Business Planning Process Steps

Jaime Masters interviewing Sam Carpenter

I listened to an amazing podcast today. It is part of Jaime Masters Eventual Millionaire series which I love.  In this one, she was interviewing Sam Carpenter and he was discussing business planning process steps.

Sam Carpenter had been running a business for 15 years and putting a lot of hours into doing so.  He had hit a crisis point and was not expecting to be able to make the next payroll.  He employed about a dozen people at the time.  He went to bed and had an epiphany. He suddenly had a very clear realisation that his business was made up of lots of different separate systems. He needed to work on one of these at a time and get it running smoothly.

He went to the office the next day and called in his two managers.  They decided what was their biggest issue and then work out a 53-step process to ensure that this would work as smoothly as possible.  You can read more about it in this free book – Work the System on his website.  There is also a free audio version of the book.

Here is the interview on Youtube.

I was particularly surprised that he relied so much on Google Mail for organising his work.. I couldn’t decide if he also used the “Tasks” feature in Gmail or not, and also he didn’t go into whether he used any add-ons.

 

Work The System website

The Work the System website is worth a look at.  I have already mentioned the free book and the audio version – both of which I downloaded as I enjoy print and audio.

There is a 2-minute video where he explains what the system method is.

Then there is a webinar where he goes into more detail – entitled “How to Make More and Work Less”

There is also a podcast from Ben Kniffen of Linked Selling explaining how to use Linkedin as a business selling tool.

Here is another video in which Sam Carpenter talks about his philosophy of business organisation – probably quite a good summary of the book.

 

Michael Gerber and the E-myth.

The above podcast was very interesting but not because this is a new idea.

Quite some years ago I bought myself a set of cassette tapes(!!) called the E-myth.  It talked a lot about franchising and how analysing the systems and improving them enabled business to become profitable but also allowed them to be put in a position where the model could be sold.

This was followed up by Michael Gerber’s “The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It”.

This is a very easy read but very thought-provoking.  It goes beyond the usual “work on the business, not in it”. It suggests four categories that most businesses have and then work out everything that needs to happen within these areas.  If you are a one-person business, then as you move from one area to area, you don’t have to remember everything.  As you grow and are ready to start employing others or using freelancers, then you will have a set of instructions, processes etc to pass on which will help to integrate them.

Here is a superb animation giving you an overview of some of the ideas in this book – but although you get some great nuggets, you don’t really get a flavour of the book so I would suggest you get it and read it.

I was lucky enough to hear Michael Gerber speak at a conference in Birmingham one year. He had a fascinating life story and held the audience as he told us stories of his youth, his jazz-playing lessons with an eccentric and very demanding teacher and through to adulthood and his business growth and the support his company gave to other small and large companies.

Unfortunately, I can’t share that experience with you, but here is a keynote speech he gave, which is more business-orientated.  He was wearing the same hat, and I think the same tie!

I will be returning to this and see how I can apply these ideas to my blogs at Wealthy Affiliate

Beyond the E-myth

I thought I had finished this section on Michael Gerber but I have now just com across the interview which I haven’t listened to but I will put it here so that I can!

 

Chet Holmes – The Ultimate Sales Machine

The above ideas can be applied to sales.

In this video, we get some very quick and do-able ideas from Chet’s book.

This video is very watchable and quick but doesn’t cover much of the material.

This next video covers a lot – but isn’t quite as watchable.  There again it covers a lot of material.  I may change it if I find something better.  Let me know what you think?

 

 

Perhaps you prefer Chet himself.  This is longer but for me easier to listen to.

 

 

I read another book with a similar name that I enjoyed.

Ryan Deiss’s The Invisible Selling Machine

It is another example of creating a system and then working the system.

Here we have a description of the 5 phases of the machine.

 

Ryan’s latest tweet is a quote from Emerson which I think is particularly pertinent for those of us at Wealthy Affiliate.

Certainly, if you do nothing the prize will not be sent to you!! Obvious really, but still needs saying sometimes – if only to ourselves.

So let’s get to it and put some processes in place!

Let me know what you think of this article and these videos.

Have you got any examples of then you systemised something and the difference it made?

Most of the things I have systemised have been to do with email – particularly using Gmail, but I am also a fan of IFTTT and I have played around with that A LOT over the last few years.

If you are already part of Wealthy Affiliate – can these ideas help you there? I think you can and will!

What about the idea that personal life is also made up of a lot of systems?  I suppose we might call them routines and habits?

I look forward to hearing your ideas – jot them down in the comments and I will get back to you!