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202: Q4 Operations Prep: Set Yourself Up for Success · Early Childhood Business Made Easy

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Every October, you tell yourself this quarter is going to be different.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_01: And then every December, you're still buried in the same holiday scramble.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: Schedules falling apart, supplies maybe you forgot to reorder, a team stretched thinner than your patients.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_01: You've tried making a mental list of things to handle before the holidays, but a list you carry in your head, my friend, that is not a system.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: It's a worry you haven't written down yet.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: Now, confident early childhood operators, they don't survive Q4.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: They audit their way into it.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_01: And when you know exactly where your operations are solid and where they're about to crack under the holiday pressure, well, your fourth quarter stops being something that happens to you and it starts being something that you actually operate.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Kelly Peak.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: I've spent the past 26 years growing multiple million dollar early childhood businesses.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'm here to help you navigate both the messy and magical seasons of your early childhood business with simple, actionable strategies.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: It is my goal to make your life a little easier working with our most prized possessions in life.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: If you're ready to control the chaos, ditch the exhausting overwhelm, and keep the joy, then be sure to join us at KellyPeak.com.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome, CEOs.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the Early Childhood Business Made Easy Podcast.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: I am your host, Kelly Peak, and I just love to help you find more of that time freedom lifestyle, especially right now as we are about to approach the holidays.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: And as you know, Q4, well, it doesn't sneak up on your business.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: You just haven't looked at it directly yet.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: I know that it feels like it sneaks up, but I promise you, my friend, after today's episode, I think you'll look at it a little differently.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: Now, right now, somewhere in the back of your mind, there's a running list of the things you know that are coming.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: Enrollment paperwork for January, those holiday scheduling gaps, those bigger supply orders with all those crafts and special things that you're going to create during the holidays.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: And you always seem to run out of certain things in December.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: Team members asking for time off during a busy season.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: Now, most directors and managers will they carry that list around unwritten, hoping they'll get to it before anything becomes a crisis.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: And year after year, it becomes a crisis anyway.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: Because a list in your head, well, my friend, that isn't a plan.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: That is just anxiety with a due date.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: Now, in 20 years of operating my own boutique preschools and play cafes, I have learned that the businesses that glide through Q4, they aren't the ones with less going on.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: They are the ones who audited their operations in September, October instead of firefighting them in November and December.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: So today I'm going to walk you through the three strategies that are going to turn your Q4 from your most reactive quarter into your most prepared one.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: So we're going to cover number one, how to audit what's actually working in your business right now.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: Number two, how to document the systems that keep running without you.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: And number three, how to lock in your team, your supply, your scheduling, all those things that you need before the holidays start to make those decisions for you.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: Now, Q4 chaos, my friend, that is not a season you survive.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: It's a system that you didn't build yet.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: When you audit your operations before the holidays instead of during them, your fourth quarter is going to become a more smooth and predictable stretch of your entire year.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_01: Now, most business CEOs, specifically directors and managers, well, they just believe Q4 just is harder.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: There's more enrollment activity, more holiday activities, more moving parts.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: So of course it just feels chaotic.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: But that is not actually true.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_01: The chaos isn't coming from the actual quarter.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's coming from the fact that your systems were never stress tested for it.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: So a business running on solid operations doesn't get harder in Q4.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: It gets busier.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, that is true.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: But busier is a very different problem than chaotic.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: Research from the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership, well, they found that early childhood programs with documented, written operational procedures, will they report significantly higher team confidence and significantly lower day-to-day disruption than programs relying on informal, verbal-only systems.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: Now that research, it's not specific to Q4, but here's why it matters even more during this busy stretch.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: Verbal systems, well, they break down exactly when you need them most, when you're pulled in six different directions and can't personally walk every team member through what to do.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: CEOs who understand this data, well, they don't wait until things fall apart to document their operations.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: They audit and write things down before the quarter that will actually test them.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: Now there's a center director that I work with, and she just always seemed to operate in a reactive way.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: Every Q4 decision she made in the moment.