Latest / Really Renée / Ep. 8 - The Systems That Saved My Business (And My Sanity)

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Ep. 8 - The Systems That Saved My Business (And My Sanity) · Really Renée

• Sam Struck: All right, today we're gonna talk about systems, systems and processes, all the things that, you know, keep you sane and give you more time back in your work weeks. Thanks for tuning in. This is episode seven. My name is Samantha Strzok. I am the owner of Studio Renee, a cute little boutique interior design firm in Hood River, Oregon. I managed to grow from just $120,000 to $1.2 million with a small team. In ⁓ less than three years. So today I just want to talk about the ways that we introduced systems and processes that got us We're dreamers. Don't care what other people say we're dreamers. So let's dive in. So ⁓ when I was in this like period of growth that came in the middle of COVID, ⁓ I just had my second son. And it was just me and a couple people. I did have some like 1099 help at the time, but when we went from like literally $120,000 to like, I don't know, 600 in a year. And then after that, nine and then to one point two and then one point seven after that. ⁓ there was just like a lot of growth. And so when when we grew, it became like really evident. That so much of our operations was just like living rent-free in my brain. And that I needed to be able to get these things out of my brain in order to make the team successful, for us to be efficient and for us to like close the loop on gaps that I left by hiring other people on and ⁓ not having a clear process. So ⁓ for me, before we really leaned heavy into systems and processes, which by the way was a dedicated year that we did of just systems and processes. When we did that before, it was just literally like a whiteboard and like dry erase that were writing like what are the project to-dos every day? And then tracking that everything's done via email. It was very loose. It was very disorganized. It was very chaotic. So a lot of times it felt like I had no visibility on like what was going on in the business on a daily basis, what the team's doing. what we're working on, what's not working, et cetera, et cetera. So chaos. For sure. Chaos. So one of the things that we did really early on was decided that we needed project management software. So ⁓ I had one person on my team that was like very good at being tech savvy. So I had her try out essentially Two, three different project management software systems at the same time for a minimum of 30, most of the time 90 days. And then based on the feedback that she would give, we would implement one. So ⁓ I know that she had tried, I think at the time it was like Asana, ⁓ click-up. bunch other ones. and we ended up on ClickUp. It's a great project management software system. ⁓ so we we we dialed that in. We created a custom kind of interface on ClickUp where we could, you know, put projects in, schedule things, tasks, assign them to people, and we created a system for how we use ClickUp. So ⁓ it wasn't just like, ⁓ we use ClickUp now. It was like No, we use clickup in this way. We had weekly meetings where we would set up trainings and we would just look at that software and learn like, what are the statuses of a task? How are we putting in a task? Are we putting in tasks by room? Are we putting them in by trade type or material type? How are we tagging them? Do we close a task when we're done or do we reassign it and move it down the road in terms of status change? So it was very cumbersome to do this. ⁓ But that was the first step, right? And then when I was like introducing this idea of systems and processes to like streamline the business, ⁓ for me, I really rebelled against this idea of like multiple tech software points. I wanted like one software that would do everything, which was like in hindsight very naive and impossible. ⁓ so I don't recommend that. But we tried them. We tried the all in one software systems that were like, I think like program ⁓ ⁓ I think at the time there was also like Ivy, ⁓ which we we used Ivy for billing and whatnot several years ago. We don't anymore. And then there's a few others where it was like they were sold as packages of like you could put your project in here, have a client portal, manage your internal structure, then you could also put your specs in here and do material billing and things like that. So they're kind of where these like a few players that were like one stop shops. We tried them all out. They sucked. So it was just like, no, we actually have to compartmentalize things. And if we define how we compartmentalize things and what software we're using, then we for sure can decide what we ⁓ are going to use or not use. Okay, sorry, I'm back. ⁓ I had to pause for a second because we had a procurement question. So again, just like the reality of being here, being in the studio, managing a business, blah, blah, blah. All that to say, we were talking about having one centralized software to like