S. 3 Ep. 49 – 7 Lessons I Wish I Knew 10 Years Ago About Owning A Business

Intro: You know those moments when you’re doing what you love in your business, maybe it’s standing onstage or creating content, whatever it is, you’re totally immersed, and time just seems to slip-by? This is called The Flow State. At Speaker Flow, we’re obsessed with how to get you there more often. Each week we’re joined by a new expert where we share stories, strategies, and systems to help craft a business you love. Welcome to Technically Speaking.

Austin: All right. We are live. Cindy, welcome to the show. Thank you for being here today. We’re so happy to see you.

Cindy: I’m so happy to be here again. Thanks for having me.

Austin: Yeah, of course. Second instance, we did a few more of those in season three. We cherry picked our favorite episodes and we were like, we’re going to bring a few people back. But you’re a part of an elite group here, Cindy. I don’t know if anybody caress about that, but you’re one of a selected few.

Cindy: Aw, thank you so much.

Austin: Thank you for being willing to share your time with us again. Yeah.

Cindy: Of course.

Austin: We’ve been on a journey together over the last couple years too.

Cindy: We sure have.

Austin: You’re one of our longest standing clients, so thank you for that too. We appreciate you.

Cindy: Absolutely. You guys are my favorite people.

Austin: Well, yeah. Well, likewise. And today’s episode is kind of cool. You have identified seven lessons that you’ve learned over the last few years that you think other people need to know.

Cindy: Yes.

Austin: Fair enough. Is that right?

Cindy: That is correct. These are the lessons that I wish I knew when I started my business 10 years ago. They are lessons I teach other people who I know who are starting businesses and I think it’s always good to regroup, especially at the beginning of a year or the fourth quarter, to see how we’re planning next year and if we’re really thinking about the right things and having everything in alignment with how we should be running our business. Because sometimes we’re so busy doing the client work, doing the presentations, calling our clients that we forget about how we’re operating our business, and what we’re doing there to support it so it could be longstanding.

Austin: Yeah. Man, so true. Well, so for listeners, there are two things that I want you to think about today. This is a special episode for two reasons. The first one is that Cindy here is a perfect example of somebody that is in the trenches doing the work and you’re treating your business like an actual business. There are so many people that we talk to that forget, I think; that we’re not just talent that is going out there and doing the thing, we’re running a legitimate business. And something I’ve always respected about you is that you really do run a business.

Cindy: Thank you.

Austin: For listeners, keep that in mind.

Cindy: I try. I definitely have my moments where I need to regroup myself.

Austin: Well, we all do.

Taylorr: We’re all human.

Austin: It’s an iterative process. The other thing though that I think is kind of unique about this episode is that most of the time we’re picking one really specific granular topic. And today’s episode gets to be a little bit more general, we’re covering a few different areas that all ultimately tie back to the leadership of a business. So, I think that’s really the through line here. But everybody gets to hear seven different specific items that have helped you. And I think that’s cool. So, if anybody’s looking for a broad brush stroke, like here are some categories that you should be thinking about, today’s episode’s going to be great. We obviously, since we’re going to cover seven different areas, can’t get as granular with each one of them as we might with some. But this is a really good, like, here’s a health check of your business. Are you hitting these seven components? Well said, we’re feeling good?

Taylorr: Heck, yeah.

Cindy: Yes, very good.

Austin: Okay, Taylorr, anything to add there?

Taylorr: Before we get into the weeds here. Yeah, I want to, did an Angel come down and give you these seven lessons? Did you find them in the trenches?

Cindy: No.

Taylorr: What solidified these things for you? Because you said, 10 years ago, how long has it been?

Cindy: Oh gosh. So, it’ll be 10 years in November that I have been in business. I started off as a marketing agency and then I evolved to ghostwriting full-time. And these are the lessons that I messed up, that I had to learn the hard way because nobody gave me a book.

Taylorr: Yeah.

