Why Your 7-Figure Business Is Stuck (And How to Fix It)

Summary

Special Ops Podcast: Episode Summary Title: Why Your 7-Figure Business Is Stuck (And How to Fix It)
Hosts: Emma Rainville & Travis Gomez
Release Date: November 26, 2024

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Introduction

In this compelling episode of the Special Ops Podcast, hosts Emma Rainville and Travis Gomez delve into a critical challenge faced by many entrepreneurs: the stagnation of seven-figure businesses. Despite reaching impressive revenue milestones, numerous businesses hit a plateau, struggling to scale further. Emma and Travis aim to unpack the reasons behind this common bottleneck and provide actionable strategies to overcome it.

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Identifying the Three Common Mistakes

1. No Foundational Framework [02:05]

Emma and Travis emphasize the importance of establishing a foundational framework. This framework defines the company's purpose, mission, target audience, and long-term vision. Without it, businesses often lack direction, causing team members to work in silos or pursue misaligned objectives.

Notable Quote:
Travis: "What is your company there for? Its purpose? Its cause or its mission? What is it? What is it there for?" [02:32]

Key Points:

• Purpose and Mission: Clearly articulate why the business exists beyond making money.
• Long-Term Vision: Establish where the company aims to be in 10 years, including intermediate goals for 3 and 5 years.
• Team Alignment: Ensure every team member understands and aligns with the company's mission and vision to prevent misdirection.

2. No Operational Framework [10:18]

The hosts introduce the necessity of an operational framework, which outlines how the company will achieve its foundational goals. This includes processes, communication channels, and execution strategies that facilitate efficient business operations.

Key Components:

• Processes and SOPs: Develop Standard Operating Procedures to ensure consistency and efficiency in task execution.
• Communication Channels: Implement effective communication tools (e.g., Slack, email protocols) to streamline interactions and reduce delays.
• People Development: Foster an environment where employees can grow, learn, and contribute meaningfully to the company's advancement.
• Execution Plan: Break down long-term goals into actionable quarterly and weekly tasks, ensuring ongoing progress and accountability.

Notable Quote:
Travis: "Create processes means these could be like your SOPs. It's your way of completing the task of whatever it is that you're doing. So there's a consistent way." [11:03]

3. Founder Becoming the Bottleneck [18:19]

The most significant barrier, as identified by Emma and Travis, is when the founder becomes the sole decision-maker, impeding the company's ability to scale. This bottleneck arises from the founder's reluctance to delegate, leading to inefficiencies and stunted growth.

Notable Quote:
Travis: "Everything's got to come through me. Everything's. I got to make the decision. And I'm not willing to pass off those responsibilities." [18:27]

Key Points:

• Trust Building: Cultivate trust in your team’s abilities to handle responsibilities without constant oversight.
• Delegation: Empower employees by delegating decision-making authority, reducing dependence on the founder.
• Accountability: Encourage a culture where team members take ownership of their tasks and solutions, fostering independence and innovation.

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Detailed Breakdown of the WAVE Framework

Written Vision

At the heart of their foundational framework, WAVE stands for Written Vision, Absolute Focus, Values-Driven Future, and Execution Plan.

• Written Vision: Define the company's long-term objectives and intermediate milestones to guide strategic decisions.

  Notable Quote:
  Travis: "What's the big picture where we're trying to go in 10 years?" [03:28]

Absolute Focus

Maintain a clear and unwavering focus on the company’s core mission, avoiding distractions that don't align with the primary objectives.

• Mission Alignment: Ensure every business activity and decision supports the overarching mission.

  Notable Quote:
  Travis: "If your mission is to help people in wellness through supplements, we don't go buy real estate without business because it doesn't fit that mission." [05:20]

Values-Driven Future

Build a team that shares the company’s core values, fostering a cohesive and motivated workforce committed to the company’s success.

• Integrity and Proactivity: Hire individuals who demonstrate integrity and proactive problem-solving abilities.