function across many things and it didn't work. So we started with just project management software, which was ⁓ clickup at the time. And then from there, we added in ⁓ systems and processes for communication. Some of it's more internal. So for example, we have ⁓ we use Slack for c team communication only. So there is no emails being sent between ⁓ members of the team only. If it's, you know, if somebody from the team needs to message me, they're not doing that via email. Email is reserved for only external ⁓ correspondence. So internal correspondence is Slack. And then from there we use ⁓ folio for our spec management system. So it's cloud based. ⁓ I think that there's still like a significant amount of people in the industry that are using Google Sheets or Excel for spec management. Blows my mind. ⁓ Folio is like a easy web clipper, ⁓ centralized kind of hub for all your spec management. I don't, I'm not like making any money off of saying this, but ⁓ they're great. We still use them. Obviously, we use AutoCAD for all of our drafting and detailing. ⁓ I'm an old dog. He can't teach me new tricks. I actually did drafting in high school. So my high school was fortunate enough to have a drafting program and We just can't get away from CAD. So I tried Revit. It's too complicated. I tried all the other things. ⁓ but we can talk a little bit more about that specifically later. We are testing out new software. We've tested out SketchUp over the years, not worth it. ⁓ I've tested, like I said, Revit. ⁓ but there there is a new a new one, a new one out there that we're trying. ⁓ and then in terms of systems and processes, we actually spent After design camp that I did with Lindsay and Anastasia, Lindsay was the one that actually like mapped out her onboarding to offboarding process for clients. So it was like a client systems and process. Like from the moment a client comes in on a lead, here's the track that they follow to get to offboard. So we did that. We put that together for our business so that we could map out a project flow and know what was going to come next. ⁓ They kind of present it as like something super rigid that they have every single client kind of go down that exact track. We don't. I can't commit to that type of system. Our projects are so diverse that I think you could like largely define a client process and system, but like hers was like 180 steps. And ⁓ I don't think ours can like follow that exact track. So we tried it. It didn't, it wasn't like we had to fine-tune it and ⁓ change it. And then we used Ivy for all of our billing, time management ⁓ side of things. We don't anymore. We use Studio Designer. ⁓ some people use Studio Designer for their spec management too, because you can put specs in there. However, we don't. I only use Studio Designer for anything a client is going to transact with us. So that would be ⁓ our time billing invoices, flat fees, retainers, things like that. And then anything a client is gonna purchase through us. So that would be anything that's gonna go into procurement is put into Studio Designer. Because we manage specs like paint colors, right? Or ⁓ molding profiles, whatever. That stuff goes into folio. It doesn't need to go into Studio Designer. It's actually not a good spec management software. So they sell it as that. It's not great at that. So ⁓ we use Studio Designer for that. Obviously on the back end, we use QuickBooks for billing or ⁓ Bookkeeping and all of our tax reporting, that kind of stuff. I have a bookkeeper. ⁓ and then let me try to think. What other systems? ⁓ obviously, we use Canva. We use Canva Canva for everything. And I will admit, I was a snob. I was like, ⁓ interior designers only use Photoshop and Canvas for decorators or whatever, whatever. Canva is like amazing. It's it is what everyone should use. It's so easy. So we use it for everything business documents, templates, proposals, anything that we want branded. And our client presentations are all in there. And then kind of one of the bigger systems and processes that we developed in terms of client ⁓ and project management is private client websites. We do this, this was like revolutionary in the market. ⁓ I talked about these on Anastasia Casey's ID Co podcast. And it is one of the things that like was a game changer for my business in terms of like people feeling like we gave just like an extreme service. At the time, several years ago, when we were doing this, this was cumbersome to like set up private client websites that they like log in and everything's linked in there. All the trade documents, all of the specs are in there. The general contractor could go in there and do it. We would link the contractor's Gantt chart or schedule, things like that in there. And then we would put client homework in there. So it was kind of like a landing page. and I will say now that with like the ⁓ inclusion of AI, which we're gonna do a whole entire podcast episode on AI, but ⁓ With the inclusion of AI, you can do this so easy. So there's like really no excuse