Cindy: And also just from trial and experience and then being associated with people like you guys at Speaker Flow, who are doing things right, the business. Talk about businesses that where you guys are in the trenches, you know what needs to be done and you’re building the business Lego brick by Lego brick in order for it to be running smoothly. And you guys are really one of the people I look to as models for setting up your systems and processes and really being good at following them and using the technology, Speaker Flow, every day as you start your day, finish your day, plan your day and get sales.

Taylorr: Yeah, definitely.

Austin: Thank you for that.

Taylorr: So, you heard it straight from the source. This is 10 years of trial and error, you guys, condensed down into 30 minutes.

Austin: Buckle up.

Taylorr: This is as close to a magic wand as we’re going to get at Technically Speaking. So, lesson number one, Cindy, share that with us.

Cindy: Yeah. So, understand your operations. If you look at all the businesses around you and people you’re working with, and then the really successful businesses, what are they doing in their operations? Now, I have researched a ton about operations and the categories for operations and it almost seems like every article includes something different. So, when I think of operations, it’s everything except sales. It’s everything except the work that I’m doing for my clients. So, my services, right? So, operations, categorically in my business, tends to be financial, legal, tech, marketing. And those are the four big buckets that I put in operations, so that when I need, like it’s an operations day and I need to kind of go through and see what I need to clean up or what I’m expanding on or how am I going to build the business and go forward. 

So, those are the four buckets for operations from me. And then in addition to operations, there’s sales and there’s services and those have their own buckets because they take up the majority of my time where these other ones don’t need me all of the time, these two do. So, that has always been really helpful for me. And then in each of those buckets of operations, I have documented what tech am I using; Speaker Flow, Zoho, I go down the whole thing, have a list, and who my support people are. And it just helps me stay organized and keep everything together so when something comes up, I know who to call. the best customer for his company on the planet is Speaker Flow. And I’m not kidding when I say that because you guys are just the best, one of the best I work with.

Austin: Well, thank you.

Cindy: And that’s what operations to me is because we do need to manage those other pieces because something happens all of the time and you just need to know what they are and how to manage them so they don’t get out of whack and then manage them so that you’re on top of it and you know the direction your company’s going in.

Austin: Yeah. It’s funny that you started there too because it’s the least sexy part of the business. It is the part that nobody’s excited about, but is definitely the most important. You have to have the axles greased, I don’t know if that’s an actual phrase or not, but you have to know where all of the different components are and keep them consistently moving, even if they’re not fun to manage. Because it’s the backbone that allows you to go and do the more fun stuff, like the sales, the fulfillment tasks. The stuff that goes to take advantage of our expertise individually, right?

Cindy: For sure. Yeah.

Austin: Most important, least fun.

Cindy: It’s our foundation, right?

Taylorr: That’s right.

Cindy: So, the second lesson is, know your numbers. It is so important to know your numbers. And I’ve had many coaches who stress this and many coaches who don’t even mention it because there are a lot of us who started a business and we didn’t know what a P&L Report was. We didn’t know what a balance sheet was. I’m not a math person, I hate math, that’s why I’m a writer. So, I have an accountant that does my taxes and accounting and then I have a bookkeeper who does everything else, invoicing, reconciling all of the other stuff. And I would not be here today without them because I would’ve quit a long time ago, if I had to run all of that. 

The important numbers are to know what income is coming in, what your forecasted income is coming in, and what your expenses are every month. And I know other people who are more in the accounting world would probably think that there were some other numbers that were important to track too. But those are the three that I track. And when I track my expenses, it’s interesting because almost every month I have a subscription that pops up in my register and I’m like, oh, I don’t need that anymore. So, then next month I don’t have that expense. 

I use a combination of QuickBooks and I use Excel for a budget, and then I use QuickBooks for the accounting and it just works for me. because I can track everything, all together. And then my bookkeeper runs my reports that I need, which again is the P&L, the profit and loss statement and the balance sheet. And then I’ll sometimes do, oh, and she does the aging statement. So, if clients are not paid up to date, it’ll tell me who’s in arrears. And then sometimes I’ll have her run a vendor report so I can see how much I’m spending with each of the vendors. So, I could also properly forecast for next year, but then also later in the year.