  Notable Quote:
  Travis: "I can't stand a person that I say, hey, do you know how to... I want someone who's going to be proactive and who's going to go and just get it done." [07:34]

Execution Plan

Develop a strategic plan that outlines the steps needed to achieve the company's goals, ensuring systematic progress and accountability.

• Cadence and Check-Ins: Implement regular meetings and reviews to monitor progress and address challenges promptly.

  Notable Quote:
  Travis: "I need a cadence in order to take those one year commitments, break them down into what we're going to be doing quarterly, and then I need a weekly cadence to check in on you." [17:05]

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Strategies to Overcome Each Mistake

For Mistake 1: Establish a Foundational Framework

• Articulate Purpose: Clearly define the company's mission and vision statements.

• Set Long-Term Goals: Develop a roadmap with 3, 5, and 10-year objectives.

• Communicate with the Team: Share the foundational framework with all employees to ensure alignment.

  Notable Quote:
  Emma: "This is a cheat sheet, a little map so that they know when they're showing up. This is what's expected, this is where we're going." [10:06]

For Mistake 2: Develop an Operational Framework

• Document Processes: Create comprehensive SOPs for all critical tasks to ensure consistency.

• Optimize Communication: Utilize appropriate tools (e.g., Slack for emergencies, email for updates) to enhance team coordination.

• Invest in People Development: Provide training and growth opportunities to empower employees to take on more significant roles.

  Notable Quote:
  Travis: "Creating good communication channels amongst your team...is so important for our team." [12:12]

For Mistake 3: Prevent the Founder from Becoming a Bottleneck

• Build Trust: Delegate responsibilities and trust team members to execute tasks without micromanagement.

• Empower Decision-Making: Allow employees to make decisions within their expertise, reducing dependency on the founder.

• Foster Accountability: Encourage a culture where team members take ownership of their work and are responsible for outcomes.

  Notable Quote:
  Travis: "You pay me to do that. Can you tell me if we need that or not? That's my favorite line." [19:08]

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Personal Anecdotes and Insights

Emma and Travis share their own experiences of overcoming these challenges. Travis recounts a time when his reluctance to delegate led to relentless interruptions, preventing him from taking a much-needed vacation. This realization prompted him to trust his team more, leading to significant business growth and improved team dynamics.

Notable Quote:
Travis: "We spent ... two years ago really kicking myself. And then I spent the whole next year rebuilding my relationship with our team." [23:49]

Emma adds that developing trust and letting go is crucial for sustained growth, likening it to maintaining personal relationships where regular communication and investment are essential.

Notable Quote:
Emma: "It's like you have to spend the time on it to actually manage the operations of things that need to happen." [18:03]

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Conclusion

Emma and Travis wrap up the episode by reiterating the importance of establishing both foundational and operational frameworks to prevent stagnation in seven-figure businesses. They encourage entrepreneurs to build trust within their teams, delegate effectively, and maintain a clear vision to propel their businesses beyond existing plateaus.

Call to Action:
Listeners are invited to download a free playbook related to the episode from Special Ops Podcast and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube to access more valuable insights.

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This episode serves as a comprehensive guide for entrepreneurs aiming to break through revenue plateaus by addressing common pitfalls and implementing strategic frameworks for sustained growth.

Transcript

[A]

All right, welcome back to another episode of Special Ops Podcast where we give you guys real actionable insight for business as entrepreneurs. Today, we're going to dive into why your seven figure business is stuck. Look, building a seven figure business is a tremendous accomplishment. It's one of the things that is like a pinnacle. Right. Like, it's like, I hit that number and like, the first time you hit it, it's amazing. It feels great because it's like this isn't just a hobby anymore. Like, this is a business that's got legs, it has potential on growing and moving it forward. And I think the thing is, like, most entrepreneurs or many entrepreneurs get stuck at a plateau. And the good news is that there's a way to break through that plateau. And so today, that's what we want to dive into because we've seen it.

[B]

Time and time again, right?

[A]

Absolutely.

