Entrepreneurship, for many small business owners, is the flagship of their freedom. It definitely represents that for me. Being able to live and work my business from anywhere in the world is a huge signifier of freedom. However, those fleeing the constraints of unfair bosses and systems set up for their failure rather than success may have jumped out of the frying pan into the fire. Some of YOU are your own worse boss!
The number one thing that creates a prison of entrepreneurship is lack of boundaries. Do not mistake telling all of your clients yes, as the secret sauce to making millions. Instead it is the core poison of burnout, non-excellence in service, and low revenue. A part of scaling is to create systems and processes to run your business as a well-oiled machine. You take the machine off track when you allow clients to go outside of your systems and processes. Now you’re doing more work for less money, because none of what you have agreed to was in the scope of work paid for. Indoctrinate your clients into what works to get them to the transformation they paid to get. That is how you take the labor out and increase the love.
Having a team is a huge part of that well-oiled machine that your business can be to churn out great work and make great money. It takes a great team. But ohhhhhhhhhh, how soon we forget the horrible bosses we fled to create freedom for ourselves. It is rarely the job itself that make team members unproductive, or even quit, it is most likely the climate that surrounds the work -even for remote teams. Is the bar for success stable or do you move it based on not having enough team members, what makes you feel more in control as a boss, or people pleasing on behalf of clients? What culture are you creating for your team members that make your business what it is? The office politics of a physical office can be toxic but so can the environment your remote team logs into every day. What are YOU doing to create the best culture for your team?
Hiring team members with skillsets that can move your business success forward is key. However, knowing what to do generally is just the first step. Do they know what the expectations are and how success in their role looks working for YOUR specific business? Being intentional with the development of your team beyond skillset and into expectation is not often something small business CEOs take the time to do. Having processes and procedures is half the battle. The other half is taking the time to set your team up for success with additional tools such as shadowing and mentorship.
Create more love than labor in your business for both you AND your team.
Need help creating a plan of business freedom and love? Let’s talk. ShaCannon.info/talk