There is something to be said about taking messy action and figuring things out along the way. I’m on board with that. We all have to start somewhere and trust me, you’re never going to have all the answers, the perfect plan or the prettiest website (in your head) before you take that leap. So, of course, I’m on board with taking the leap of faith when you have no clue what you’re doing, you just know you can’t stay where you are.
BUT. Of course, there’s a but. There’s also something to be said about having a good foundation set up to help your business run well, saving you time, stress and money. Investing in setting up your systems from the get-go is not only a smart way to spend your money but also so necessary to grow. Having established, well-oiled systems in place will give you more confidence in your business and also position you as an established business owner who has their shit together.
This is why I love my systems intensives. I can accomplish so much in such a short period of time for my clients. It’s a total game-changer for their business. If you want more of a DIY approach, here are my top recommendations for what processes/systems to put into place and the tools you can leverage.
Onboarding / Off-boarding
Start by writing out your process (or ideal process) from the moment someone makes contact with you to the moment they decide to work with you to the first steps once you begin work with them through off-boarding them as a client. Get extremely detailed at each step. Think about any information you’ll need to collect from them, how you’ll correspond, or if you’re a designer how many rounds of revision you’ll include, any calls you will need to schedule, emails you typically send, etc. This is called a workflow. A lot of times there’s things in here you can automate.
I highly recommend using a system like Dubsado to set up a workflow to automate as much of your onboarding process as possible. You’ll have the ability to create canned emails, contracts, proposal templates, payment schedules, etc. that will save you so much time with each new client. I also recommend a project management tool such as Asana. You can create templated projects here to serve as checklists when working with a new client. This will also help to keep you on track to your deliverables with ease and create a seamless onboarding experience for a new client to feel confident in your work together.
Scheduling
Automating scheduling is probably the easiest thing you can set up in your business to save yourself the back-and-forth with potential clients (potentially leading to a missed opportunity). You want to make it as easy as possible for someone to schedule time with you. You can always add pre-qualifying questions to a form to weed out low-quality leads.
I personally use and love Acuity for scheduling. It’s so easy and you can add multiple “calendars” for different types of services you offer, even with custom times/schedules for each. For example, if you only want to take discovery calls on Mondays and Wednesdays and client calls on Tuesday and Thursdays you can set this up through the platform to showcase that availability to your clients and potential clients. Rather than a back and forth email series about availability, you can simply send your scheduling link to someone to book at a time that works for them (AND YOU). It will sync with your existing calendar and send reminders to those you have appointments with to reduce missed appointments. Other scheduling apps out there are Calendly, Dubsado, and Satori. I love how robust the Acuity platform is which is why that’s the one I typically recommend.
Proposals, Contracts, and Invoices
If you’re still manually updating your proposals, contracts, and invoices - stop. There’s a better, faster way. Besides scheduling, this automation sequence is easy and a must-do. Again, I use Dubsado for this and create an automated workflow where all you have to do is push a button and it’s all done for you. You have the ability to create proposals with custom options, contracts per service you offer or simply one generic contract, as well as invoices that you can customize per service offering or proposal, payment plans/schedules and recurring invoices each month.
Email Marketing
There are so many different email platforms out there and honestly setting up your email automation can be daunting. But as I mentioned in a recent blog post, your email list is your biggest asset, so you want to nurture those on your email list well. You own your email list. They’re your warm leads, so providing relevant, timely and consistent information to them is important.
I suggest setting up a couple of simple automations including a simple welcome sequence and a freebie sequence funneling into your paid offer. I go over multiple different email automations you can read more about here. In terms of what platforms I recommend, my new favorite is FloDesk as it’s visually appealing and so clean. I also would recommend ActiveCampaign and ConvertKit.
Content Marketing
Consistent content is important to build your know, like and trust factor with your audience. So putting in place a content marketing process is extremely important to stay consistent. Content marketing doesn’t have to be as time-consuming and daunting as you may think. Create a plan and REPURPOSE. For example, you could create a video, use a transcription service to break it down to text, turn that into a blog, share part of that in your email newsletter and break the blog down for social content. Determine your timing, I.e. new content weekly or bi-weekly, and then stick to it. Schedule it in as a meeting just like you would with a client.
While establishing processes and setting up systems can seem overwhelming, once you have everything set up your business will flow with ease. Streamlined processes free up your mind and your time to focus on actually serving your clients, generating leads and building relationships. The stuff that will directly make you money.
I recommend either setting aside some time to establish these as early in your business as you can. It doesn’t mean that you can’t adjust or change these along the way, we’re always tweaking and improving throughout our entrepreneur journey. You’ll learn and up-level and new processes will need to be put into place or old ones optimized for your growth and workload, or change of business.
If you’d rather not deal with the frustration of trying to figure it all out yourself, I highly recommend my 5 hour systems intensive. I love this sort of stuff and promise to save you time, as well as optimize your processes alongside you to create efficiencies you didn’t even know were possible. Book a discovery call to chat more here.
Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.
After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.
Katelyn is also a wife, stepmom, dog mama of three furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.
Click here to book a free call to talk more about your business goals and to see if hiring an OBM is the right fit for you.
