You love your business. You love the work you’re doing and heck, you even love some of the backend stuff.
But the reality is…. you’re only one person. And running a profitable, thriving business takes a lot of time and effort.
Luckily, by putting a few systems, processes and key people in place, you can take your hands out of the busywork, without sacrificing any of the quality you and your clients are used to.
Let’s look at 3 easy ways you can make your business as hands off as possible this year.
Systemize everything
I mean everything. I’m willing to bet that there are many repeat tasks you do monthly, weekly, maybe even daily. Most of them can be automated with the right tools.
For example:
- Social media. Use a scheduling tool like SmarterQueue or RecurPost that recycles your posts for you. You will still need to schedule new posts, but by recycling, your social media is always on and engaging, even when you don’t have time.
- Email marketing. Set up funnels and welcome sequences to introduce yourself and your business to new subscribers, to promote your offers, or just to stay active in their inboxes.
- Set your courses to automatically drip the next lesson after students have finished the previous one. Or set up automatic upsell or downsell pitches based on the actions they take.
Other things you could easily automate include sales, shopping carts, marketing messages. Use tools like IFTTT or Zapier to connect and automate triggers between two or more different apps.
Start by making a list of all the little tasks you do during the day. Pay special attention to the ones you do over and over. Even if they don’t take long, automating will still save you time.
Create a FAQs Page
If you find yourself answering a lot of the same questions in your customer service inbox or in your DMs, having a dedicated FAQs page can save you a ton of time.
Gather your most asked questions and write out the answers to them. Include any links to sources or tools you might have. (Bonus tip: This is a great place to link any tools or products that you might be an affiliate for. But only recommend things you actually use and love yourself!)
Hire the right team
My biggest tip for making your business hands off is hiring help. But not just any help will do. You want to make sure you’re picking the right people for the job.
Go over that list you made of all the tasks you do, and look at the ones that can’t be automated but could be handed over to a skilled virtual assistant.
When it comes to hiring, and making the move seamlessly, here are a few tips:
- Take your time when hiring. Do your research. Find someone with the right skillset that you feel really good about.
- Get specific. The more instruction you can give your virtual assistant, the easier the transition will be.
- Have patience. Know that there might be a slight learning curve and an adjustment period. But once everything settles into place, you get to be as hands off as you want to be, while knowing your business is being taken care of.
As your business grows, so does the behind the scenes work. But that doesn’t mean you have to be busier! By automating and handing off key tasks, you get to be as hands off as possible, while still scaling and doing what you do best – serving your clients!
