How’s your workload these days?
If the national staffing problem has forced you back into the weeds of your business, you’re not alone. Many owners are again doing tasks they haven’t done in years because they have had to lay off front-line staff, their employees have fallen ill, or their team has simply decided to step away from the workforce.
(Check out our free resource for owners who are looking to find, hire, and retain awesome employees.)
Here’s the problem. Being back in the middle of things is neither healthy for you nor your business long term. If we are being honest, it’s a recipe for personal burnout. Also, your business will require more effort and hours from you to get the same return.
Now is an excellent opportunity to retool your company so that it can start running without you again. These three steps should help…
Step 1: Sell Less Stuff To More People
Most companies become too dependent on their owner because they offer too many products and services. With such a full breadth of offerings, it’s hard to find and train employees that can deliver. The secret is to pick something that makes you unique and focus on finding more customers, not more things to sell.
Take Gabriela Isturiz as an example. She cofounded Bellefield Systems, a company offering a timekeeping application for lawyers. Over the next seven years, Bellefield grew to 45 employees. Although many businesses bill by the hour, Isturiz focused exclusively on timekeeping for lawyers. This is one of the reasons she was able to integrate with 32 practice management platforms used by lawyers. It was also a big reason Bellefield’s product was so sticky. It worked out well for Isturiz as she was growing 50% a year with EBITDA margins of more than 25% when she in 2019.
Step 2: Systematize It
Next, focus on creating systems and procedures for employees to follow. For example, Nashville-based Bryan Clayton built Peachtree, a landscaping business.
Most lawn care companies are mom-and-pop operations, but Clayton built Peachtree up to 150 employees before he sold it to LUSA for a seven-figure windfall.
What made Peachtree so unique? Clayton focused on documenting his processes. For example, one of his customers was a McDonald’s franchisee who owned 40 locations.
He was frustrated by how many people discarded cigarette butts in his drive-through, so Clayton offered to clear the debris from the lanes as part of his lawn care process. He then trained his employees on the drive-through clean-up process he had created. This allowed his employees to follow the clean-up process across all 40 of the customer’s locations.
Step 3: Outsource It
Next, consider outsourcing what you’re not very good at. For example, David Lekach started Dream Water. This was a natural sleep aid bottled in a five-ounce shot similar to the famous 5-Hour Energy Drink.
Lekach built Dream Water to almost $10 million in annual revenue before selling it to Harvest One. This cannabis company paid $34.5 million in cash and Harvest One stock. Lekach saw his role as “selling Dream Water, not making it.” That meant he outsourced the manufacturing, packaging, and distribution of Dream Water to a co-packer. Outsourcing ensured Lekach and his team could focus on selling Dream Water.