to do this. ⁓ we can talk more about that later, but all that to say. ⁓ these were like the ways that we were able to leverage our time to where we could go from like, you know, doing like a handful of projects as a small team to doing several like higher volume projects because we were organized and we had a system. So ⁓ you kind of have to spend the time to like really try things. And if they don't feel intuitive, if it doesn't feel like it's something you're gonna do, change it. Go to a different software. Don't commit to one and be like, I'm all in on clickup, and then like fight it and then wait to try something like Notion or Sauna or all the other things that that are out there to be able to do that. So ⁓ play with it, like really be curious and like search your gut in terms of like. Is this something I'm actually going to be able to do? Cause if you naturally are rebellious like me, you have to be able to have enough self-awareness to be like, yes, I'm actually gonna use this tool. Otherwise, you're not gonna use it. You're gonna pay the monthly fees and you're gonna get yourself nowhere. So ⁓ map out what those pain points are and like figure out the system. Then when you talk about like as a side, right, we've talked a little bit about like systems that are relevant to the projects. Then we talk about systems internally for the business. Those are different, right? We needed to develop systems for, you know, time off policies. ⁓ I needed to create a HR booklet that like went over our benefits and packages and expectations of employees in the office and how we go about cleaning the fridge or who takes out the trash, like that kind of stuff. You have to actually put that in writing. You need to like come up with a system, a process for how you expect people to flow in your organization. So you cannot go under the assumption that people all function the same way. There are definitely things that I wish I would have done up front, one being like a dress code. this is a side note, but I had one employee who I love dearly, but who preferred to not Shave and that's totally fine, but and like all power to her. But there were meetings where I literally would see a client like look at her armpits. And so if you are not wanting that as like a culture in your office, and that's like not something that's in alignment with your branding, you have to name that. And I didn't name it up front. And so It was one of those things where it's like, ⁓ this, I don't know how to undo this. And I didn't. I ended up needing to lay off my team anyway. So it's just not the ⁓ it's it's like learn from me, like do the things, like put all the things in writing. Even the things that like sound like they don't need to be said or that they're dumb, they need to be said. Like put them in your booklets, put them in your standard procedures. And ⁓ if you need help with that, like hire an HR consultant. There's so many out there that can just like Come in for a few hours, help you with these things, help you kind of take the emotion out of it and like come up with strategies. I didn't do that. I definitely recommend everyone doing that. ⁓ it was one of those things where I was like drinking from a fire hose and was like, well, this is what we're doing. So ⁓ do it. Definitely do it. Okay, so if you're finding this content helpful or informative. I would so appreciate if you could consider subscribing to us and leaving a comment or a review just so that we can reach more people, reach more designers, and help elevate the design community. Thanks for tuning in. Let's talk a little bit now, though, about like systems and processes now, because all of those systems and processes pre, ⁓ I would say the last six, eight months have all shifted now with the conversation around AI. So it used to be that all of those things, which were kind of cumbersome, many touch points, et cetera, needed five people on my team to get us to that like 1.2 to 1.7 a year mark. And those are the systems that when I was invited to guest speak in Design Chicago, and when I was guest speaking at ⁓ a couple other conventions. Those were the things that I taught about, like here's what we do, how we do it, et cetera. ⁓ those were the procedures and and s and kind of touch points, business software touch points that ⁓ I consulted with other businesses about. And we were asked at one point to come into a business, set up all of their touch points, software, et cetera, ⁓ to model after our business. ⁓ And I consider all of those things great. However, there's like a big change in the reality of where we are now. So me and Sorop, who's one the only gal, full-time gal on my team right now, and we're about to hire one other person next week. So ⁓ but like let's say it's just the three of us. We're now, well, I guess technically Sirop and I, we are on track to do ⁓ that same kind of 1.2 million in volume with just the two of us. And I say that largely because of AI. I have more margin to be able to do this podcast while doing that