Turn Your Vision Into Operational Flow—Without Doing Everything Yourself | Ep 271

Please note: This transcript was generated using automated transcription tools and may contain typographical errors or inaccurately captured words or phrases.

Dr Steve Day: Does your business still depend on you? I\'m guessing you didn\'t start your business to be the one having to do all the work. To answer all the questions, to be always on call for your clients. To never really be able to take time off. I\'m guessing you probably started your business like me to actually have more freedom and more choice. And more time to do the stuff I wanna do with the people I wanna do it with.

So the question is, where does the imbalance come from? Why haven\'t you got the freedom you so much hope for? And what is it that needs to change right now to start putting things in place? So in the future, you do have the freedom and the lifestyle you set out to create. That\'s what today\'s episode is all about.

Okay, so today I wanna talk about the shift that needs to happen within your mindset and your business. In order to start building freedom into the way your business works. This is something you can start today. And you\'ll see improvements within days of kicking things off. It\'s simple stuff, but done right, it will transform your relationship with your business. It\'ll make the way you see your role in your business mean you are actually moving towards that lifestyle of freedom, of choice, that you so desperately desire. And maybe it\'s been alluding you up until this point in your business life.

So today\'s episode actually was inspired by a conversation I had with ChatGPT. I\'ve been recently doing some work on my marketing, and messaging, and the evolution of my business. I haven\'t really updated my website for a number of years now. So I thoughts about time actually went and did a bit of copy updating. Just to make it more aligned with what I\'m actually believing in right now.

What I\'m working on, the evolution of myself, my business, my vision, my mission, and all that stuff. And actually translate that into something that\'s more coherent and more cohesive with what I\'m actually doing on a day-to-day basis with my clients.

And like ChatGPT does sometimes it picked up on something that I just sort of mentioned in passing. It\'s actually a phrase that I use as part of my vision statement. Which is that I help clients to translate their vision into operational flow. And it picked up on this as a really important key phrase, term. And really just a stand like what it is that differentiates what we do to what people who maybe hire VAs or build systems. Or whatever it is that other people in a similar industries do for their clients.

And the key here was that I wasn\'t actually talking about the business owner doing the work. The business owner creating the systems that actually turn their vision into operational flow. I was talking about using virtual assistants to do this. And this is one of those moments where like, ChatGPT made me realize how that subtle shift. About understanding there\'s a process you can go through.

No matter how visionary you are and how off the wall. And how difficult you find it to translate what you are actually thinking into something that people can actually understand. There is a process you can go through.

And you don\'t even need to do it all yourself. That you can actually can train affordable virtual citizens to do this kind of work for you. And that made me think, okay, maybe this is something I\'m not communicating enough with people. To actually let them see the opportunities available to them. To let them see how they can get the ideas that are in their mind out in such a way that other people can do their work for them. And that going back to the whole point of this episode is how you create freedom.

So this realization that the work that I\'ve done over the past 10 years of designing systems for systems. Systems that train other people to build systems in your business. That allow people to understand how you are thinking and what it is you want them to do. In order for them to then go away and build it and do the work for you. That is exactly the same work that I do when I\'m talking about turning vision into operational flow.

And it\'s because when you can translate your thoughts into work that other people can do for you. Then suddenly your business is no longer relying on you on a day-to-day basis. If you have a means to get all the knowledge that\'s in your head and get it down in a way a system or multiple systems. That allow other people to do all that work. To understand what it is you want done, when you want it done. To be able to improve that with or without your input.

Somewhere for you to be able to actually brain dump, like, or put all the answers, all the questions you ever get asked. The one things that I\'ve been working on recently with my own team is this, you can only ever ask a question once philosophy. So when someone asks a question in a meeting, it can\'t be me giving the answer.

Okay, maybe I will give the answer, but that can\'t be it. There\'s got to be a next stage to that. Is right now that this has been identified as some knowledge that was in my head that you required. So that\'s the trigger for us knowing we need to do something. And me answering that question isn\'t serving anybody.

Yeah. I\'m training an individual person to know the answer to that question. That person will probably forget it anyway. Even if they don\'t, that person\'s gonna leave the company at some point. So unless we\'ve locked that answer into some system or document that\'s easily accessible at the time it\'s needed in the future, then it was just a waste of time doing it. Because the next person is gonna have to come back to me again to ask that same question, to get the same answer.