[B]

Over and over and over again. Every. It's one of the things that we noticed, right?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

People are clicking along, they're doing well, and they launch their business, and before they even know it, they're seven figures. Before they even know it, they're at seven figures. And I think everything is great. It's kind of like when you're working out. Right. You finally get into almost shape and then you can't lose the last ten pounds.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Same thing happens in business. You hit a wall, you hit a ceiling, and you can't get to the next place. And so we brought in client after client after client and our company, Shockwave, which has CEO services. We literally come in to help them get unstuck.

[A]

So today we're going to share our blueprint for getting unstuck.

[B]

Right. And the three most common mistakes that most entrepreneurs make that virtually every entrepreneur.

[A]

That we worked with has made.

[B]

Every. Virtually every entrepreneur we've. I'd say that two for sure in everyone, three in almost everyone. So we're going to identify those today, and then we're going to tell you how to fix it.

[A]

Yes. So we're going to share our guide. So let's cover those three quickly.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

And then we'll dive into them.

[B]

But we're not going to be too quick. Let's.

[A]

Let's cover each of them.

[B]

I know you like to be quick, but let's not be too quick. Let's. So let's just. Let's do this. Let's do this. Let's just talk about each mistake in a silo.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And then we can talk about how when they're all fixed at the end, it all comes together. Cool.

[A]

Perfect. Let's do that. So what's mistake number one then?

[B]

No foundational framework.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Talk about this all the time.

[A]

So we talk about all the time. But if you're just tuning in, you might be like, what the heck is a foundational framework?

[B]

Everything needs a framework and how things happen. So a foundational framework and just the simplest way I can explain it is just what is, what is the foundation your company was built on? Right. So what is your company there for?

[A]

Its purpose?

[B]

Right. Its cause or its mission? What is it? What is it there for?

[A]

Why does it exist? What's the whole point?

[B]

Why does it exist? Who are the people I serve and who are the people I hire to serve the people I serve?

[A]

Yeah, yeah, right.

[B]

What are my goals? What am I trying to accomplish not today, but over the next 10 years? What's the big picture of what I'm. Where's the target and what is the target?

[A]

Well, and I think this is great because a lot of entrepreneurs, like, I'm just going to start a business because I want to make some money or I want, I need, like there's a need that they're trying to get right and it's legitimate, but then it's not really enough to sustain the business or take cite other people to work for you to help your business grow.

[B]

Right, Right.

[A]

So this is a foundational framework that actually brings all that stuff into focus.

[B]

Right, right. And then, and then how do we, how do we work? How do we execute? And so for us, we call that wave. There are a lot of foundational frameworks out there, but the one, you know, the one that we use, the one that we created is wave.

[A]

Right?

[B]

Written vision, absolute focus, values driven future and execution plan. Written vision. What's the big picture where we're trying to go in 10 years? What are the things that we need to hit at three and five years that gets us on the right path to that? Ten years.

[A]

Yeah. And I think a lot of people have like a vague idea, but few people.

[B]

It doesn't matter if they have a vague idea because we're going to get to that in a second. Because it doesn't matter that you know that.

[A]

Right.

[B]

You know who matters? The people who work for you. Because when they don't know, they're all in this lake going in the dark and just spinning their wheels for nothing.

[A]

Thinking that they're doing something that's contributing. But maybe they're going a completely different direction than intended.

[B]

Right?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But then after our one, our three in our five year right now, we need one year. What are we committed to getting done to this year? And notice I didn't say goals.

[A]

I love that commitment.

[B]

What are we committed to? What is our. Like, we're not going home until this is done. So it needs to be realistic. It needs to be achievable.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Right. And not like hopes and dreams. This is real serious. And that's our written vision. And, and we share that with our team. We share that with our people. Because I can make really good decisions for our company if I know where we're trying to go over the next few years versus what I'm supposed to do right now today.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And too many people. You just need to get this one project done. Just, just get this one project done.

[A]

But does it align everything else that you're planning on?

