating should be outsourced first.
You already got your business out of your head in step one, so you should be very clear on what parts of your business generate money.
3. Determine a budget for the tasks that you need/want outsourced.
A. If you can't afford to hire help, you can't afford it. Stop trying to be like the Joneses because the Joneses are broke!
Create a strategy of how you can hustle to make the money necessary to pay the contracted person got their work at minimum of 90 days.
B. You've looked over your expenses and you know you can afford to outsource tasks to on a regular basis starting with at least 90 days.
Pop the champagne or water bottle (if you’re counting calories) and start preparing for the big O!
VA's are NOT Band-Aids for your business
If you go into something as serious as surgery, you would want the doctor to be prepared with more than band-aids right? Of course! So just hiring a VA will not instantly transform your business.
Your income has been consistently increasing and you're ready to hire a virtual assistant (VA) for continual work.
Go you! It's your birthday! Go you!
In the online world this can be a badge of honor. You hire your first long-term assistant and you start to feel like a real GIRL BOSS. You have a team and are checking off your accomplishments for the year.
Then you meet with your VA for the first time, you feel like you were given a final exam for Neurosurgery 505.
She asked you for everything but your mother's maiden name and if you aren't using LastPass she may need your mother's maiden name.
You tell her you'll get everything she needs before she starts.
Now here you are this gorgeous GIRL BOSS trying to slap an ugly bandaid on your business and your lovely new VA calls you out on every inconsistency and flaw of your business. And if she doesn't say it to you, she's telling all her VA girlfriends about you.
From the outside looking in your business is ideal. You are the IT girl in your industry. And now you have someone looking at all your skeletons in your chaotic biz closet. This was not what you signed up for. Think about this, If you go into something as serious as surgery, you would want the doctor to be prepared with more than band-aids right?
Of course! So just hiring a VA will not instantly transform your business. There’s some prep work to be done on your part.
Help yourself and your future VA out today! Get your business out of your head. You do not want to be a one woman show.
I'll repeat you do not want to be a one woman show!
This will cripple your creativity and drain your energy.
Here's 3 things you can do today:
1. Sign up for LastPass, seriously it's $12 a year for the paid version and saves you the headache of changing passwords when you need to bring someone on.
2. Get a piece of a paper and WRITE down everything that you do in your business. Spoiler Alert: a business that lives in your head does not have the full capabilities to flourish.
3. On another piece of paper, fold the paper into fourths. Look at the previous paper and now put those tasks into the following categories:
- Tasks only you can do (your expertise)
- Tasks you are okay at doing
- Tasks that take you aren't that good at and(or) hate doing
- Tasks that take you forever and (or) you just don't know how to do effectively.
3.1. Add these lists to Evernote so you will have them on hand when you write up your job description.
{Tele-seminar} Self-Care for Solopreneurs
Join me for Self-Care for chic + savvy solopreneur women tele -seminar.
December 11, 2014 @ 8PM EST
I’m going to show you the importance of self-care and how it impacts your business, the three pillars of self-care, and how to make time for self-care during stressful times.
What do you do every day? Assess your schedule
What do you do every day? From the moment you wake up *hums I woke up like this*
To the minute you fall graciously asleep. What are you doing?
About a year ago I became very intentional about my time. I was already intentional about my living but had just connected the dots that I wasted a lot of time doing NOTHING. I was busy being busy.
I did an assessment of my days and times. I've since helped hundreds of women to take the same assessments. On average my day starts at 6 am and ends at 11 pm.
Below is a sample of a typical week for me: I do an overview then enter it into google calendar. Click on the image to see it in action. Save yourself a copy.
Assessment of your time:
What time does your day start?
What is your morning routine? Does it include personal time aside from hygiene and getting ready for the day? Do you eat breakfast? Do you cook it? Is it ready made? Are you drinking water? Tea? Coffee? Juice? Do you have babes you need to get ready? Do you drive them to school? Sitter? Daycare? Do you wait for them to get on bus? Etc.
When do you work best? Don't work 9-whatever end time just because you think everyone else is.
what time do you eat lunch? [SN: you need to eat at least 6 times a day]
On what days do you work in your business and what days do you work on your business?
What are your office hours?
Client hours? Content creation hours? Biz development hours? Networking hours?
Do you cook dinner each night?
Do you go grocery shopping?
Of course you have to block off time for Scandal.
Which days are reserved for dates (kiddie dates, lunch dates, and romantic dates with your honey)?
When do you workout?
- When do you shop offline?
3 Chic tips to system mastery
1. Assess your current schedule. Use this PDF to help you.
2. Create a schedule template here. [save a copy to your google drive]
Transfer to google calendar once completed.
3. Honor & respect your time to ensure that others respect your time also.
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What are systems?
Systems are the rules you create for your business. You're the boss, you're the mama, your rules!
You just have to make sure your rules are for the greater good of your business.
Systems are documented practices that you do in your business over and over and over.