So when we\'re building systems, we wanna have a A, way of getting the stuff out of our head, like I said, like what is it that I want them to do? And B, we need a method that every single time a problem comes up, a question gets asked, we know how and where to update the system. To make sure that the next time someone\'s doing that task or a similar task, that the information that they need is available to them. That we have updated like an FAQ, or it could just be updating a step or adding a checklist point. Or whatever it is, whatever\'s appropriate for the type of question, the type of process that we\'re talking about.

That we are updating the system, improving the system. Having this culture of continual improvement in the business to ensure that every single day we iteratively improve our processes.

Now we do this in our company and how I help our clients is by empowering our virtual assistants to do this. So we hire affordable virtual systems and put them through some training so they understand how to capture systems. How to interview the business owner or the knowledgeable worker.

Often it\'s not just the business owner. If you\'ve got a slightly bigger business, you\'ll have other people in the business that know how to do stuff that you don\'t know how to do. But we need to get that knowledge out of their heads, especially out their heads. Because if they leave, they\'re gonna take it with them.

So we need to get it outta their heads and put it down in a way that other people can actually do it in that absence. Or it can actually them be a part of this process of iterative improvement. Because it\'s not just about the knowledge locked in the business owner\'s had, that\'s the problem. It\'s also the knowledge locked in everybody else has had.

So this same process applies if you are a, you know, solopreneur, hiring a first assistant. And just delegating your first few tasks to somebody who\'s actually got a bigger business with teams. And actually there\'s experts in their own fields or actually working with you. It\'s how do we get that knowledge down and put it into a way that means that it\'s future proof in the business by locking it in.

And this, I believe, is the biggest reason that most business owners are overwhelmed. They don\'t have a process for how do I rapidly get stuff outta my head. And not just about delegating it to somebody else. It\'s delegating it to somebody else in a way that whether it\'s that person or the next person or someone three or six months from now, they will still be able to do the task. Without having to come back to the business owner to ask for any clarification.

Because if you don\'t have a professional way of delegating and capturing that same moment, then what happens is you can delegate tasks out. So I could literally, you know, pick up the phone and speak to my assistant and say, hey, can you do this? Or I send them an email or something. They go away and do it, and they come up with a result. And that\'s all good. I solve today\'s problem. But what I didn\'t do in that process was actually create a reproducible system. That means that, that same activity can be done time and time again in the future.

So every time you delegate, you\'ve gotta ask yourself this question, is this a task that might ever be done again in the future? It may be done once every year, once every five years. It doesn\'t matter. If it\'s done more than once, it should be captured into a method that allows us to lock in that knowledge today. And then be accessible to be able to improve in the future going forward. And I\'ll give you an example of this. I\'ll use my personal life, is I do my Swedish tax return. Because I live in Sweden, so I have to do my Swedish tax return.

And when I moved to Sweden, I had to figure out how to do it all. It\'s all in Swedish. I can\'t read that technical level of Swedish. So I have to do a lot of Google translating stuff. Lots of conversations with the tax office and the accountants, et cetera, trying to figure it all out. To make sure I did it all, you know, above board and correct.

And as I was doing that, rather than just me doing it in that moment on year one and then hoping for the best next year, everything I did, I documented. I created little short videos, I did screenshots. When I translate, translated something, I\'d put what I\'d understood by the translation. And then started creating a like over, over, the coming years, I improved it.

So I created a really nice step by step guide that like took me through the process. I then created a spreadsheet that does all the maths for me. I just punched in a few numbers and the exchange rate, et cetera in there. And bang, it comes out with all the figures for my total tax return. So over the years I\'ve developed this into something that, you know, used to take me two, three hours to do. Now it takes me about 30 minutes, get done to a higher level before, and far less mistakes than you actually sorting out in the future.

And so this process of just getting stuff out of your head, you can use it in so many scenarios. Even like in the case of my Swedish tax return. No one else is gonna probably do that for me ever. I\'ll do it myself. It takes me like so little time. It\'s not actually worth me getting an accountant. I\'ve got very, very simple accountant in Sweden. And it would cost me absolute fortune to get an accountant over here.

So I just thought, okay, just do it myself. It takes back half an hour to do and so that is a great example of improving a system for myself. But the same philosophy needs to be into everything you think about.

So this shift between you being busy, you being overwhelmed, you having stress at work. About having to make all the decisions, having to carry all of the reminders in your head. Like who you need to chase-up. When you need to chase them up. Create never ending task lists of stuff you need to remember to do at some points. You don\'t forget it and let the ball drop or whatever. If that\'s the way that your world is right now, then I\'m guessing you haven\'t got a super reliable system for delegating effectively.