Austin: Yeah.

Taylorr: Yeah. To the point earlier about necessary but not always fun. This is where being able to bring a team onboard to help with this stuff.

Cindy: Yeah.

Taylorr: It helps you sleep at night, quite honestly, having all of that stuff and gives you some predictability. And honestly, if you were stuck on an island and had to determine if you needed to go back and save your business or not and swim back to shore, those are the numbers you need to know about whether or not things are working and I I like that you didn’t go. I think some people when they get down the numbers path, it’s like, oh, I could track this website visits per day and numbers subscribe. You get really into the weeds, it’s like, nah, these are my three, four numbers that I care about, period. And then everything else can inform around that. Having that level of focus is huge.

Cindy: Exactly. And the thing is we’re in business to make money. So, whether we ghostwrite books or edit books as I do, I also have a course. So, I need to know how many courses do I need to sell this year to hit a certain quota? How many books can’t I take on a year so I’m not overextending myself, but I’m still hitting my revenue goals? Because the other thing we have to do is pay taxes. So, if I’m writing a book for $10, which isn’t my normal fee, 30% of that, $3 of it is going to go to taxes. Then payroll and everything else, so it’s important to keep track of those incoming and outgoing expenses.

Austin: Yeah, it’s true. And you mentioned a couple of tools that you use to keep track of this, and I actually think this ties into your next point about reliable tech, I think is how you phrased it. But, yeah, the thing is, although keeping tabs of numbers is probably not most of our zones of genius as creatives, it’s not that hard; at least relative to a hundred years ago. We’re not talking about pen paper and ledgers and stuff anymore, we have tools that can do most of the heavy lifting for us. So, even if this is not the most fun area of the business, it shouldn’t be painful.

Cindy: Right. Well, it doesn’t have to go hundreds of years now, I’m going to date myself, but when I had to take accounting in high school math, oh, I hated it. We did use, it was graph paper. I don’t think they called it, they probably called it ledger paper or something. This is how good I am at math, but it was pencil and paper.

Austin: Yeah, right.

Cindy: Computers didn’t come until I was in college. 50 year or I don’t know how many years back. But anyway. But, yeah, reliable tech is really important and the biggest lesson that I learned is that if it’s not working, get rid of it. And then also, but if it’s working for you, don’t get rid of it. Between clients and coaches, I have switched tech so many times based on what they were suggesting because I thought they knew better. I could tell you every project management system that I tried and which ones I loved, but we’d be here until tomorrow. So, I won’t bore you with that detail. But if you really like a system, for instance, I really loved Teamwork as a project management system. But when we were using it way back in the day, my client didn’t like it. 

The idea was to have the clients involved and so they could upload and download their chapters and stuff, but they didn’t like it. So, I’m like, oh, this isn’t going to work for my clients. But the thing is, your clients don’t have to have access to your systems, right? It’s truly internal for you, for most businesses. And the idea of having clients be involved is really great, but it doesn’t work for somebody. So, if the tech is not working for you, get rid of it. And I just went through this whole upgrade move-over or something because the project management system I was working with was not giving me the answers I needed, which was how long are these books going to take me and when’s my next deadline? 

So, I switched over to a different program. But I was at the point where I was so tired of the project management system, I was trying to make work for what I needed it to work for, that I started to do stuff in Excel. And then my new business manager found out about that and oh, no, no, no, no. So, we researched more systems, we found a newer one and we’re just now starting to implement it. So, it’s like your services, it’s like what you want to offer people, you evolve with the tech and if it’s not working for you, get rid of it. If it’s working for you, then stay with it. Just like why I am with Speaker Flow, I think this is what, three, four, maybe five years. 