However many solopreneurs don't have systems or they don't follow the rules. Things get done here and there. Solopreneur success does not come with here and there shooting from the hip.
Systems have checks and balances.
Systems ensure that things get done.
Systems allow for you to get sick and your business' immune system goes untouched.
Systems automate your business.
Systems eliminate overwhelm because you already have plans in place for this or that.
They allow for you to hire and outsource tasks.
Systems allow for you to have more free time to do whatever makes your heart smile.
So many people talk about the hustle and bustle in business. Rest and FUN are just as important.
Systems allow for you to make more money.
So that's more time, more money, more fun.
What systems do you have in place?
Action Jackson
Evaluate your daily systems.
What do you do over and over in your business?
Write out one system in your business structure.
Stop drinking the DAMN Kool-Aid
Online business and marketing can resemble a high school lunch room some days. Full of cliques. [Close to cults]
No worries this isn't a “oh woe is me” post.
I've noticed the cliques for some time, but never thought too much of it.
In high school I was the pretty girl obsessed with fashion, my friends, and track. My boyfriend was über popular and very charismatic. I hung out with everyone.
The cool kids. The athletes. The dramatic kids. The rebels. The nerds.
Everyone.
My bestie and I were reminiscing a few months back and she said I was always one of the cool kids.
I never did cliques. [I don't like being boxed in] <<notice that was in a box #oxymorons
I like who I like and who likes what I like. And remember I'm multi passionate so cliques were out of the question. I just had a lot of friends and associates.
One thing I'm good at is minding my business. Get it...minding my biz.
I'm in several Facebook groups. Why?
I love connecting with people.
In these groups you can always spot someone from a clique and you know exactly who their leader is. They do everything the leader does but change their name to theirs with a subsequent number behind it.
Stop drinking the damn Kool aid.
If you want to be successful, there's no secrets.
There's a lot of work. A lot of days and nights of wanting to give up.
There's a lot of failures.
A lot of uncertainties.
Mindset shifts will be needed frequently.
And self doubt.
And all of that is normal no matter where you are in your business.
You have to hold tight to your WHY.
You know the reason you went into business in the first place. And its not money. Even if you say it's money, it's not.
Money just allows us the opportunity to flow and live better lives, travel, spend more time with our families and friends, etc. those are your reasons not just money.
But being a carbon copy isn't serving you or your why any justice.
You have to find your spin and spin baby spin.
I challenge you to be different. I challenge you to own your greatness. I challenge you to pick through the BS [business stuff] and use only what works for your business. So and so has been in business so much longer and her way works for her. It may not work for you. That doesn’t make you a loser or a failure. It makes you a sexy savvy solopreneur engineering your path.
Live. Love. Action
1. Infuse your personality and quirks into your business
3. Stop drinking the damn Kool Aid
Flash Back Friday: [Solopreneur Edition] Six & Savvy
Flashback Fridays: taking a walk back in my entrepreneurial past.
You know how they say some people are born to be entrepreneurs. I never thought that about myself. Looking back though there are many factors that connect the dots & create a picture of the entrepreneurial dream.
Technically I was the only child. My sister and I are 13 years apart. I'm the youngest.
I had a lot of free time to myself.
My mamar had a nice perfume collection. I would spray and spray the various smells until I couldn't breathe. My mama would fuss, but I didn't mind, I was busy creating.
I would pretend that I was a superstar and I was going to an event and everyone couldn't keep their eyes off of me and were lured to me by my perfume.
I started spraying the mixes into old crayola water color paint containers. I would take them to school and sell them. One day my mama locked me out of her room. She said she was tired of me stealing her things and blah blah blah.
She locked me out of my warehouse.
Mama killed production with that.
By this point I was selling to other classrooms [remember elementary students don’t interact with other classes often].
THIS WAS BIG.
I had even had customers at my after school care program. Different aged kids at different schools too. .
I wasn't ready to close shop. The internet wasn't around yet, so I couldn’t go to google for answers.
I found everything in my house that smelt good by the slightest. Mixing and mixing and the matches just weren't right.
I was nearing a dead end, and then it came to me: buy your own supplies.
I went to the craft store and got mini bottles. I purchased alcohol, essential oils, and baby powder. We’re not even going to talk about the powder.
I was back in business. I was selling the paint pots at school and aftercare during the week. On Saturdays I would set up shop up the neighborhood and sell the bigger bottles.
I was six and a savvy solopreneur !
What is a solopreneur?
What is a solopreneur?
As I was thinking of a witty response. This video came to mind.
A soloprenur is an entrepreneur that works alone. Many entrepreneurs are solopreneurs, especially during the first three years of business.
A solopreneur runs every part of their business. So from marketing to accounting to customer service to every little detail that you would never ever imagine that businesses encounter.
See why Diva came to mind.
Solopreneurs are HUSTLERS! And I work only with fabulous women. Plus I love Beyonce.