Shirley Dalton...................... 5 Steps to Business Freedom - How to have a Business and a Life you Enjoy.........
If you’re like most entrepreneurs, you probably started your business dreaming about the lifestyle and the rewards
you would enjoy.
Within a very short time, you probably found yourself working longer and harder than you ever did as an employee.
It doesn’t have to be this way ... 2014 could be your year to have a business and a life that you really enjoy.
Following are 5 Steps to Business Freedom that you can take, just like business owner and sales leader, Paul did who
went from bringing in 78% of the business revenue, dropped to 6% yet empowered his team to double their sales
revenues.
With his extra time, he has refocussed and even improved his golf with a reduced handicap to scratch (zero).
- Be open to doing things differently
When I first met Paul he was used to being in control. If his team didn’t deliver, he showed no mercy. He didn’t
understand that he too was responsible for supporting and empowering the team to be and do better. Paul was a
quick learner and an even faster action taker. As he changed his beliefs about what his team could achieve, he became
more comfortable and skilled at delegating. He learned to be a better leader. He became what John Maxwell describes
as “the type of person others trust to take them where they want to go”. - Identify WHO does WHAT, WHEN and WHY
Paul began to get an understanding of the systems and processes in his business. With this new awareness he was
able to identify gaps in customer service and opportunities to improve efficiency and productivity. He was also able to
separate his business into a number of divisions, then to drill down in each division in which every team member
understood their place within the entire organisation. - Create your Infrastructure Wizard
Once he identified who did what and when, he then created his Infrastructure Wizard by labelling the various roles for
each division. With the Infrastructure Wizard he was able to see the relationships and the complexity of his business.
No wonder he was stressed before yet now, he had clarity about the roles (not the people) that were needed to
perform the work. - Be Clear with your expectations for each role
The next step was fairly easy. Once the roles were clear, he worked with the team to create clear expectations of what
was required to perform to what standard in each role. The role descriptions were documented, which made it much
easier for his team to understand what they needed to do to succeed. With this clarity, Paul found it easier to lead,
supervise and hold the team accountable. - Document the critical processes and systems
The final step was to document the critical processes. Ask yourself, which processes and way of doing things are not
negotiable? Which tasks MUST be done a certain way to a certain standard? These are your critical tasks. You can
document them in a variety of ways. The best way is the way that suits you and your team and your business. It
doesn’t really matter, as long as they are easy to understand and accessible.
That’s the 5 Steps to Business Freedom.
Follow the steps above and 2014 will be a great year to have a business and a life that you can really enjoy.
Shirley Dalton is The Business SystemizerTM and former COO of a national educational firm
that grew from 250 to 700 franchises worldwide during her tenure. Based 90 minutes
north of Sydney, call her on + 61 402 281 146 or [email protected]
or visit http://www.daltonbusinesssystems.com.au to receive a complimentary diagnosis of
your business and an individual Business Action Plan so you can have a business and a life.