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Ready to Scale? Master This Key Process First
Read time: 4 min
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The single most difficult point in any entrepreneur’s journey is going from 0 to 1.
Hiring your first employee has a profound effect on every aspect of the business. You go from handling everything yourself to relying on another person to manage tasks the same or better than you.
Here’s why that’s so challenging.
As a solopreneur, you have all the knowledge, all the processes, all the connections, all the responsibilities in your head. Whatever systems you have in place have been working for you.
Now you need to bring someone on board who has no knowledge of your business, knows none of your processes, has none of your connections, and doesn’t know how you prioritize and accomplish the daily work.
And they probably think differently than you.
You need to be able to transfer that knowledge to them in a way they understand so that they can operate independently from you and ultimately allow the team to accomplish more.
That means division of labor, not micromanagement.
This is why I preach the 3-and-3 method to make sure this addition is a value-added, not added burden.
The 3-and-3 method goes like this:
Every time you have a task you’ve done more than 3 times, and it has more than 3 steps, you write it down.
Building your widget? Document the steps.
Buying materials from a vendor? Describe the process.
Writing holiday cards to all your clients? Explain your style.
The idea is you are documenting how you do everything inside your business so you can ultimately hand those tasks off to someone else. If you ever want to scale your business you need to learn to delegate your $10-, your $100-, and even your $1000-per hour tasks.
The $1000 per hour stuff may be way down the road, but the process is still the same.
If you can’t build an SOP (standard operating procedure) that a VA can follow to reply to client orders which bog down hours of your time each week, how will you ever hand off regional sales or go to market strategies?
Creating a collection of every process that every department or business function does is the only way to grow and scale a business to a point you stop working IN the business and can focus ON the business.
How you document, compile, and make accessible is an art in and of itself.
I cannot speak highly enough about Notion. This allows you to have a digital record of every SOP, embedded with videos, hyperlinked to other SOPs, organized by function, and so many other features.
I know some of you are old school and still walk around with the green monster notebook from the military. You like the look and feel of being able to physically hold the document.
Even fancy binders with tabbed sections and glossy pages have issues though. Here’s just some of them:
- They get lost
- They get damaged
- There’s no keyword search
- They’re bulky and cumbersome
- They require constant upkeep and updating
With Notion (or any other digital SOP collection), your team always has access to it, they can quickly find what topics they need, and if you update it, everyone can immediately view those changes.
Processes happening at the speed of change.
The key is to have a consistent process for documentation and to be religious about making sure it’s current and doesn’t conflict with other SOPs.
This role is the most important one you have as a business owner once you have employees. It doesn’t matter how good you are at sales or marketing or budgeting. If your team doesn’t have a clear, standardized method for operating, you don’t have a team.
You have a collection of individuals acting unilaterally.
And that is how businesses fall apart.
Task documentation is an extremely labor-intensive process, which is why I preach the importance of starting early and doing it often.
You don’t want to wait until you’re ready to hire or, god forbid, you’ve already hired. This is how processes are detailed incorrectly or simply forgotten. Plus, if you’re scrambling to document, what else isn’t getting done during those days and weeks while you cram like an undergrad during finals week?
My recommendation is to make a conscious effort over the next week (or month if you have a broader range of tasks). Go everywhere with a notebook and a pad of post-its.
Every time you do something, write it down on the post-it and put it in your notebook for the day. Literally, everything.
- Calls taken
- Widgets built
- Emails written
- Meetings attended
- Social media posts created
Then, create a Notion document and start breaking down the steps and include any stakeholders in the process.
This SOP “binder” will be the living, breathing record of how your business operates—allowing any addition to your company to quickly learn the ropes without needing your constant supervision.
Now you’re on the path to being a business OWNER, not an OPERATOR.
TL;DR
- First Hire Impact: Hiring your first employee requires effectively transferring your knowledge and processes to ensure they can work independently.
- Document Often: Use the 3-and-3 method to document tasks, making delegation and scaling possible.
- Go Digital with SOPs: Use tools like Notion for accessible, organized, and up-to-date process documentation.
- Ensure Consistency: Keep your documentation consistent and updated to maintain team cohesion and efficiency.
- Start Early: Begin documenting processes before hiring to avoid rushed or incomplete SOPs.
This week's Harder Not Smarter Podcast episode:
Teddy Mitrosilis shares his journey from D1 athlete to ESPN and finally to the startup world, where he found his true calling. He reveals why trusting your instincts is crucial and how starting small in business can lead to big success. Plus, Teddy offers insider tips on content creation and why knowing your "why" makes all the difference.
Don't miss EP030 of the Harder Not Smarter Podcast
I have only one ask of you this month:
Every year I participate in the Swim for SOF charity event which raises money for The Honor Foundation - the organization that help me and so many other Navy SEALs successfully transition from the military to civilian life.
My goal this year is to raise enough money to fully sponsor 3 students going through the program: $30,000.
With your gracious help, we can make quick work of this target. Whether you contribute $1 or $1,000; every dollar donated helps special operators discover their next purpose in life.
Please click below to donate to this amazing cause!
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Kevin Seiff & Greg VanDyne
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