[B]

So much easier for them to know what the full picture is. And then the next part, Absolute focus. Very simply, we're all entrepreneurs, we're all squirrel chasers. So we get an idea. There's always opportunities, always opportunities. And so absolute focus allows you to identify what you're absolutely focused on in this business. We're looking to help people in the wellness of their mind, body and spirit through supplements.

[A]

Whatever it is, whatever their process, Whatever.

[B]

It is, whatever it is. We're here to make a thousand lawns look better so that HOAs make less money. I don't know. But you have that absolute focus. And so if your mission is to help people in wellness through supplements, we don't go buy real estate without business because it doesn't fit that mission. Oh, well, Emma. Yes, it does. Because I can have a manufacturing plant. No, that's too far off. The manufacturing plant now becomes another llc. You need separate resources for that. That's a separate skill set.

[A]

A wellness retreat.

[B]

Okay. This is why we fight so much. But that's going to be your absolute focus. And the next thing is values driven future. We spend a lot of time as marketers understanding our avatar, understanding the person that we are selling to. We should understand the person that's selling to the people we're selling to.

[A]

Our people.

[B]

Who's my voice? Who's my face? And it's every employee I have. It's my marketers, that's my customer service people, that's my operations people, that's my data people. So what are the things that I'm not? Everybody should have a different set of skill sets that complement me in the business. I don't really. I mean, I would love to hire someone that had my exact skill set over and over again.

[A]

Cause partner, just the skill set.

[B]

That's fair. But I would love to do that. But it makes a lot more sense for me to hire Richard, who doesn't necessarily have the talents I have. He has all the talents. I don't. Or Thiago, who does have the talents. I have some of them. Yeah. Well, yeah, that's fair. I'm a lot older. But he does have the talents I have. But his experience in life is different. So his approach is different. So he's able to think through things that I would never think through. So he's a very compliment of me and so on and so forth. Soccer can do all kinds of stuff. I have no idea idea what he's talking about half the time. It's not his accent. It's so brilliant. And so. But they all have a certain amount of values that just comes with them. They're all proactive problem solvers. We were talking about this. I can't stand a person that I say, hey, do you know how to. Or do you know where I'll wait.

[A]

Till you come back to me? I was waiting for you to respond.

[B]

Or it was where I was going with that at all. So you didn't let me get there. You didn't let me get there. So I can't stand when I say to someone, I cannot stand, hey, do you know how to get to here? And they have a phone in their hand that they could just look it up. And they go, I don't know. And they just wait for you to do it. I want someone who's going to be proactive and who's going to go and just get it done. Yeah, no, I don't. But I'm going to find out in three seconds because I have a computer in my hand, right? And so that's important to me. Someone with integrity is important to me. That is so important to me. When you tell somebody that you're going to do something, you do it and they trust. They trust what you say. I'm okay with brutal honesty. I'm okay with brutal honesty as long as it's respectful. I'm not okay. I'm not okay. I'm not okay. I'm not okay with someone who's going to placate because they think I'm going to get mad and allow me to make a mistake. So I need you to have integrity. We have others, but that's what I mean.

[A]

Those are our values.

[B]

That's what I mean by values. Driven future they have, they share those same values and they hold other people accountable to those same values. So that's how I build my team. It's going to be a team that's going to take me from a pretty decent operator to the best in the industry.

[A]

Execution plan.

[B]

Execution plan.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Execution plan is, is how we actually execute. What is the path? What is the map? So I have a map and we fill in the blanks and then we do the things that I filled in. And that's how we do it every time.

[A]

Right. And that allows us repeatable processes.

[B]

Right. But it allows us so much, it allows our team to not have to come to me for every little thing. Hey Emma, what's the next step? Hey Emma, what should I do next? Hey Emma, what's.

[A]

Yeah, so. Yeah, so that's a, that's a foundational framework and they may have their own. You may use other tools or resources. We've come up with ours, which is wave. But having some sort of foundational framework, that is not just. It's like. It's a complete guide. It's not just. It's a processes or SOPs, but it's full picture.

