Is it possible for a business owner to step away from their business for six months or more? That’s the topic about which Business Success Consulting Group CEO Adi Klevit interviewed Justin Riordan, Founder of Spade and Archer Design Agency. Justin has built a business with multiple successful locations, all of which can grow and thrive. He’s now headed out for a two-year vacation, secure in the knowledge that his business will flourish in his absence.
In this interview, Justin reveals how he can step away from his company for so long - and what spurred him to build a business that can run itself. Below you will find the strategies he shared during this discussion so you can implement them in your own company.
Five Strategies for Building a Business You Can Step Away From
A business coach once told Justin that he wasn’t building a business. Instead, Justin was building a high-paying job for himself. One in which he had to pay his own health insurance and had zero days off a year. This shift in attitude made all the difference for Justin because he didn’t want to build a job; he wanted to build a business. He used these five strategies to build a company that he can now step away from:
1. Developing systems.
Spade and Archer Design is built on systems. Because Justin wanted to both give clients his personal touch and serve more clients than he could help on his own, he created systems that would ensure employees replicated his methods in each location.
Takeaway for business owners: Systems build dependability into a business, making the result of each interaction consistently excellent. Additionally, they allow a business owner to envision automation that would not be possible without systematization.
2. Building automation into the everyday.
As mentioned above, existing systems allowed Justin to consider automation possibilities. He has a home staging company, which means that most of the work that needs to be done is physical. However, he built automation into the business with his instant pricing tool, automating employee rewards, making it easy to sign a contract online, and more. This allows things to run efficiently and benefits both employees and customers.
Takeaway for business owners: Automation makes companies more efficient, and those efficiencies can benefit both customers and staff. By thinking through automation, a business owner can incentivize staff and make their company an exciting place to work.
3. Making things easier on the customer.
Inspired by Amazon’s easy ordering process, Justin took his company bidding process (which typically took a week or more) and cut it down to a few minutes. It took about a week to create a dynamic pricing tool that his customers now depend on every time they go to the Spade and Archer Design website. Not only does this one change save time and effort, but it has also put Justin’s company out in front of the competition, who still take a week or more to provide a bid.
Takeaway for business owners: Getting inspired by companies that make things easy on customers can lead to a small change that makes a big difference.
4. Getting the whole team to work in the same direction.
At one point, Justin found that his team needed to be more motivated to schedule a full workday. Home staging work can be difficult, and it can be a relief when nothing is scheduled for a particular day. He decided to change this dynamic by providing incentives for full days, beyond a simple paycheck. These incentives are automatically applied, make it fun for designers and stagers to get and stay busy, and keep his business running and growing.
Takeaway for business owners: Finding ways to inspire and incentivize your team’s productivity can help your company grow and keep employees invested in doing a great job.
5. Forming policies that empower management and team members.
The incentive structure mentioned above is just one way a policy empowers Spade and Archer teams to be productive and provide excellence to customers. Justin keeps this in mind when he forms policies, ensuring they empower teams to both do a fantastic job and be rewarded for their excellent work.
Takeaway for business owners: Rewarding excellence with something people want is the best way to get more excellence. Set up policies that the whole team understands and agrees to, then step back and let the team you have hired do their work.
At Business Success Consulting Group, we often discuss processes and procedures, systematization, and automation. This interview demonstrates why we are so passionate about building systems for businesses.
Do you want to take a well-deserved break but can’t possibly step away from your company? Contact Business Success Consulting Group to get a free initial consultation and discuss systematization.
