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144: Document, Delegate, Dominate: 3 Steps to Scaling · Harder Than Life

• 0:07
  I'm Kelly Siegel and this is Harder Than Life, a podcast about self-love, self-awareness, business and health. We tell outrageous stories and boil everything down to simple, practical advice you can start using today. Let's get living. Hey everyone, Kelly Siegel here and welcome back to Harder Than Life. Today we're tackling a frustrating reality that many of us face.
• 0:30
  Working your tail off, but still feeling stuck when it comes to scaling your business. Ooh, don't I know this, I'm going through it right now. Why this topic matters is I see it all the time. Driven entrepreneurs who are putting in the hours, grinding every day, but can't seem to break past a certain point. As I said, I've been there.
• 0:53
  there right now trust me it's not about working harder it's about working smarter after listening to this episode you'll know exactly why your hard work isn't translating into growth and more importantly what to do about it let's dive in there's a myth
• 1:11
  of a hustle culture we've been sold the idea that if you just grind harder you'll eventually succeed but here's the truth hustle can only take you so far i used to say i'll sleep when i'm dead i wore it as a badge of honor i worked hard all day partied all night and zero time for rest or recharge i always had another gear when needed though a reserve fuel tank to blast into overtime
• 1:41
  This is where I'll tell you to work smarter, not harder yet again. Use systems and processes as well as nonstop training to fuel your growth. System stands for save yourself time, energy, and money.
• 1:59
  Remember, smart people learn from their mistakes. Wise people learn from other people's mistakes. So please learn from mine. Burnout isn't a business plan. When you're working 80 hours a week, there's no room for creativity, innovation, or strategy. Burnout doesn't lead to breakthroughs. It leads to breakdowns.
• 2:22
  the diminishing returns, there's a point where more hours doesn't equal more results. In fact, overworking often leads to mistakes and missed opportunities. During the pandemic, I was working crazy long hours under tremendous stress.
• 2:42
  and knew that something had to give. At NTM, we implemented EOS, an entrepreneurial operating system platform, and I quickly released. I was the bottleneck, holding the company's growth back. Again, that's a podcast all by itself.
• 3:01
  And that aha moment was enlightening to say the least. I quickly learned to delegate and elevate, which is another EOS term for only do what you're good at and love. And blammo. My productivity shot through the roof. Not only was I working less, but felt more fulfilled, accomplished, and that's where the company grew. Did you hear that? Worked less and the company grew.
• 3:30
  We're in the process of doing this yet again. I always say to you guys, different levels, you meet different devils, and they require a different you to win. Let me say that one again. Different levels, you meet different devils, and they require a different you to win.
• 3:48
  You may be asking me, Kelly, why isn't my business scaling? And it's easy. Lack of systems and processes. Boy, did I fight this one for years. If your business relies solely on you, it's not scalable and you don't have a business, you got a job, man. You need systems that allow things to run smoothly without your constant input. I've
• 4:12
  A business without a clear onboarding process for clients or employees will hit a growth ceiling fast. If you're doing everything yourself, a lot of us fall into this trap of thinking, if I want it done right, I gotta do it myself. But that mindset is a recipe for stagnation. If you wanna go fast, go alone. If you wanna go far, go with people. To this day, I see tasks that I can complete quickly.
• 4:42
  but I follow the process and leverage our systems. Watching my work family grow is so rewarding and worth it. Plus I'm not needed nearly as much.
• 4:54
  Great leaders make other great leaders. This is scary at first, but it's a game changer because you determine the right people and place them in their right seats where they're going to grow and excel at their jobs. Not investing in the right tools or team is a killer. Scaling requires resources,
• 5:16
  Whether that's better technology, training for your team, or hiring the right talent. Trying to save every penny can actually cost you in the long run. You'll hear the story, jumping over a dollar to pick up a dime.
• 5:32
  Done Ben there, done that. This is where I'm gonna talk to you about business ceilings. We hit the $3 million ceiling at NTM for years, years and years and years until we implemented the aforementioned entrepreneurial operating system. We crossed it pretty quick after that, and now we're crossing the $5 million ceiling. And then I've heard there's a $10 million ceiling. Each level I've had to relinquish more and more. So each one required new systems,
• 6:00
  New people and a new me. What got you here won't get you there. In fact, it will keep you here. Change comes from the growth. And here's the sad part. It's not everybody's going to make it with you. And that's okay. You got to let.