volume, largely because of AI. So ⁓ I'm gonna touch on that for a minute. ⁓ I'll talk about like the creative parts of AI in a later episode. ⁓ we can talk about like the pros and cons of Nano Banana Pro all day or whatever. And I think that's great. ⁓ I'll give you examples of how I've used it in the design world specifically. But for today's purposes, I just want to talk about how it affects systems and processes. So for me, for example, we set up a quote agent that reads our screens every day. And instead of me having to like go in and track, who loves doing that? Who sucks at it? Me. I definitely do. ⁓ we have all been there as designers where we're like a month into not tracking our time and then getting to the end of the month and being like, ⁓ shit, I didn't log any time. So now I have to like recreate my month. ⁓ no judgment. We've all done that, but you hemorrhage time. We inevitably undervalue our time if we're doing that. So ⁓ it's a huge potential loss for you. So step one, number one, if you are there, use AI to catch you up. So have your, you know, chat GPT, or in our case, we use Claude for everything. Go through all your calendars, emails, cell phone, et cetera, and have it pull everything that you did for your clients for the last month and then start to fill in the gaps. Don't do it from scratch. Have it start there for you. ⁓ it can do an assumptive hour estimate based on what it thinks that. items tasks would take. And then you can adjust. And so ⁓ you know, use it for that. Secondarily, we set up an agent that reads our screens and it watches what we're doing. It it will log that I just spent, you know, two hours today doing a podcast. So it logs all of my time and it can differentiate like let's say you've got two CAD drawings open. ⁓ it's got, you know, You've got one project, and sometimes we copy and paste blocks from old projects or whatever. Similarly, if you, you know, have different tabs in Canva. This software can differentiate between what you're actively working on and what's just open. So it tracks your screen data and then it records what you're doing by project and then it puts it in a timesheet for you. So ⁓ that's one way that we have like significantly reduced our admin time in terms of ⁓ Project hour reporting. So that's one just off the cuff. Another one that we have is I have another agent that I set up to go through our trade email every day. And it filters out everything that came in overnight or the day before that has shipped anything that's got back ordered, anything that's ⁓ gotten delayed, anything that is relevant to a project order, and it sends me a report every morning by nine AM. So it lists out like, ⁓ these are the items that ship for this project. These are the items that are back ordered. These ones got delayed. ⁓ here are the follow-up things that are needed from you. And anything that's a follow-up, it drafts an ⁓ an email for me. And I just have to hit send. So again, huge, huge, huge time saver in the procurement world. ⁓ another one for me, just in terms of my time, is that ⁓ I have an agent that scans my emails. Every morning before I come into the office, and then it scans my notion. That's what we use for project management now. ⁓ because it integrates more seamlessly with AI. ⁓ it scans the notion and tells me what's on my radar, what's on my to-do list for today, what are the urgent items, and then it auto drafts my email replies that I need to send. So ⁓ it's like ready for me when I come in in the morning and I can just review, send, review, send, review, send. And then address all the things that I need to for the day right then. So those are like the things off the cuff from a systems and processes standpoint that are incredibly efficient and help you significantly. ⁓ I could go on and on and on about this particular topic and why it's critical. ⁓ I know that, you know, I know AI is controversial. Like I said, I'm gonna do a whole episode on it later. it's gonna be a guest episode where we can talk about some of the Reservation, some of the concerns, all the things I think it's important to talk about. But in terms of efficiency of business, it is an incredible tool to maximize your output. And so ⁓ you know, another way that we use AI in our systems and processes is for marketing help. We have agents set up to help schedule things, help do things for social media, ⁓ write our newsletter content, help us with strategic planning. So ⁓ you know, all those things that used to take significant amounts of time. ⁓ I think a good one too is like I was going to hire a copywriter to help with newsletter writing. And it was gonna cost me $250 essentially per newsletter for this person to come in and do for us. And if I had a goal, right, of two a month, then I'm talking about we're talking about $500 in copywriting on a regular basis. ⁓ well, Claude. I pay for the max plan is $200 a month and it can make a hundred newsletters in five minutes if I want. And so, yes, I think that there's a lot of AI slop out there. Yes, I