This year, I started applying the 80/20 rule, also known as the Pareto Principle, to my business and it’s been a total game changer for me. The theory proposes that roughly 20% of your efforts will produce 80% of your results and that everything else needs to eliminated. By applying this rule, I have been able to eliminate 80% of my efforts that are a distraction to what only I can do as a founder and should be delegated to someone else. This has allowed me to focus on the 20% of tasks that I need to master, those that only I can perform as a CEO and that allow my business to grow. Following this framework has enabled me to get a significant amount of time back to focus on the things that really matter, rather than what I feel like I'm meant to be doing.
One tactic I adopted to scale myself was fostering a culture of proactive learning and growth. I started promoting online learning platforms and organized weekly team brainstorms for sharing new industry insights. This created a self-sufficient team with a continuous learning mindset, reducing my role in daily problem-solving and upskilling tasks. Consequently, it freed up significant time for me to focus on broader strategic planning and helped create a more innovative, motivated, and autonomous team.
As the founder of the natural food manufacturing company Eat Happy Kitchen, I found myself needed in multiple areas of the business. Oftentimes, that results in being spread too thin. When you have areas that you don't consider to be your strengths, it makes sense to leverage partners that have the expertise you need. For instance, I hired a PR agency to extend my personal brand as a recipe content creator and low-carb cooking expert within media circles. In less than a year, I was quoted in People Magazine, Self, Women's Health, Huffington Post, and others. I also engaged brokers, which was impactful to the business. Having access to their contacts helped us increase sales by getting Eat Happy Kitchen pasta sauces on the shelves of major retailers across the country.
One way I've truly 'scaled myself' and reclaimed precious hours was by initiating an internship program within our business. Admittedly, the outset can feel like a slowing down—a teaching phase, a gentle ascent up the learning curve for our new interns. But it’s the very essence of 'slowing down to speed up.' Once they grasp the intricacies of our systems and processes, the dividends start rolling in. I can delegate, knowing they're learning valuable lessons about unconventional business problem-solving. For us, it’s more than just task delegation; it's discovering future pillars of our company, forging relationships that could stand the test of time. Joe Forte, Co-Founder, D-MAK Productions (link D-MAK Productions to https://dmakproductions.com)
One key metric to assess the success of a campaign led by a remote social media manager is by measuring the increase in website traffic. By monitoring the number of website visits and tracking the source of the traffic, we can determine if the social media campaign is effectively driving users to the website. This metric provides insights into the campaign's ability to attract and engage the target audience, ultimately contributing to the success of the campaign.
One of the most transformative steps I took to "scale myself" was to invest heavily in delegation and team empowerment. In the early days, like many CEOs, I was deeply involved in every facet of the business. As we grew, I realized this wasn't sustainable. So, I prioritized hiring skilled managers and team leads, then invested time in training and aligning them with the company's vision. By entrusting key responsibilities to these capable individuals, not only did I free up my own bandwidth but also fostered a culture of ownership and accountability. This shift allowed me to focus on higher-level strategic planning and vision casting, while ensuring that the day-to-day operations were in adept hands. Over time, this not only gave me significant time back but also enhanced the overall efficiency and dynamism of our organization.
Starting to remove yourself from some parts of the business was scary at first and is primarily a trust issue. It is definitely to find that trust in other people though, as otherwise the company would not grow and team members also need independence for their growth and motivation. Some ways how I have managed to build that trust are: 1) quite obvious, but not so easy always - hire people that are independent, mission-oriented, and proactive; 2) develop internal processes and tools (e.g documentation storage, ERP, CRM systems, etc) that enable you to get an overview of the progress quickly if necessary; 3) have periodical team meetings and 1:1 meetings for syncing the progress. And besides that - I try to automate everything as much as possible and learn new AI tools that could make the work faster so that I could spend more time on forward-looking activities, not just on getting stuff done. But that and trying to delegate even more is something that is a work in progress now.
One game-changer for us has been diving deep into the world of AI, particularly with tools like ChatGPT. By integrating AI-driven solutions, we've been able to automate some of our routine tasks, giving our team more time to focus on creativity and strategy. We've also harnessed AI tools to help our clients answer phone calls and respond to messages at lightning speed. This response rate has been major in boosting our clients' rankings on Google Local Service Ads. A higher ranking means more visibility and trust from potential customers. By enhancing our clients' response rate with AI voice and text responses, not only do we make our job easier, but we also scale even further with satisfied customers backing us. We don't have to have our teams monitoring 24/7; it allows all of our clients and our own team to have a healthy work-life balance. It has enabled all of our team to gain some time back to focus on client satisfaction and innovation with our technology.
My top advice is to ensure your operations are always ready for rapid growth. Before choosing a manufacturing partner, always inquire about their full operational capacity and certifications. Even if you're currently far from needing it, this precaution can prevent you from missing a critical opportunity when you do finally get that call from the big retailer you've been dreaming of. It's like the old saying, 'be careful what you wish for.' You might work for years to secure a big retail deal, but when it finally happens, you could find yourself unprepared, missing out on a game-changing moment.