• 6:18
  That happened, it's a natural process. So you have to shift from an operating mindset to a leader. To scale, you have to move from being in the weeds to seeing the bigger picture. This means stepping into the role of a leader, not just a worker. You must empower your team. Scaling is a team sport. If you don't empower the people around you, you'll always be stuck doing everything yourself.
• 6:46
  Much to my chagrin, I no longer am in charge of sales at National Technology Management. It was the last straw and my literal identity. We recently hired a VP of sales and now she's accountable for the growth, not me. Even though I'm good at sales and love doing it, NTM needs me as a visionary and definitely not in the weeds. Besides, after really examining my ego, I realized my VP is better than me anyways.
• 7:16
  blast all at once and set it to decide be quiet get out of the way of growth or get run over here's a pro tip everyone should have a number and for me the number is five i must eat five times a day so i can think straight for our sales people the number is two
• 7:36
  Two new appointments per week with new prospects. For my support team, that number is three. All tickets completed in three hours or less. Do you get the point? It's not one number which is revenue or sales or number of tickets closed. There is a most important number that is before that number that actually has the greater effect on the end all number, which is what we want, which is profit.
• 8:03
  And remember, what you measure gets better. There is a big delegating versus abdicating. Delegation doesn't mean throwing tasks at people and hoping for the best. It means you're giving clear direction, providing support, and trusting them to execute. I want you guys to read The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey.
• 8:25
  Be certain to not take on everyone's problem, AKA monkeys. I speak from experience. I am still unraveling this one. You must delegate one person. You must delegate to one person and hold them accountable to a specific date and ask them to parrot back to you what they heard.
• 8:47
  This is arduous but effective. I made this mistake over and over. If you give a man a fish, you feed him once. If you teach him to fish, you feed him for a lifetime. Doing is not leading. So we define our seats and accountability and manage to the accountability.
• 9:06
  If the task is not done, it's either you did not explain it well, or they simply did not do it, and that is not your person. At NTM, we have a controller who knows everything, and in front of his office is always a constant train of people going to him for everything. He can't get his work done because he's always helping, enabling others. It's hard, but I have instituted this one-three-one rule, and it works great.
• 9:35
  What's the one single issue? Remember, people will bring you two, three, four, or squirrel all over the place. What is the one major issue that we need to address? Give me three methods to fix it and the one that you'd like to choose, and then we'll decide together. So before you bring your monkeys to me, I always say, I stop and say, what's the one, three, one? This is hard, people.
• 10:03
  because these answers come to me so fast. But if I keep giving all the answers, my teammate, my work family isn't gonna learn anything by making them pause, parrot back to you what they heard, and using the one three one rule, and then following up what they say,
• 10:20
  With a few questions, they feel like they were in the process, which they were, and they feel empowered to do it and see it through. So remember to document your processes. You have to build systems for growth. It is a must-do.
• 10:35
  I can't tell you, we were in business probably 15 years before I started writing anything down. I fought it tooth and nail, and now whenever something breaks down, we have an issue, I say bring up the written process. And we do, and we saved ourself a big headache.
• 10:53
  dealing with some cyber incidents that I'll get into later in this podcast. So if it's not written down, it's not scalable. Document your process makes it easier to train new hires, streamline operations, and ensure consistency. Automating repetitive tasks. From email marketing to customer service, automation tools can save you hours every week. Hours you can reinvest in growing your business. Focus on metrics that matter.
• 11:23
  To scale, you need to know what's working and what's not. We use KPIs and you have to track them meticulous. Key performance indicators and they must align with your goals. You can use a customer acquisition tool, churn rate or revenue per employee. We have a daily and weekly scorecard for everyone as well as the overall business. Okay.
• 11:47
  If I were on a deserted island yet could see this scorecard with these KPIs, I can tell how we're doing. And if any of the numbers fall off, we know we must course correct. While relinquishing sales, I hired a couple of sales reps that weren't selling after looking into the numbers weekly. We realized that they were fudging the numbers and had to go. Numbers don't lie.
• 12:12
  and results matter. There's some common scaling mistakes to avoid. Number one is trying to grow too fast. Scaling too quickly without the right infrastructure can backfire.
• 12:27
  Growth should be sustainable, not chaotic. Neglecting your core customers in the rush to scale. Some businesses forget what made them successful in the first place, serving their customers well. And then we underestimating the importance of culture. Culture is...