[B]

It's kind of like a family tree. It's just maybe not a family tree. That's not. It's a map. It's a map. It's a road map to how we do things and why we do things, which is so much more important and.

[A]

A way to communicate that to everybody on your team. So on the same page.

[B]

And you communicate every bit of that. Yeah, every piece of that. We have. I have posters in my office that like big posters in my office. And then we have three by five cards that everyone on our team gets.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And it's important to us that they have those readily available because I want them to know.

[A]

Yeah. It's a cheat sheet, a little map so that they know when they're showing up. This is what's expected, this is where we're going. So. So no operation or no foundational framework is mistake number one. Mistake number two is no operational framework.

[B]

Great. I got a plan.

[A]

Okay, so. So what's the difference then between a foundational framework and an operational framework?

[B]

Foundational framework is where we're going, what we're doing, what's important to us.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Right. Your operational framework is actually how you get those things done. So this is what I'm getting done and why. And this is how I'm getting it done. So scope is what we use. That is the acronym for our operational framework. So Setting your vision, which is actually wave is number one. Because you have to have a foundational framework or your operational framework falls apart.

[A]

Right?

[B]

So as if you get, if you get wave, you're done. S is done. C is. Do you remember? Let's see, let's see, let's see.

[A]

Create processes.

[B]

Oh, wow. Good. Great job. So create, Create processes means these could.

[A]

Be like your SOPs. It's your way of completing the task of whatever it is that you're doing. So there's a consistent way.

[B]

It's a way of documenting how to complete the task. That's important. Documenting. Because if Sock is out and soccer has to do a bunch of work and it has to be done today. And Richard's like, well, you know, I don't have login for that client's dashboard. I don't know what email is supposed to go out. I don't know. Like, that's a problem. But when Saka has documented his process.

[A]

Then it's there, right?

[B]

And then additionally, here's what's great about when you document a process. I don't, I don't know what it is is certain of us. And it's actually usually the business owner, to be honest, the person who would never be able to do the process in a million years. Right. We can look at it and go, why on earth are you doing it this way? This is like three times harder and longer. You should do it that way. When we have a documented process, we can then go through them and we do about every six months and really look at being efficient and effective. Additionally, you may look at something and be like, wow, I'm paying somebody $120,000 a year and this is a $20 an hour task and they're doing it 20 hours a month.

[A]

Right.

[B]

I could be hiring a VA and this person is a revenue producer. Right? You really, really, really, really want to create those processes and o operational excellence. Right. And so creating those processes and then reviewing them as part of operational excellence, creating good communication channels is operational excellence. Almost every business when they start out, Perry Belcher, I'm going to call you out here. This man, as a matter of fact, right now, I'm in text with him. I'm in Facebook messenger with him. I'm on Instagram messenger with him. We have a sock channel that I'm in with him. And this man would send me carrier pigeons if he could figure out how to get me messages. So creating good communication channels amongst your team. Yeah, is so, so, so important for our team. It's FYI's need to know updates, call communications, all go through email. Things that are more up to the minute, day to day, that keep things moving. Because if I have to wait for someone to answer an email all day, it's going to slow me down. Go into Slack. If it's an emergency, it goes into Slack first. And depending on the level of emergency, if too much time has gone by and someone's in deep work, you call their phone.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And so we have WhatsApp that our team uses, except for we have a couple of. A few of our team are in America and they generally use regular, you know, regular phone, but you know what I'm saying? So this is. This is the way we communicate with each other. If my phone rings and it's Sarah Horvat and she knows I'm on calls all day, she books them.

[A]

Right. It's probably important.

[B]

I know that if this call is going to be an hour, I need to somehow figure out how to find out what it is that she needs from me. Because I've created that channel which creates operational excellence because it allows me to be very efficient with my time because I know where I need to. Where I need to focus. So if something comes through in Slack and I'm on a call or we're sitting here, I don't need to look at it. If my phone rings, we're going to stop recording our podcast and I'm going to step outside table.

[A]

Right? Right.

[B]

So that's operational excellence.