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: She had staffing gaps covered by begging team members to pick up shifts.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: Her supply reorders, well, those were only remembered when something ran out midweek.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: She was operating entirely in DIY mode, believing that if she just worked a little harder, if she just stayed a little later, she could personally hold that quarter together.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: Now the turning point came when she ran her first quarterly business audit checklist.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: She did that in October instead of waiting for Q4 to expose the gaps.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: Going through it, she discovered that her team scheduling, well, she had zero written coverage planned for the two weeks around Christmas, something she'd been improvising in the years before.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: Now, this mindset shift happened when she realized she just needed to audit smarter, catching the gaps while there was still time to fix them in September and October instead of living inside them in November and December.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: Now that quarter, she walked into November with her team plan, her supply orders, and a family communications.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that was all already locked in.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: She cut her own after-hour scrambling by roughly eight hours a week.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: And for the first time in three years, she actually took the Friday after Thanksgiving off with her own family instead of covering that shift.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: And today, she leads her center's Q4 as a confident early childhood operator.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: She is a CEO who audits her systems before the season tests them, not after.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I want for you.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: So let's get started with those three strategies that are going to turn your Q4 from your most reactive quarter into your most prepared one.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: And we start with strategy number one, the Q4 systems audit.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: Know what's working before you need it.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: Now, when you're operating in manager mode, you find out which of your systems are weak in the worst possible way, usually when they fail during one of your busier weeks.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: Now, CEOs who've professionalized their operations, well, they audit their business on purpose before the pressure arrives instead of discovering where those cracks live.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: Now, this is how confident early childhood operators approach profit booster number five of the CEO leadership and profit engine.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's called efficient operations.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: That is profit booster number five.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: And they run a structured audit of every system that touches their Q4.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: This is enrollment, scheduling, supplies, communication, all of this in September or October.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: And they fix what's broken while there's still time.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: Now, unlike a retail business where a slow season gives you room to recover from a bad process, early childhood businesses do not have that luxury.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: We have ratio-dependent situations.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: We have licensing logistics.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: We have specific family concerns, and we are such a relationship-driven business.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: So that means we rarely get a quiet stretch to catch operational gaps before they cost us.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: Now, generic small business advice always says review your systems quarterly, and that is good.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: But early childhood businesses need something more specific.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: You need to audit the systems that get stress tested by the holidays, your team staffing swings, and your enrollment surges, specifically before those pressures hit.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: So your two action steps here.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: Number one, I want you to run your quarterly business audit checklist.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: So set aside some time to go through your operations checklist category by category.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: This is enrollment, your team, supplies, communication.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: Mark each one as a solid, a shaky, or a missing entirely.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: Now, this isn't about fixing everything in one sitting.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's about seeing the whole picture clearly for the first time.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're a small program, this might be a 90-minute session you do yourself.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe grab some coffee, close the door, get focused.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: If you're a larger program where you have multiple locations, you might have each site director complete their own audit.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_01: Then you review all of them together to spot the patterns and possible gaps.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: Now, this is exactly what our free quarterly business audit checklist is going to walk you through.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: So go find that free resource at KellyPeak.com episode 202.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: Now remember the categories that are going to feel the most annoying to audit, my friend, those are usually the ones causing you the most damage.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: And if you're avoiding a section on that checklist, that's probably the one you need to start with.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: Action step number two, I want you to rank your gaps by what breaks first under that Q4 pressure.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: So once you know where the gaps are, don't try to fix everything at once.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: Rank them by which ones are actually going to get tested by your holiday situations.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: Is it scheduling, enrollment deadline, supply demands, whatever it is, tackle that first before anything else.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_01: Now, this takes a little judgment, not just a checklist, to think about what historically goes wrong for you every November and December.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: What feels chaotic?
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: What feels broken?
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: Think about your November and December.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_01: When do you have to sacrifice your own family during that time?