• 12:46
  eats strategy for breakfast. You've heard that many times. As a business grows, maintaining a strong company culture becomes even more important. Without it, you risk losing your best people. We once took a customer who was large. They equaled about 20% of our revenue. They dictated the terms of the partnership and nearly bankrupted us spiritually and
• 13:11
  and financially. When we finally separated, the morale of the team shot through the roof. So not only be careful who you hire and fire, but what type of customers you bring on. They all must be aligned with your vision, your direction, and your values. There are no elevators to success. Besides, it exposed that I had some work to do on me that it would entertain a one-sided business relationship.
• 13:41
  Heard this before about me. Lesson learned, never again. Only aligned customers and employees need apply. So practical steps to start scaling today. Step one.
• 13:57
  Audit your time, man. Track how you're spending your time for a week. Identify tasks that can be delegated, automated, or eliminated. And everyone's like, how do I do that, Kelly? This, everybody hates doing this, but literally you put a piece of paper next to you and you do in 15 minute increments what you've done.
• 14:17
  It is tremendously eye-opening, my people. I'm telling you, you see how many times. I even put it, how many times you open, grab your phone? How many times did you go to the bathroom? How many times did you scroll social media? How many times did you answer a text from your significant other? Meticulously put in there and it becomes crystal clear where you're wasting time.
• 14:43
  Build one system at a time. This isn't step number two, people. Build one system at a time. Pick one process that's causing bottlenecks and create a scalable system for it. Remember, starting small and build momentum. Begin with the end in mind too is very important. What are we trying to accomplish and reverse engineer it? Don't go the other way. Step three is invest in your team.
• 15:08
  Whether it's hiring, training, or just giving your current team more support, your people are your biggest asset. Step number four.
• 15:15
  Focus on the customer experience. Happy customers are your best growth strategy. Make sure your systems prioritize their needs. Here's a story. We recently moved at NTM to per user pricing for our IT cybersecurity. It sounds so easy and simple, and it is, but it wasn't getting there. It took almost a year to determine what the best price was.
• 15:42
  as it's never been done before, as far as I know. And then the back office systems didn't match it, and how to actually implement it was tremendously hard. At first, the clients didn't like it. We also bungled it and had to pull it back as well as fix it and release it, re-release it. But now we have what it believed to be the first online ordering system of IT cybersecurity.
• 16:07
  Ever. It's like ordering a pizza. We've made it that simple. Remember too, technical people solve technical problems. I am a businessman, so I pushed for it to be as easy as possible. Now we say we are the easiest and best IT cybersecurity company to do business with and order online. We are leveraging AI to bring down our response times as well as increase accuracy. We're preparing for massive growth while others are preparing for a recession.
• 16:38
  One small change can equal growth, and the reverse is also true, so be careful. Fail fast.
• 16:46
  but fail forward. We're gonna wrap up and I'm gonna give you my reflections. I wanna reiterate the core message that scaling your business isn't about working harder. It's about working smarter. It's about building systems, empowering your team, and stepping into your role as a leader. I can't believe I went all this line and I didn't say anything about surrender. Stop.
• 17:14
  doing and just be, your team will help you. Ask for help, surrender and allow and let smart people run with it. Personally, the best alarm clock for me is joy. I love what I'm doing and I love my peace, my clarity and my freedom from both of my jobs, doing the IT cybersecurity and leading the harder than life nation and coaching up this miraculously men and women.
• 17:44
  The grind will only take you so far. If you're ready to scale, you have to shift from doing everything to building something bigger than yourself. Take one step today, whether it's delegating a task,
• 17:59
  documenting a process, or just reflecting on your current bottlenecks. Guys, those are the three. I want to say that again. Delegate a task, document a process, or reflect on your current bottlenecks.
• 18:15
  If you can identify the issue, you can solve the issue. DM me or comment on social media what you're committing to. I'd love to hear all about it. Thanks for tuning in. I'm Kelly Siegel. This is Harder Than Life. Remember, scaling isn't harder, it's smarter. And until next time.
• 18:33
  Stay focused and keep building. Please rate and share this podcast. I'm active on all social platforms and love to hear from my Seagull supporters. Each and every episode is sponsored by my company, National Technology Management, the easiest and best IT company to do business with, delivering peace of mind with technology every day, even simplifying cybersecurity. Visit trustntm.com for more info. Until next week, be harder than life.