[A]

P. People development.

[B]

People development is probably my favorite. You and I fight the most about this. We fight them. I'm fire fast, get rid of him. But he wears me down and I let them stay. I don't think I've ever. This is the. And I don't want to get into firing because that's not what people development is. But I don't think I've ever wanted to fire them and thought later, oh, I'm really glad I didn't fire them. Never have thought that.

[A]

Right.

[B]

So. But people development is such a fun, fun, fun thing that we get to do in our business because we get to watch our people grow and learn. Like, I look at Julie, our first employee, I look at Richard, who he was when he came on versus who he is now, and I don't take credit for that, but the environment that I put him in really helped him get there.

[A]

Well, there's an opportunity that's presented to him, and then it's up to every person whether or not they capitalize on those opportunities.

[B]

Right.

[A]

By the way, same for every business, every entrepreneur, everybody, right?

[B]

So mentorship, leadership, watching people grow is such a rewarding aspect of our job. If we're good people, some people really don't like that and you know, that's on them. But, but people development also, here's why, here's why it's important as your business scales and your business grows. Tribal knowledge is so important, turnover is so costly. So if you're going to grow your business, you have to grow your people to grow at that business. Because they didn't start with this company knowing how to do, you know, they didn't start with your company, a brand new startup, knowing what to do at $100 million. $100 million is a completely different ballgame.

[A]

Right?

[B]

That's my favorite.

[A]

Right?

[B]

I love $100 million. That's my favorite company. But it takes people, it takes people a lot in a lot of patient time of explaining all of the reasons why. Why do we look at the merchant accounts every day? Why do we look at it every single day? I'm not going to explain. Call. But when you understand why, you start to learn how you need to grow and learn in order to get to that point. Because this is what we're watching for here so that we can scale to here. And so people development, so important. And then we have another execution plan, right? Because we have our execution plan, which is our up. I named it both. I know acronyms are hard. So with wave, your execution plan is what you're going to do when your execution plan and scope is how you make sure that execution happens. Because this is very broad. If I hand you a bunch of stuff and say, hey Travis, get this done, get this done. See you in a year. I'm gonna come back and you're gonna go Frick. This is favorite word, by the way. When you forgot something, that's your favorite word. Frick. You do the same thing every time. Your eyes close and you clench up and so. And that's people. And that's people, right?

[A]

Sure.

[B]

So I need a cadence in order to take those one year commitments, break them down into what we're going to be doing quarterly, and then I need a weekly cadence to check in on you. Are we on track for this? Do you need resources? Have you ran into a problem? Is there an issue? Because in the day to day of running your business, these goals are above that, right? The day to day to your business is working in your business. So you need to break away from your business for 90 minutes a week. 90 minutes every other week and to work on your business.

[A]

Here's the thing too, is like I laugh because like that's true of relationships. This is like a side Tennessee. So sorry, but you're not.

[B]

Sorry, but go ahead. Relationship.

[A]

Well, okay. In marriages, like if you're not spending at least 90 minutes a week with your partner talking about the managing of your household or your life or whatever, it's going to fall apart. Your relationships can break down. Things are going to happen.

[B]

Well, I kind of feel like If I spent 90 minutes a week talking to my spouse, it would break down.

[A]

In general. This is just kidding.

[B]

Love you, Gabe.

[A]

But. But it is true for your business too. Right. It's like you have to spend the time on it to actually manage the operations of things that need to happen. Not just doing the things that keep your. Keeps your business going. So. Yeah.

[B]

So what's number three?

[A]

So number three, the other big mistake is.

[B]

Is really it's so it's the biggest mistake. And just before you announce it, it's even the one we made.

[A]

It's the easiest one to make.

[B]

Knowing. Knowing that going into a business to help other people not make this mistake. We also made it. Go ahead.

[A]

Yeah. It's the founder becoming the bottleneck. Everything's got to come through me. Everything's. I got to make the decision. And I'm not willing to pass off those responsibilities to.

[B]

I need to be cc'd in every email.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I need to be the one that says yes or no.