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: Now, for a small program, this might mean fixing your holiday coverage plan before touching your marketing calendar.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: If you're a larger program, you might prioritize by location, fixing your highest enrollment site gap first, since that has the least room for error.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_01: Now, most directors and managers will they try to fix every gap at once once you see what the audit is revealing.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: That, my friend, is the wrong place to go.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: That is gonna turn one overwhelming quarter into an even more overwhelming October.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_01: So rank them.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: Don't panic.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_01: Now, once you know what's actually broken and what matters most, you are ready to build the piece that's gonna keep it fixed, even when you are not the one holding it together.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: And that, my friend, is gonna move us on to strategy number two, the holiday-proof SOP, where you're gonna document the repeatable items before you are buried.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: Now, again, when you're stuck in manager or director mode, you are the system.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: Every process lives in your head, which means every Q4 decision routes through you, even the ones that a team member could easily handle if it were written down.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: And then there are CEOs and it those who've professionalized their operations, they know that a business that only runs through one person, well, that is not actually a business, not yet.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: It's just a very demanding job.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: And this is profit booster number five's core promise.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: So again, profit booster number five of our leadership and profit engine is efficient operations.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: And that core promise is simplify, systematize, and organize.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: And when it's applied to the specific processes that repeat every single Q4, that's where the magic happens.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_01: This is your holiday closures, your winter break scheduling, your supply reorders, all those fancy and wonderful gifts you want the kiddos to make for their parents, the family communication that's gonna happen.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: Now, unlike a business with steady year-round demand, early childhood businesses, well, they face the same predictable Q4 pressure points every single year, which is good.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: That means those are the exact processes worth documenting once.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: And then, as you know, I love to say, rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat, and then reuse forever.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: Now, most generic operations advice says systematize your whole business, which is good, but you don't have time for that in September and October.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: So early childhood businesses need something narrower.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: So I really want you to focus on a handful of processes that Q4 specifically demands every single year and start now.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: Then next year, you can add a couple more, and then the next year a couple more.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: So right now, I don't want you to stress yourself out and be overwhelmed.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_01: What in Q4 happens that causes you to sacrifice your own family time, that brings you headaches, that causes your team disruption.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: Pick a handful of those specific processes, document those this year, and then next year add to it.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: So your two action steps here.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_01: Number one, write down your three most repeated Q4 processes.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: Pick three.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: So identify the three things that you personally handle every single Q4 that a team member could do if it were written down.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: So again, the holiday closure communication, your winter break staffing, your supply reordering timing, communication to families, whatever those situations and processes are.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: Pick three.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_01: Write each one as a simple numbered SOP.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_01: What to do?
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: In what order?
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: Using what tablet or tool if needed.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_01: Now, if you're a smaller program, this might be a single-shared document with three short sections.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_01: If you have a larger team, you might build these into your existing SOP binder alongside a designated owner for each one.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_01: Let me repeat that.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: So it's not just written down, it's assigned to someone else.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_01: So no longer waiting for you.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_01: Now remember, that's because an SOP that's still sitting in your head, that's not done.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: Even if you know it by heart, if a team member cannot follow it without asking you a question, well, it's not written clearly enough yet.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_01: Action step number two, I want you to hand off one Q4 process this month.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: So pick the SOP that you just wrote, or maybe one that you are most tempted to keep doing yourself and hand it to the team, a different team member this month before the Q4 pressure makes you feel like there's no time to train someone.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_01: Walk them through it once, let them run it while you're still there and available to answer any questions, and then treat any confusion as feedback on the SOP, not on your team member.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: This is where you have to remember if there was an issue, most likely it was in the communication or lack of or lack of documentation with the SOP, not the team member.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: And this is exactly why we built the Chaos Coordinator Collective around creating all these meaningful memories and these magical moments during this holiday season.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: Because so many of the team members you're handing processes off to, they already have so much to do.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: So these are done-for-you resources with clear guidance that's going to make that handoff smoother, not one more thing for you to do.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: So they can go help you grow your program, attract more families by building these meaningful memories for the families that are already there.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_01: And then guess what?
