When I started my cleaning business, I was doing everything. Everything except for the cleaning that is.
Marketing, me. Sales, me. Payroll, me. Billing, me. Scheduling, me.
You get the picture.
Literally everything went through me and I was responsible for everything. I was the bottleneck for the business. We could not grow without me.
Then something changed. We had some friends who invited us to join them on a trip to Mexico. My wife and I were expecting our 3rd child so we knew this type of trip wouldn’t be possible for a while.
Before committing to the trip, I made a promise to my wife. I promised that I would turn my phone off and be completely present during the trip.
There was just one problem though - everything in the business relied on me. If I turned off my phone for a week, who would schedule the cleans? Who would talk to customers? Who would actually run the business?
That’s when the lightbulb in my dusty cellar of a brain finally turned on. I did not own a business, I owned a very busy job. I owned a job that did not allow me to live the lifestyle I wanted.
Why was I in business in the first place? To live the life I wanted to live.
Everything changed because of that trip to Mexico. I got serious about hiring. I got serious about training. I got serious about stopping the things that historically I had always done.
I changed and my business has 2x’d since that moment.
Fast forward 7 months, my business is doing $40k - $50k per month and it no longer depends on me. In fact, it hasn’t depended on me for the past 3-4 months or so.
The key? Delegation and systems. Without these two things, your business will never be able to grow beyond you and you will always be stuck working a job and not running a business.
A key unlock was creating an accountability chart
After I hired three remote managers to help me run the business, the next key was creating an accountability chart for my team. It forced clarity. With this, you are no longer able to keep tasks and task owners ambiguous. Everyone has a clearly defined role and responsibility.
When things fall through the cracks (and they will) it is no longer unclear whose responsibility it is. We all know.
By putting an org chart together, even if it’s just you and your labor force, it will help you get clarity on what needs to be done and who needs to do it.
When the time comes that it’s appropriate to grow, your system is already steps ahead and you’ll be well-positioned to make some changes to integrate new role players.
P.S. - this might look like a lot of people but what you’re seeing is each category, not each team member. Everyone is wearing a lot of hats
A Challenge for you
Even if it’s just you, I want you to make an accountability chart like the one I linked above. Break it up into different categories that you have (sales/marketing, admin, finance, etc.).
Then make it your goal to grow the business so big that you have to fire yourself from these jobs.
If you do this, reply back to this email with a screenshot of your org chart and I’ll send you something special!
Until next time!
Logan