[A]

Nobody can make the decisions like I can. Or as good a decisions as I can. Or nobody can do this. I have to be able to do this.

[B]

So I will say this. There are a lot of founders that we've worked with that can. I couldn't make as good of a decision as they can. They're just. They. They have a lot more knowledge.

[A]

Sure. Specialties in different areas.

[B]

That's a box. Not the whole business.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

That's a small amount of what needs to happen when I need to call you to add a phone number to our 44 customer service phone numbers because we have a new product line. When you need to be.

[A]

Really. You need to be involved with that. Really?

[B]

No, no, no. Why are you. My favorite line is. I don't know. I pay you to do that. Can you tell me if we need that or not? That's. That's my favorite line. And I don't mean that to be condescending and. Well, y. Yes, I do. I absolutely do. Who am I kidding? But I don't mean that to be. I really want them to understand. Like, I.

[A]

You're making a point.

[B]

Offloaded that because I trusted you to do that.

[A]

Right.

[B]

So you feel like you need to bring this to me because somewhere at some point in your life, someone made you feel like you needed to get all the boxes checked. I don't want to work with people like that if you need me to touch it last. So it's my fault? That's not necessary. I own the business. Everything's my fault. I'm your boss. Everything's my fault. I hired you. It's my fault. There you go. Now go. Go. Run. Go get it done. And if you screw it up, come tell me you screwed it up and give me three ways that we're gonna fix it and which one you'd like to go with.

[A]

Great. Let's do that.

[B]

That's the decision I'm willing to make.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

Those are the decisions I'm willing to make. So all these owners create this bottleneck. And like, we worked with. We worked with one guy. Oh, God, it was a nightmare.

[A]

Which one? We've had several.

[B]

That's true. It wasn't. It wasn't even that him or his business was a nightmare. He just really wanted to be like, he really. Hey, you know, I don't mind. Like, I would be like, hey, dropping so and so into BCC so he doesn't need to be bothered with this. Oh, no, guys, I want to stay on top of it. We're scheduling a call. Why do you feel like you're so unimportant, that you need to be involved in all this little. And his business can grow because of it.

[A]

Right, Right.

[B]

And so that. That's a big, big one that. It's just such a big one. So hard to let go of. So how do you fix it? You don't know Emma.

[A]

I call Emma to be candid.

[B]

Become best friends with Emma. Rainbow.

[A]

But if that's.

[B]

Well, here's how you have to fix it. One, you need to build trust. You didn't build enough trust. A lot of the times, and I'm just going to be really frank, a lot of times that people have created a bottleneck in their business. That is Them. It's because they're a narcissist. Me, too. I. Nobody can do this. Nobody else can do this. Untrue, Untrue. It's untrue. It's untrue. The clients will all leave. I took 30 days off in May. I went to the UK and had a great I was at sea for two weeks and then I was running around the UK for two weeks. I got on three phone calls, two hours each and that's it. And that was only because we were in the middle of a lawsuit.

[A]

Yeah. With helping a client. Yeah.

[B]

I mean I wrote the book.

[A]

I was going to say because it's not like you're not available because you were available to answer stuff or you.

[B]

Weren'T taking phone calls.

[A]

You didn't need to.

[B]

So there is never a point that I'm not available for my staff. There's never a point that I'm not available for my staff. And if for some reason it's a big life event and I need to take off a day, then tag your it.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I'm not going to leave them high and dry. Never. But I still was able to take 30 days off. They still ran the business. They still, I mean they got a ton done.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

They did a great job and everything was fine.

[A]

Here's the thing that felt like a huge accomplishment too for us. Right?