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: They become your number one source for referrals.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_01: Now, for a small program, this might mean maybe you hand someone on your team the holiday communication task.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_01: Or if you're a larger program, maybe multi-locations, each location might have hand off their own local version of the same process.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_01: So again, each location might have a director, and that director hands off something to a specific team member.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_01: Now here's the key.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_01: Think of your business like a relay race.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: So right now, you're probably running every leg yourself.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: A holiday-proof SOP is the baton handoff.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_01: And it only works if you actually let go of it before the exchange zone.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_01: And once your repeatable Q4 processes are written and handed off, my friend, the last piece is making sure your team, your supplies, all the things you need to do for the quarter are locked in far enough ahead that nothing catches you off guard.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: And that's where strategy number three comes in, the 90-day look ahead.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: Again, we're going to talk about your team, your supplies, scheduling, communication, all of that dialed in before December.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_01: Now, when you're again operating in that director or manager mode, your team, supplies, scheduling, all those decisions, they happen reactively.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_01: Someone requests time off, you scramble to cover it.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: You run out of our supplies, you're making an emergency trip to Michael's or Dollar Tree or wherever you get your supplies.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: But CEOs who've professionalized their operations, they plan 60 to 90 days out.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: So Q4's predictable pressure points, they are already solved before they even arrive.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_01: Again, this is where we talk about profit booster number five, efficient operations.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_01: It becomes forward-looking instead of reactive.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_01: You map your team needs, your scheduling, your supply reorders, your parent communications, any changes that need to be made.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: You do all of that for the entire quarter in one sitting rather than solving each one as it appears and feeling stressed out and chaotic all quarter long.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_01: Now, unlike businesses that can adjust, for example, staffing week to week without regulatory consequences, our businesses are ratio dependent.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: Licensing logistics are off the charts.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: And then you have built on there a whole nother layer because we are such a relationship-driven business.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_01: We have to plan in real time with lots of lead time because you can't legally operate if you're out of out of ratio for that day.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_01: You can't run a fabulous birthday party if you don't have enough team members to be there.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: You need to make a 90-day look ahead, something that happens regularly.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: It really is a compliance issue as much as it is a convenience one.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: And again, generic small business advice, they're going to tell you plan a month ahead.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: But early childhood businesses, we need a longer runway.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: You need to plan your full quarters needs now, whether that's your team, your supplies, your scheduling, communication.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: Because those requirements that we have, ratio, licensing, all the logistics, they don't leave the room for last minute fixes.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: So your two action steps here.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_01: Number one, map your Q4 team calendar today.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: So sit down and mark every known absence, requested time off, planned holiday closures, any gaps for the quarter, put those all on the calendar and identify where you're short before it becomes an emergency.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_01: Now, this takes real focus time, but it is a single high-leverage hour you are gonna really be grateful you took.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: Because remember, your team, they want to create magical memories for their families too.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_01: So they're gonna want to take time off as well.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: Just make sure they know if they want to go to Zoolites and take off early, please let you know instead of calling out at the last minute.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: Or maybe their own child has something at the elementary school that you want to go be part of.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_01: Again, let you know weeks ahead of time, not the day before.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: Now, if you are a smaller program, this might mean one calendar with your existing team's known plans.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: You mark it clearly.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: If you're a larger program, you might need a calendar per classroom, per location, per age group, per enrichment program class, whatever it might be, you might have that rolled up into one master view.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: Whatever you need, choose what works best for you.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: Now remember, the gaps you can't see yet, they are more dangerous than the ones you can.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_01: So ask your team directly this week if they have any Q4 plans right now that might affect their schedule rather than waiting for them to tell you the day of or the day before.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_01: Action step number two, place your Q4 supply order now, not when you run out.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: Again, this is a busy, busy time when it comes to supplies and activities because you're gonna have all of that holiday programming, your winter activities, those gifts you're gonna make for parents, any seasonal materials, all of that you want to review now and then place one consolidated order this month instead of several scattered ones as you notice shortages.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: Now, again, this is gonna take about an hour, but it is gonna save you from the expensive, stressful, last minute run that always seems to happen the week or a day before a big event.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: Now, if you're a small program, this might be one supply list and one order.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_01: But if you're a larger program or a multi-site operation, you might consolidate your ordering, ordering across locations or classrooms just to get better pricing while still allowing each site to flag what's specific to them.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_01: Now, most directors and managers order supplies reactively, item by item, as they notice they're low.