And just to be clear, this isn\'t about hiring better and better staff. It\'s not about having just a players in your business. Of course, that\'s what we aim for and that would be ideal. But actually this is about having better systems. So you can actually still function at a decent level with B players or even C players in the business.

People who just turn up and do the work and go home. If they\'ve got a really good system to follow, they\'ll actually do it to an adequate standard. I\'m not saying that\'s what you should aim for, but if that\'s all you\'ve got available, at least assistance will actually empower them to be a, you know, the next level, so to speak. And so that actually you can get the work done without having to go and find, you know, the next superstar, as a staff member for your team.

And that\'s the power of brilliant systems. When you\'ve got good documentation, you\'ve got good systems that explain clearly how things need to be done. You\'ve got a good way of delegation and communicating with your team. To make sure they understand what it\'s you want them done. And channels that don\'t interrupt your daily workflow so you can actually get on with your own work while your staff get on with the stuff you delegated them. If that\'s all swimming and working in unison.

That\'s what I call in my world, the Business Autopilot Blueprint. That is like putting your business on autopilot. Having a unified approach that everything connects together. And this is the necessity to be able to relieve you from the day to day. Is not about the next big tech thing. Yes, AI may help in some ways, but it\'s not about that. Yes, automation may help in some ways, but it\'s not about that. It\'s about how do you get stuff out of your head in a way that other people can do it for you.

That is the absolute key to your freedom. It\'s the key to you having the lifestyle that you want. It\'s the key to you having the choices to make choices in your business. To be able to choose when you work. To be able to choose who you work with. Because when the bulk of your business, I call it the Core Revenue Flow, when the Core Revenue Flow of your business, when all those systems are lined up. So your business can generate revenue with little input from you, then you get to have choice. Then you get to choose, like I said, who you work with when you work, et cetera. And that is when true freedom can start happening.

And it\'s my strong belief, you can start this today. So the next time you delegate a piece of work. Don\'t delegate it by picking up the phone or jumping on a call with somebody, and like asking them to do it like one-on-one. At very least, just record yourself. Record what it is you want them to do. And explain it in as much detail as possible. Ask them to come back with a recording with any questions. And then you reply with a recording of those answers. Put all those things together, you\'ve now got version 1.0 of your task being documented.

That is the simplest thing you can start doing today. And to do that every single time you delegate. And suddenly you start building a business that does not acquire your day-to-day input.

That\'s how it starts. But the massive transformational change comes when you\'ve got somebody else in your business who is trained to build systems for you. That person, as I said before, can be a virtual assistant, an affordable virtual assistant. Somebody that we train up to then be able to understand when you ask in a certain way. Or when you delegate something to them.

Their job is to actually create something, a standardized way of working your Standard Operating Procedures or Operation Manuals about how to create process maps. About how to build automations and build Pipeline Projects in your task management app. To make sure that everything is tracked and people are accountable. And things are delegated properly and communicated about properly. That\'s when it all comes together.

And this has been my world now for the past 10 years. And it was only really in doing these updates today on my website, did I realize how little I talk about this stuff. This is what I do every single day with my clients. This is the thing that I\'m most passionate about. About how do we actually build systems culture into the business from day one when someone arrives.

And I\'ve talked about this when we talked about how your autopilot architect. About actually the way you word your job postings. About the things you put in there, about wanting people to be a systems thinker, wanting them to love the idea of documentation. Like putting these words in to allow you to attract the right type of assistance into your business. And then you give them some training to actually make them become your, systems builder, your in-house systems builder.

That is where it all kicks off. Because now all you need to do is throw stuff at them. They build the systems, and knowledge is locked in forever. It\'s out of your head, and it\'s down in some, in a place that other people can access it. Combine that with this culture of continual improvement. About, you know, iteratively updating things every time a single question gets asked. Every time there\'s a problem, you continue to update stuff. That is how you make transformational change in a record matter, short time. Without needing any new fancy apps or technology.

This one-on-one basic stuff is the way you will make the change. But the awesome thing is that these systems that we document, the process maps that create. When we actually start mapping out how things are done. When we create a standard way of working. That becomes the templates that allow you to automate. Allow you to get AI to do stuff. We have to know what we want the AI to do. And document it in order for the AI to be able to do it.