think you need to like we have a responsibility to judiciously review what it's putting out and make sure it reflects who we are. We're not just pushing AI slop out and are not just like creating content to create content. If you want to maintain your professionalism and your elevated status, you have to still put in the work to review it. ⁓ but if you train it, have it get to know your voice, you talk to it enough. ⁓ there's many, many ways to like teach AI to be like you. and so if you invest the time to do that, it can get pretty damn close and at least get you something that, you know, maybe takes 30 minutes to review and edit and tweak, but you're not. Paying $500 a month for a cost that is unnecessary, frankly. So ⁓ does that suck to say? Because like, yeah, I literally replaced somebody's human output. Yeah, it sucks. I'm not gonna lie. It doesn't feel good. It I had a lot of mixed feelings about it. ⁓ but at the end of the day, this business is created for me, for my family. It's created for me to be able to provide a future for my boys that I didn't. have and to be able to provide the freedom in my life to travel and do all the things that I want. And so as much as I would love to support every human out there, I truly believe that it's okay to leverage what we can to maximize our own profitability in the way that we need to be able to like sustainably own our business. And so I think that's okay. And so if you're somebody like me that like sits in the middle, Like, shoot, I'm from Oregon. We are very liberal here. And ⁓ I'm aware of the controvers controversial or controversies around AI. And I don't disagree with a lot of them. However, ⁓ I think it would be I think we would be remiss to not just like look at the reality of the opportunity within it and how it can actually help us and help us ⁓ have more. ⁓ financial freedom and stability for ourselves and our core team. So like an a copywriter isn't isn't an essential team member, but I would absolutely love to give $500 more to the people that work in my office every month. So you have to be able to think about these decisions from like an agility ⁓ mindset of just like, it's okay. It's okay to use AI over here so that you can make extra and give it over here. So I don't know if you are like me where you need permission to kind of enter into this, but I do think it's helpful to know like I was able to increase our output and ⁓ profitability and revenue back to what it took a team of five to five people to do with just me and one other person. And I think that context matters. I think it matters that we know that you can leverage it in that way to get there. So ⁓ just food for thought. I and I I think that I've said enough today. I think that one of the things that's on my heart that I'm toying around with is this idea of like what would it mean to have all of this information in terms of systems and processes in in addition to AI and all those things actually put out in like a course framework or something where we can really go into those specifics. ⁓ you know, this is obviously like the podcast is like very on the surface. And so as much as I can give you like a window into it. There's so much more out there that is like critical to how you would even do that. And so ⁓ we'll see. It's one of those things that I'm like playing around with. I I want to see like how this goes and like how this resonates with the community before we, I don't know, spend all the time to do that. But ⁓ yeah, if you are struggling with your systems and processes, like drop me ⁓ a comment here, like tell me. I'm so curious. Like, what are your hangups? Tell me what your pain points are. I would love to just like maybe we'll do an episode where we're just addressing comments and pain points and things like that. So if that's where you're at, like send me a DM on Instagram, you know, put a comment and let me know. Like what what is the system and process that's keeping you like from getting to that next level in your business? And let's talk about it. So ⁓ yeah, I hope this was helpful. I really would love to see everybody's business just like multiply in abundance. And so ⁓ I love business in general. I love talking about it. So if this was helpful to you, please do me a favor and just like, share, or subscribe. And yeah, send me a comment. Let me know what worked, what what resonated with you, what, what doesn't resonate, any of it. Any of it's good. and then if you want additional resources, be sure to sign up for our newsletter so that we can get you those freebies. And I know we talked a little bit in the procurement episode about the procurement calculator. Like, feel free to use that. That's again part of the systems and processes that we're defining is like how do we do procurement in a way that's more profitable. So be sure to sign up for that. Take a look at that. Let me know how else you can do your help. Thanks. We're dreamers. Don't care what other people say. We live it like this could be a final day. We're dreamers.