Fresh Start Monday #024: Repeatability with small business

I try to take away one big idea when I finish reading a book.

For the E-Myth Revisited, the one word I'm taking away is repeatability.

The premise of the book is how to create a successful small business. Since taking the plunge into entrepreneurship in October, I suddenly find myself with two small service businesses, dog walking and life coaching.

According to the book, I'm in the infancy or technician phase. It's where I work crazy hours and do everything myself. (hence late-night newsletter posts!) My focus has been on continual improvement and learning how to do everything.

It feels like I'm on the right track, but the E-Myth explains that this is why most small businesses fail. By focusing on the work in front of me, I'm not thinking big picture. What is the end goal of these companies? What are my systems? How am I starting to remove myself from every task?

I'm learning that through hard work, I can stay afloat. But the E-Myth sheds light on what the next two years may look like. If I only focus on myself, I'll hit the limits of time and energy.

This quote hit me good:

Don't you see? If your business depends on you, you don't own a business - you have a job. And it's the worst job in the world because you're working for a lunatic!

And, besides, that's not the purpose of going into business. The purpose of going into business is to get free of a job so you can create jobs for other people.

The business can become the boss you thought you left behind.

I'm not close to my limits or hiring anybody soon, but if I build my businesses with the idea of removing myself from the equation or getting help, that changes everything.

That brings us back to the word repeatability. Can I teach someone else what I'm doing? If I do something a hundred times, does it still look the same?

Michael Gerber highlighted McDonald's as an example; they have a system you can pick up and place anywhere in the world.

Applying it to your life

It's always best to start small to see the outsized impact a small change can make.

To start creating better systems, I looked to my personal life.

I'm a disorganized person. For example, the apps on my phone are a mess. There's no reason or structure behind anything.

Yesterday, I spent 30min putting every semi-used app into folders, and the most used apps one tap away on the home screen.

This is the small-step version of organizing my Google drive for my coaching business. As I add more clients, notes, and collect more resources, my documents are descending towards disarray.

When you're starting to create better systems for your life, business, or workday, consider what takes you longer than it should.

If you do administrative tasks at work, is there a checklist you can create?

It could be utilizing technology to automate specific workflows.

It could be creating a template that clients can use instead of building something from scratch every time.

How can you make your life easier in the present with an eye towards something bigger in the future?