The other part of that is that the tech needs to work, but then you also need the support system behind it. And I’ve been with Speaker Flow for so many years because what they have and they offer is that they offer you the Zoo and all of the apps, but they also give you the support behind it to learn it or to do what you want to do. And if you want to pay them to do it, they do it. And then the other part of that is that their support team is so fantastic. It’s hands-on, it’s immediate responses. You guys just do such a great job, you really, really do.

Taylorr: Thank you.

Austin: Oh, thank you. You’re very kind.

Taylorr: Appreciate the plug, it means a lot. But you’re dead on; we need to have the right tech. It’s 2023 for crying out loud, the amount of work we have to do to run our businesses, especially as solopreneurs, good lord. I don’t know how anyone stays sane in a huge amount of time in Excel, I could not imagine. There are just so many moving pieces, having a way to show up and just know what you have to get done every day. Keeps you in your zone of genius more when you know the stuff is getting handled behind the scenes. You know what you have to knock out. You can just focus on the work and not have to focus about where to find things and where things, yeah. It’s truly elevation in that regard.

Cindy: Yes, for sure. Every part of it is important. Every part that we do.

Taylorr: yeah, absolutely.

Austin: So true. Well, I think this kind of segues into your next bullet too, which is outsourcing delegation.

Cindy: Oh my God.

Austin: Giving other people that can do the stuff you don’t want to do the work. And when we’re talking about systems, the output of a system is that you can either rely on technology to handle something or it can be delegated to somebody if you didn’t want to just do it yourself. And so, this is the next point for you, right? Is bringing help in to the picture.

Cindy: It is. Yeah, outsourcing. And every year I think I grow wiser because I start learning how much more I can delegate. So, one of the biggest things I learned was from a speaker at NSA about StrengthsFinder, and that’s where it tells you your top five strengths, right? So, knowing your top five strengths and how you work and all of those good things is really important because then you know that, you know what? I’m horrible at math, I hate it. I don’t need to do it. I’m giving it to a bookkeeper. And it just saves me hours of the grind of doing that. 

And so, being able to outsource things that you really hate, despise or don’t know, because at some point after 10 years in business I was a marketing agency and I developed websites and I did digital advertising, I managed social media and I knew all of that stuff, but at some point, now I don’t want to know what I need to know about WordPress to run my website. I have someone who can do that. And just outsourcing it and knowing that it’s getting done while you’re working on other things or happen to have a day off on a weekend, it’s just brilliant. You come back on Monday and it’s done and it’s very, very fulfilling and you feel like you’ve jumped a thousand leaps. 

So, the weakest links for me obviously are math and bookkeeping. So, that is definitely an area that I outsource and make sure that I have enough budget for. And then tedious tasks or overflow tasks, whenever my systems breakdown, my tech, my assistant is awesome. She just rocks and rolls how to get down to the nitty gritty with tech. So, there was one system we were working on and she’s like, we’ll find another problem because they’re in Ireland and I just love their accent. She always loved to talk about them. So, unfortunately we didn’t break the system anymore. But then the overflow tasks. Can you give your assistant something that you don’t need to be at the whole way through. 

For instance, I’m working on a design project for an author who is creating bookmarks. And because of my background in marketing, sometimes I do these little side things. And so, we got to the meat of the design and the work and the content and everything, and then it was just the final tweaks that the author needed. And I handed that off to my assistant. First, she’s good in design. Second, she can communicate well. And third, she can take it to the finish line. And it was such a relief because now I don’t have to have two or three phone calls with the author using up my time that should be spending on writing my books. 

So, it’s stuff like that, can you do the bulk of it and then hand something off. I also have, when I draft the books, the chapters, I have a couple of junior editors on my team that will read through it, kind of like for beta reading to see if it makes sense and everything is in flow and everything, but also for grammar and punctuation and all of that kind of spelling and stuff like that. So, it’s that because then I can give even a higher quality product to the author. So, it’s stuff like that, I always constantly ask myself, do I really need to be involved in this? Right? And what can I let go of? 

