What goals have you set for yourself and your business? Are you looking to scale? Hoping to hire more employees so you can better serve your clients? Want to be more efficient and productive so you can stop feeling overwhelmed and like you have no time for yourself? Want to start the new year off feeling like you’ve got control of your business?
I commend you on whatever goals you’ve set for yourself and your business. Setting those goals will give your direction and keep you focused.
But have you thought about the steps that you will need to take to achieve those goals?
No matter your goals, I think it’s always important to take some time to assess your business. And to do that, I suggest that you D.I.S.C.O. (**cue Saturday Night Fever**)!
No…John Travolta is not coming to help you, but my D.I.S.C.O. Framework is!
Let’s break it down!
D – DEFINE the current state of your business and workload.
Is it time to hire a new employee or contractor? Do I need some additional tools to make business operations smoother and more efficient? Am I ready to scale to the next level?
It’s hard to answer these questions unless you’ve taken the time to DEFINE the current state of your business and workload.
This means taking into account all of the factors that play into your business’ success – such as the number of current clients, employee workload, finances, marketing, etc. By understanding where your business stands in each of these areas, you can more easily identify areas where you are excelling and the areas that need improvement. This crucial information can help you better define your goals and make more informed decisions for your business.
I – IDENTIFY gaps, drop-offs, and redundancies to free up time and avoid burnout.
I can bet that you didn’t start your business to feel overwhelmed. And you definitely don’t want to experience burnout. But, unfortunately, that can quickly happen unless you take the time to IDENTIFY gaps, drop-offs, and redundancies in your business.
So what do gaps, drop-offs, and redundancies look like for you?
Maybe you…
- Don’t have a client communication SOP and your employees aren’t sure who should be responding to client emails – even though you’ve told clients they can expect a response within 48 hour.
- Forgot to send that proposal to a potential new client because you need to recreate it.
- Have numerous members of your team working on a project – but it doesn’t need to be that way.
- Haven’t shared social media posts for the week because you’re not sure if the graphics are complete or if the copywriter has finished.
- Didn’t schedule a call with a potential new client because you lost the email with her number.
You can see how gaps, drop-offs, and redundancies can be problematic. They can diminish the client experience. They decrease efficiency and productivity. They cost you valuable time and money.
And while they can be frustrating, they can also be a valuable source of information about where your business needs improvement. Taking the time to fix these things can be a game changer when it comes to taking your business to the next level – without overwhelm and burnout.
S – STREAMLINE workflows so you are efficient and productive.
I talk a lot about workflows – and workflows are just a series of tasks that take “something” from start to finish. It could be onboarding a new employee, creating your social media, or completing a client project. But it’s essential that you STREAMLINE your workflows so you are efficient and productive.
By streamlining your workflows, you can minimize wasted time and effort, and get more done in less time. You want to make sure that you have a clear understanding of your tasks and priorities. And then, you need to create a system for tracking and organizing your tasks. (This is where a good project management tool can be EXTREMELY useful.) By taking the time to analyze your current processes and streamlining them, you can save yourself a lot of time and effort in the long run.
C – CREATE phases and milestones so tasks don’t get missed and are easily handed off.
A successful project requires careful planning. To do this you must CREATE phases and milestones so tasks don’t get missed and are easily handed off. By breaking the project down into smaller tasks and assigning each task a specific deadline, you can avoid the potential for missed deadlines and ensure that each task is properly completed before moving on to the next.
In addition, setting milestones helps to keep everyone on track by providing benchmarks that need to be met. Furthermore, by clearly defining each phase of the project, you can make it easier to hand off tasks to different team members or contractors. By taking the time to create a well-defined plan, you can ensure that your project runs smoothly from start to finish – and that means happy clients and a happy team!
O – OUTSOURCE and automate tasks so you have time to work on the business and not just in the business.
One of the most important things you can do as a business owner is OUTSOURCE and automate tasks so you have time to work on the business and not just in the business. This frees up your time so that you can work on growth, turning leads into clients, and taking your business to the next level.
Whether it be hiring a contractor or new employee, or automating tasks that you are currently doing manually, you’ll be surprised by the amount of time (and money) that can be saved. When you are no longer bogged down in the day-to-day tasks, you will have the time needed to attain those big goals you’ve set for yourself and your business.
So that’s my D.I.S.C.O. Framework, and it truly is the key to operating a business efficiently. Of course, if you read this and felt overwhelmed by the steps involved or want assistance in implementing D.I.S.C.O. for your business, reach out to me. My team and I can walk you through the process – helping you with everything from getting a grasp on your business needs to implementing workflows in a project management tool. Set up a call here: https://melissavmorris.as.me/discoverycall