We can\'t just expect the AI to know what we want by going into our brain. It doesn\'t work like that. So this work about getting stuff out of your head down in a way that other people can do it for you is the same process that you will use when working with AI. Or when you want someone to build automation for you.

We want to map out the sequence of events we want to happen. What are the triggers? What are the actions that are gonna happen? At what point? Where does it ping off here? Where does it go over there? That is the same technique.

So these techniques about how you translate your vision into operational flow work if you\'re a solopreneur. And you\'re just, you know, working with your first ever virtual assistant. Delegating your first couple of tasks. To if you\'ve got a big business and now you\'re into the world of automation and AI, machine learning and everything. These skills are absolutely essential any size of business.

And the more you develop them, the better. And you will be at communicating your vision. Getting other people to build it for you. And then having it work without your day-to-day involvement.

Okay, so that\'s it for today. And if you are interested in checking out the new website copy, go head over to www.systemsandoutsourcing.com. And you can see what ChatGPT helped me create.

And just a little meta learning here about how I use ChatGPT to help me do it. I did not just fire up a chat and start asking it to look at my website and gimme some improvements. I did do a lot of background work. I\'ve been working with a coach who\'s helping me to develop some new products and services. To allow me to attract new clients in.

It\'s focused on creating a workshop about the stuff I talked about today. So I\'m actually gonna run a sort of 45 minute workshop. Going deep into the topics I talked about today. So I used the coaching notes that I had from the sessions I\'ve done with my coaches. And I put those into ChatGPT, along with the workbook from their course and a few other things.

I then used ChatGPT to look at my website as well. And then together we basically went through the, all the work I\'ve done with my coaches. With ChatGPT and then came up with the format and the content for my new workshop, which I\'m gonna launch. And then, I asked it to go and look at my website and say, great, how do I need to change the copy on my existing website, so it aligns with this new evolved way of thinking about the world.

My evolved vision, my evolved methodology, my evolved mission statement. So I wanted my website to be about true reflection. That like I\'m on a mission to elevate human potential. To neutralize of purpose, of presence and peace. And I also wanted it to understand that I don\'t just wanna work with individuals and that be it.

I want the work that I do with people to actually have ripples of impact through their companies, their communities, their families. So for generations to come, the work that I do can have impact. By allowing people to see that freedom is possible. That peace is attainable. And we can do that by building systems that allow us to use our superpowers to serve our communities and the wider world at large.

That\'s why I\'m actually doing this work. That\'s why I\'m talking about this stuff today. And if you do wanna deeper into this stuff, then on my website systemsandoutsourcing.com, you will find the link to that workshop where you can actually go and check it out. And find out a little bit more about what we do.

Cool. Please do remember to hit subscribe. If you like this episode, you wanna hear more episodes like this. And also please do share this with anyone you know who runs a small business, who might wanna live with more presence, purpose and peace.

Thank you so much. See you next time.

Turn Your Vision Into Operational Flow—Without Doing Everything Yourself | Ep 271

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TIMESTAMPED OVERVIEW

Episode Transcript

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Discover How Small Business Owners Leverage The SixR System To Achieve Time Freedom In Under 90 Days

How Small Business Owners
Leverage The SixR System
To Achieve Time Freedom
In Under 90 Days

Free On-Demand Masterclass

Turn Your Vision Into Operational Flow—Without Doing Everything Yourself | Ep 271

​KEY TAKEAWAYS: Building Operational Systems That Reduce Dependency

BEST MOMENTS: Mindset Shifts Behind Effective Business Operational Systems

TIMESTAMPED OVERVIEW

Episode Transcript

VALUABLE RESOURCES

LINKS TO CONNECT WITH THE HOST

ABOUT THE HOST

For more articles related to business operational systems and delegation, you may also like:

SYS 079: Marketing Essentials for Small Businesses- Interview with David Kyle from FitPro Lead Generation

SYS 208: Legal Essentials for Working with Virtual Assistants: Data Privacy, Outsourcing, and Fair Wage Practices – Interview with Annabel Kaye, Founder of KoffeeKlatch

SYS 180: My Latest Tips on Using Video to Revolutionize Communication and Boost Productivity

How Small Business Owners Leverage The SixR System To Achieve Time Freedom In Under 90 Days

Free On-Demand Masterclass

KEY TAKEAWAYS: Building Operational Systems That Reduce Dependency

How Small Business Owners
Leverage The SixR System
To Achieve Time Freedom
In Under 90 Days