Sometimes we are a little bit control freakish where we need to write the post or we need to pick out the picture for the blog or whatever. And I’m guilty of that. I was a major control freak before, but I don’t have time to be a control freak. So, really learn to love and let go of the things that someone else can do for you because it frees up your time schedule. It gives you more time to do more higher quality work, and it gives you a breather. You don’t have to be doing that stuff and it helps you live a more balanced life.

Austin: Yeah, that’s so true.

Taylorr: I think what I really am enjoying about this conversation so far is there are a couple of through lines that I’m noticing. The first is that what we’re really talking about here is being intentional, you know? Especially when we’re talking about ops and numbers and tech and delegation. Also giving labels to things, like when you gave us your buckets of operations, for example, just being able to segment that stuff down and say, all right, for this specific role, this is what I need and that will help.

Cindy: Right.

Taylorr: But also, I think fundamentally here, we’re raising our awareness. How are we thinking about our business in a way that can get us to our goals, as you mentioned earlier? When it comes to outsourcing, you said, I’m always thinking about like, do I need to be doing this. And fundamentally it all starts with that awareness, to ask yourself that question. So, I just wanted to point it out for the listeners here. Outside of these buckets that we’ve talked about so far, a few more to come, there’s really a level of intentionality and awareness here. Pondering these things that’ll get you across the finish line. Is that fair?

Cindy: Yeah, it is fair. And take it little by little if you’ve recognized something on here that you’re not paying attention to, don’t try and do all seven at once. Take it little by little. There are times where I have to go lock myself in a hotel room for three days just to get my head wrapped around this so I don’t have interruptions and I can get organized and ready for the new year. I’m going to a workshop conference for planning 2024 November. It’s going to be huge. It’s going to be a big planning weekend and I’m going to get it ready. I’m getting ready. And that’s really exciting when you know you have something like that to look forward to, to plan your next year.

Austin: So true. That’s honestly, as Taylorr and I say, are part of the year is when we get to sit down together and be visionaries for a minute, and think about where we’re headed and the decisions we have to make and the risks that we’re going to take. And that’s the fun part, honestly. Executing it is the less fun part.

Cindy: It is. and one of the things that you guys taught me was that the systems and processes when we’re looking at outsourcing, there are also systems and processes we can put in place that we follow as business owners and service providers that we could put in place that make our lives easier too, where we don’t just have to outsource it, but we can make our lives easier. And you guys are geniuses at that. When you made that roadmap for me on so many of the areas, like the customer service map journey and then the whole customer service experience from beginning to end. 

Those were really, really solid documentation pieces for our business because we can now follow that and just improve the overall experience that authors have with us. And so, it’s been really, really enlightening to have you guys kind of like my model for getting all of that stuff in place because it just makes so many things easier, and then any tech you can automate. So, the thing I like about you guys too is Zoho is a massive platform of different apps. And so, we do the forms, the surveys, the newsletters, social media stuff out of there and there are some other things too. And it’s just nice to have it all under one roof because first of all, you save me all kinds of fees for different apps and stuff. But secondly, it’s just easier to have one tab open versus eight, right? To do the same job. So, yeah, that outsource could be like, what else can I automate too?

Austin: Yeah. So true.

Taylorr: Yeah, definitely.

Austin: Yeah, I completely agree with that. Okay. The next one is industry events, right? Participating in the community. Can you speak a little more to that?

Cindy: Yes, for sure. So, number one, it’s always about building relationships, right? So, I just had, I was at a mental health conference and I had another person who wants to become a ghostwriter come and he’s like, well, are you closing any business? And I said, that is not why I go to these conferences. I don’t go to any conferences to find clients. I go to conferences to meet interesting people, learn more about my industry and the skills I need to improve. And then I meet people and we build relationships and out of those relationships are the people that I end up working with and that is more comfortable for me. 