I knew I wanted to scale my fourth business rapidly to impact the greatest number of lives. My entrée into the profession was one-on-one coaching, but reaching the largest number of people possible was going to require me to transition into group coaching. Within the first year, I got my website producing way more clients than I could handle and then partnered with my mentor who had a whole team of coaches she had been developing for years. I configured and integrated the technology needed to create a seamless experience for people inquiring about individual coaching on my website and then outsourced this entire line of business to my new partner -- while splitting the gross profits. Removing myself enabled me to focus on developing a successful group coaching program, and since many people in my market cannot afford either personal or group coaching, my next step is creating digital courses, which will open up what I do to the largest number of people possible.
As the founder of a growing startup, I initially found myself juggling numerous tasks, from product development to customer support. While it was essential in the early stages, as we scaled, this approach became unsustainable and time-consuming. To "scale myself," I introduced the concept of "Operational Playbooks" within the company. These playbooks are detailed documentation of processes, best practices, and standard operating procedures for various functions of the business. For instance, we had playbooks for customer onboarding, product updates, and even handling customer complaints. The benefits were multifold: Standardization: With clear guidelines, the team could handle tasks consistently and efficiently without my direct intervention. Training: New hires could be onboarded faster as they had a ready reference to understand their roles and responsibilities. Delegation: With processes documented, I could delegate tasks with confidence, knowing they'd be executed as envisioned.
One of the best things I have done to “scale myself” has been to standardise as many of my repeat processes as possible. I have created clear documentation and integrated automation tools to help delegate recurring tasks much more effectively. This has streamlined our operations and ensures that delegated tasks are carried our with precision – requiring much less oversight from me. As well freeing up my time to concentrate on higher-level objectives, this approach has had the added benefit of increasing the confidence of my team. When team members are equipped with clear processes and the right tools, it reduces ambiguity and encourages ownership of the task.
As a startup founder, my journey from ideation to fruition was one filled with challenges, learning curves, and pivotal decisions. Among the myriad of decisions, mastering the art of delegation proved to be one of the most crucial. How I managed to delegate tasks based on my team members' skills became not only a success factor for my startup but also a cornerstone of our collaborative culture. Recognizing Individual Strengths The initial phase was spent getting to know my team. This didn’t merely mean understanding their job titles or their CV highlights but truly comprehending the depth and breadth of their competencies. I organized frequent one-on-one sessions, attended workshops alongside them, and even had casual coffee chats. This hands-on approach enabled me to recognize the skills that were not just evident on paper but also those hidden talents and strengths that often remain unspoken of. That's exactly how i did it!
As a ghostwriter, I spent most of my time writing and editing for my clients. So there was little time to do marketing for my business. Also, ghostwriting is lucrative, but not scalable. I couldn’t do more than 2 projects at once. When I shifted to offering group writing and editing courses and programs, I freed up my time from deliverables. This allowed me to keep revenue consistent and increase my social media presence and work on my business. I was also able to scale my business because with the course material, many authors can learn from me without me being there. I do offer weekly live Q & As, which are important for student retention and results. And when this grows beyond what I can accommodate, I’ll bring in expert coaches to make room for even more students.
One of the most time-consuming tasks I used to grapple with was translating my ideas into software requirements and user stories. To streamline this, I turned to Generative AI. It's been a game changer! Now, it not only helps me brainstorm product features but also effortlessly converts them into user stories. This innovation has magnified my output tenfold, granting me precious time to channel my energies into broader leadership and managerial roles.
Outsourcing non-core functions allows founders and leaders to scale themselves by offloading tasks that do not directly contribute to core business areas. This frees up significant time and resources, enabling them to focus on strategic growth and key decision-making. For example, a startup founder can outsource accounting and financial management to a reliable external agency, ensuring compliance and accuracy while removing themselves from the day-to-day financial operations. By carefully selecting and managing outsourced partners, founders and leaders can maintain control, leverage specialized expertise, and achieve operational efficiency.
Hiring a great team is a sure way to get your time back. When you hire people you trust to get the job done, you can take loads off your plate. Give them the keys to role and let them drive. Mistakes may be made along the way, but that is part of the growth process.
A key lesson is knowing when to say no, and this holds especially true in the fast-paced environment of a startup. Resources are often limited, and people wear many hats. There may be no shortage of brilliant ideas, but time is in short supply to execute. Spend your energy on the projects that will drive tangible, measurable results, and keep a running list of dream future projects for when you one day have the budget and/or team to make them happen.
I'm the co-founder of a Week of the Website, a web design agency started almost a decade ago. For the first seven years, I led and executed much of the actual design part of our business, but when I gave birth to my son, I had to finally and officially stop being client-facing in that capacity. At my business partner's encouragement, I transitioned to sales and business development. I discovered that I didn't hate it and in fact, loved being able to use my technical and creative knowledge to match clients with our services. Now, I get to design when the moment calls for it (typically with friends or high-profile clients), and develop the design talent of our team, which has turned out to be far more rewarding and a much more efficient use of my time.
Building a strong leadership team is one way founders and startup leaders can scale themselves and remove themselves from part of the business. By surrounding yourself with competent individuals who share your vision, you can delegate responsibilities and trust in their abilities. They can handle various aspects of the business, allowing you to focus on strategic planning and decision making. For example, a startup founder can hire a skilled COO to handle day-to-day operations, a CTO to lead the technology development, and a CFO to manage financial matters. By distributing leadership and decision-making authority, time-consuming tasks can be relinquished, giving the founder significant time back.