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_01: This, my friend, costs more per item and guarantees at least one panic trip during this busy season.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_01: So one consolidated order, placed early, solves these problems.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_01: All right, my friend, let's bring this together.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_01: You audited your operations honestly, instead of waiting for Q4 to expose the gaps.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_01: You documented and handed off the processes that repeat every single year, and you locked in your team, your supplies, your scheduling, all the things you need to do for Q4, 90 days out, instead of waiting and scrambling week by week.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: This is what it means to lead your fourth quarter as a confident early childhood operator instead of reacting your way through it.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: And it's exactly how Q4 can become more smooth, more predictable, and a wonderful stretch of your business year.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's time now for our manifestation minute.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_01: So today we move from carrying Q4 as a mental list of worries.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: To running it as an automated, documented, planned out system.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: When you audit your operations, hand off your repeatable processes, and lock in your team, supplies, scheduling, all the things you need for this Q4, when you do that 60 to 90 days ahead, you're fundamentally shifting from reacting to your business to leading it, leading it as a CEO.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_01: Now imagine this.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_01: It's the second week in November.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_01: Your team calendar has zero surprise gaps.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_01: Your supply order arrived already, and your team is running your holiday communication process without a single question landing on your desk.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: Your Q4 is systematized.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_01: Your team knows exactly what to do and when.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_01: And you are spending your evenings with your own family instead of solving problems that should have been solved in September or October.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: That's what's possible when you audit your operations with the CEO leadership and profit engine instead of carrying the quarter alone.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_01: Now, here are three action steps you can take this week to start this transformation.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_01: First, block 90 minutes this week to run your quarterly business audit checklist and see exactly where your Q4 gaps are.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_01: Second, write down the one Q4 process you personally repeat every single year and turn it into a simple SOP you can hand to someone else.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_01: And third, sit down with your calendar and mark every node, Q4 team gap, the scheduling process, anything that you can see right now, today before it turns into a scramble.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_01: And don't forget to grab your free quarterly business audit checklist.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_01: It's that free resource that goes with today's episode.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_01: It walks you through every operational category that Q4 tends to expose so you can find your gaps in one sitting instead of discovering them one crisis at a time.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_01: Again, that's at KellyPeak.com, episode 202.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: Now, if today's episode has you thinking about your team members specifically, the people that you might be handling off repeatable processes to, this is exactly why we built the Chaos Coordinator Collective.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's a monthly membership specifically for creating meaningful memories, magical moments for the families in your programs.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: So they come back year after year.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_01: It's packed with done for you activities, classroom resources, and clear guidance made specifically for your team members to carry this out.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_01: Not you.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_01: This is not meant for you.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_01: So right now, when you join the Chaos Coordinator Collective, get your team members set up, you get three months for the price of one, which means you can hand your team a season of ready-made support right now, exactly when Q4 asks the most of them.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_01: So head over to ChaosCoordinator.com and join us today.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_01: And if you, my friend, as the CEO, you're looking for your own next step, something like running this audit, don't forget to check out our Shine membership and our Clarity Collective that's going to give you monthly trainings, templates, coaching, all the tools like what we talked about today to help you systematize your business at your own pace.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_01: So again, KellyPeak.com to find out more information.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_01: Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast if today's episode gave you a clear plan for your Q4.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_01: We are building a community of confident early childhood operators who plan their quarters instead of surviving them.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_01: So we would love to have you here week after week.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_01: My friend, you started your early childhood business because you wanted to create something steady and meaningful for children and families.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_01: Or maybe you are leading an early childhood business, or maybe you are working for an early childhood business because you want to spend more time making a difference in this world.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_01: You did not do this because you want to spend every October through December in crisis mode.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: And here's what I want you to remember: an automated, documented business, well, it's not less passionate.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's what lets your passion actually last through the season that often tests it most.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what a confident early childhood operator builds.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_01: A CEO builds quarter after quarter.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_01: So, my friend, go audit your system.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_01: I can't wait to see you next week.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_01: Take care.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for tuning into our podcast.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: Are you ready to take your early childhood business to the next level?
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_00: Then head over to KellyPeak.com to join a community of other early childhood professionals who are ditching the chaos and the overwhelm and creating a business they love.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_00: I can't wait to see you there.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_00: Bye for now.