[B]

That was a massive accomplishment for us. That was a. Because in the first few years, what I created was a fear. We had a couple of issues and you're always going to have a couple issues.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

You will never have greatness without failure. You will never do big things without big catastrophes. That just is get comfortable in the mess. And I've always been comfortable in a mess. But the things that bothered me and scared me was like, Richard goes tell client X. This client X comes to me and said, Emma, you said, because it's the same thing. The way I had to work backwards from that. I went on a vacation two years ago. It was supposed to be a really, really great time and 10 days. And I was really excited. We were three years into our business and I was like, this is the time I'm going to be able to do it. And I had one prick of a employee that called me every single frickin day about the dumbest things that were unnecessary. Pop up banners that didn't need to be ordered for two months. Like it was just crazy. And then, and then I realized that what I had created, and here's why I created it. I was so afraid that clients would be upset and I. It's because I didn't know my own value. So. Right.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

We make mistakes. We're human. I'm human. Guess what? All girls poop. Like get over it. You know what I mean? Like, everybody poops.

[A]

Come on.

[B]

Everybody. Everybody that's living. So. So everybody Makes mistakes. It's just, this is a thing. This is just what it is. It's just what it is. And so when I could let go of that and then, and then like again, I'm going to go back to we're all a little bit narcissistic. We're all narcissists. Because if we weren't, we wouldn't be doing this. You entrepreneurs. And to have big, big, big dreams, you have to have an unbelievable amount of self belief and self assurance. You just believe in me, that's okay. You also believe in Jesus. I understand you just follow Jews everywhere. But so if you can reframe the way you're thinking and you can say I must not be a really great hirer if I'm so afraid to let these people do things who I've hired. Well, no, of course, I'm the best hirer in the world. Only me go do this. You didn't get that. I'm sorry. But if you can reframe your mind to that, well, of course I'm a good hire. Well, why don't I trust these people? And so here's to create yourself in a new way that you're not the bottleneck. You spend time with your people and you build trust. You give them things. That isn't going to be a catastrophe for you because that's the fear. There's going to be a catastrophe. I'm going to be embarrassed. I'm going to fail. It's going to be all their fault. It's going to be. If it's going to be someone's fault, it's going to be mine. If I cost myself a bunch of money, if an employee does also, who cares? Like really? Here you go. Here you go. Here you go. Run with it. Great job. Now I get to give you a little bit more. Now I get to give you a little more. And now when you screw up because they're going to screw up because you screw up because everybody screws up when they come back, you don't get pissed off, you don't take it off their plate, you don't want you. What are the three things that you think are possibilities that to either fix this or make it so that never happens again, what would you go with why? And if you disagree with them, if you think there's a better way, by the way, my team has sometimes come up with way better, way better solutions than me. So what is the path forward? Why would you do that? Let's talk about that. Now they know how to Think through it next time and that mistake will eventually turn into a win for you. And over and over and over again. And so we spent, I spent two years ago really kicking myself. And then I spent the whole next year rebuilding my relationship with our team, rebuilding my relationship with you. Because I didn't trust you either, which there was no reason for it, except for I had this real heavy weight and I was overwhelmed. And the only thing I could do to make myself feel comfortable in the stress of it all is hold on to it so tight it couldn't grow. And that is simply how you fix that.

[A]

Starting letting go. Well, here's the other thing is building trust.

[B]

Building trust and then letting things go.

[A]

Yeah. And I'll say that these things essentially count. I think they compound on each other too. Right. Because as you're developing for, at least for our processes, as you're developing your people, they should be able to be capable. And if you're documenting your process as well. Right. Then there's a path for those things that you're doing regularly so that they can actually execute and take those things over.

[B]

So this is, but this is why you create processes. You have a good hiring process, you have a good onboarding process, you have a good people development process and you have a really good off boarding process. When someone doesn't fit, we learned this. When someone doesn't fit and they cause stress, you eliminate them. And because you've had, you have your foundational framework and you have your operational framework, you've created a situation where you're not the bottleneck. That seven figure ceiling, you just blew through it and you'll blow through it so fast.

[A]

Right? Right.

[B]

Great talk.

[A]

Okay, so this is good look, thanks guys for listening again. We have some tools and resources that we're going to make available in our visionary vault. So make sure you go to specialopspodcast.com to sign up for free access to that information. And please, if you enjoyed this, you got value out of it. Please like and subscribe and we'll catch you next time at Special Ops Podcast.