A bi-weekly roundup of SOPs for scaling August 3 - August 16 The First Commandment of Scaling: Thou Shalt Have ProcessI've been doing quite a bit of research with small marketing agencies and after 25+ interviews, there's fascinating patterns starting to appear. Over the next TL;DRs, I'll be sharing bits and bobs from that research, but today I wanted to highlight one trend that's becoming clearer and clearer: Businesses quickly hit a ceiling without processes but it won't feel like a ceiling: it'll feel like mud. If you're an entrepreneur, this may sound familiar:
Not having a process means lots of cognitive overhead: you worry a lot. You don't know what outcomes you'll get from your inputs. You can't plan three months out. Things keep you up at night. You're stressed. I've been there and done that. There's a LOT of potential process gaps in every business, with some gaps being more important than others. From the research, I've coded process gaps into four categories (you'll be seeing a LOT of these in future newsletters): Business & Strategy Communication & Culture Leadership & Management Operations & Scaling Founders come to the table with a wide range of skills, so some process gaps can be bridged over with their prior skills and knowledge. As businesses survive, founders tend to learn new things, bridging over more process gaps and, ideally, making more money with less work. Through these interviews, it's vividly clear that process gaps are the prerequisites to successful scaling. In their words, Feast-famine business growth is the biggest problem for newer agencies: they win new business, focus on the clients, then don’t have a sales pipeline ready when that client churns. For a creative, simple procedures allow someone to feel empowered to fly their balloons, knowing that the constraints free their true creativity. A lot of agencies are 'winging it' on basic business skills. The process gaps, to a founder, feels like this: Most days I feel like I'm winging it, using my subject-matter strengths and organic business structures to hold things together, get enough work done, and sell enough to get by. It sorta works, right? You inevitably fall into a sort of system by default. But I have no control over it. I'm always chasing it, never leading it, except when I can wrestle it in some general direction at great effort. Some days that's fine, even exhilarating, if a little tiring. Other days, I feel like I'm a fraud, not knowing what I'm doing, one mistake away from everything collapsing around me. If a manager doesn't know how to train their direct report, I have to train them and I'm getting burned out from doing that. I've been on a call with 7 marketers who have opinions on the ads and it's a cluster. These groups need a clear leader to make decisions. I've seen stories like this before and the solution isn't simply, "Well, then, give the people processes!" It's the right intent, but there's two big questions that need to be answered so the right processes get put into place: 1. Do you even want to grow: What's your vision?If you got into business because you love the craft, the work, the clients, here's some bad news: growing the business means less of that over time. Being a CEO of a growing business increasingly becomes more people management, strategy, politics, and quenching dumpster fires. If you don't want that, you're gonna hate the next 5-10 years. There's no shame in having a lifestyle business that brings in a consistent six-figure income. That's a life well-lived, if that's what you are happy with. You still need some processes, but if you get good at staying on top of things, you don't need to overcomplicate your life. 2. What's the Goldilocks Process for us today and what's the Goldilocks Process for us tomorrow?Getting stuff done requires some process and some training. You and your team need just enough process to deliver excellent results. You and your team need just enough training to deliver excellent results. Overcycling on process can be just as bad as not having a process at all. Overtraining can also be bad (though I rarely see overtraining: it's more often ineffective training). There's a sweet spot- a Goldilocks Process- and different founders and teams need to discover their sweet spot (and know they've nailed it). A leader that wants to grow their business (see question one above) should also be looking over the hill to what kinds of systems and processes are needed to make it to the next stage. Not five hills over (this causes overcycling on process), but at least one hill to start planning for that next evolution. If your crystal ball forecasts a new hire, a new Customer Support system, updating documentation to reflect new optimizations, etc. then you can make more efficient decisions today that's going to improve your ability to scale tomorrow... ...just don't get sucked into fantasizing on your five year plan. Five years ago nobody knew what the word COVID meant. I'll be distilling these marketing agency interviews into some fun resources for you to take back to your organization, so if you've got a colleague or connection that you suspect is winging it on process, invite them to subscribe to this newsletter by sending them here: https://go.learntoscale.us/tldr PS. Every business struggles with process gaps. I lost track of how many times I heard this: "ALL AGENCIES ARE SHITSHOWS" A TL;DR from the CROHave you scheduled your QBRs with your renewal accounts yet? -Roman Noodles, Chief Ruff Officer Coming Soon: Startup Boston WeekWhen I'm not working with clients on their process gaps, I wear another hat as COO at Startup Boston. This organization is hosting a FREE hybrid conference September 9-13 with over 100 panels on how to be a successful startup, plus networking events, a Career Fair, onsite expert coaching, and more. If you're in Boston, please do come in person and high-five me. If you're not, you can tune in virtually.
ROCK TUMBLING UPDATE It's been a while- 7 editions ago, to be exact- since our last rock tumbling update. Fresh out from the Rock Hudson tumbler comes some dark smoky quartz after 14 weeks of rolling around: I'm not too far down the woo-woo spectrum, but I'm endlessly entertained by blog posts that exclaim "Unlock the Power of Smoky Quartz" with section headers that breathlessly share "Practical Ways to Use Smoky Quartz in Daily Life." The hot tip in there about Caring for Your Smoky Quartz includes valuable insights like, "using water and gentle soap." Guys. Guys. If your rock is dirty, you can wash it. Who let these people onto the internet? Don't forget to charge your crystals on August 19th in the full moon, Dan from Learn to Scale Opt-out from the newsletter | Unsubscribe from all emails | Update your Preferences | www.learntoscale.us, Boston, MA 02119 PS. Thanks to AI, the Muppets can give Run-D.M.C a run for the money. |
Entrepreneur, Professional Learner, & Proud Failure. Writes about sales, marketing, and entrepreneurship from the eyes of a learning and development nerd. Lead teams, manage people, scale a business, and learn better through the biweekly irreverent newsletter, the TL;DR.
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