He was definitely having a targeted mindset with that and that’s just not my style. And everybody has their own, but it’s so important to get involved in the industry events. For instance, you guys know about National Speakers Association, I’m a member there. I have incredible relationships that I’ve built and earned and just incredible people in that organization. And just going there and knowing what everybody else is doing and what’s working and what’s not working is huge for me. I’m no longer a speaker, but I serve speakers so it’s really important for me to know how to integrate their work as speakers into their book and those types of things. 

And so, that’s really important, but it’s also so important to know the trends of what’s going on. For instance, if you’re writing a book, we no longer as of the end of 2023 going into 2024, you probably don’t want to put a swear word on the cover. Because that’s a trend that’s kind of going by the wayside, it was fun while it lasted, but it’s kind of one of those things like parachute pants, right? And it might make a comeback in 30 years, we don’t know. But for now, just avoid things like that. There are also my writing associations I belong to, learned from some publishers, what are the trends? What’s happening in the publishing industry? 

So, for people who are writing books now, you definitely don’t want to do a forward, you don’t want to do a, no, not a forward, I’m so sorry. Yes, you want the forward from the most popular person; that’s the part that the person writes a letter and endorses you for your talents, and then the book. You definitely don’t want to use a prologue, epilogue or introduction anymore, because at the end of the day, nobody reads them. And usually we’re writing introductions that say the most important things and set people up to read the book. So, find a way to integrate it into chapter one or make it chapter one. 

So, those are the things that we learn from these conferences that have the breakouts. And you’re talking to people in your industry. It’s super, super important to just stay on trend and know what’s going on in the industry. And then also know what your peers are doing, meet your peers, because from there builds the friendships, which builds the collaboration that you could do and gives you people that you could reach out to when you need help. And you could return the favor too.

Austin: Yeah.

Taylorr: Absolutely.

Austin: That’s true in this business model especially, because we’re lone wolves. Some of us have teams and stuff, and so that can help, but more often than not, we’re talking about a single person business or a couple of people that are involved in the business and that can be lonely. And so, having this community, not only do you get all of the benefits that you just outlined there, but you have the feeling like you’re walking alongside someone on your journey. And that can be really positive.

Cindy: Oh, for sure. For sure. It is. And it’s definitely more enjoyable to do it with someone than be alone.

Austin: Yeah.

Taylorr: Yeah.

Austin: Well, and then this is a perfect segue into the next thing, which is the coach element here, right?

Cindy: Oh my gosh.

Taylorr: So, elevating a relationship with somebody that you really trust, how does that factor into this?

Cindy: Well, this is really super important and the relationships you’ll build in the industries that you’re in, and the associations and conferences you go to are going to be super important here because you need to find out who’s good and who’s not. And it’s not as much as like, a coach might be good for me, but may not be good for you because I need specific things. So, the whole coaching thing, I said, my first book, if I could make it happen this way, the first chapter would be hire a coach. And then the last chapter would be, which would be the second chapter, how to hire a coach. Because I’ve had many coaches and each one has given me tremendous value in some way, shape, or form, and as I evolve, I need a different kind of coach. 

So, the coach I’m having now, we were talking about, I want to go next level next year. I’m on my way to step up and do more do with more well-known authors and those types of things. So, she’s really helping me get my systems in place, project management side of it, also better habits. So, that’s what I’m focused on this year. In 2022, we focused on website; we focused on branding, like logos and messaging. And then this year we’re focused on marketing, sales processes and just systems and processes in general. 

The coaches that I hire for each one of these people, and sometimes I have the same coach for a few years, sometimes I switch out and go back and forth. But it’s important to know what three to five things are you looking to accomplish and then find a coach that does that and is three to five levels ahead of you. And they have success in those areas. Because there’s a coach for everything. There are hundreds of coaches for the same topic. So, you’ll be able to find somebody and make sure that they align with you and they have significant experience in the stuff that you’re looking to do. That’s what I’ve found to be most valuable with the coaches I work with.

Taylorr: Yeah, an outsider perspective. Yeah, it’s a guide really, you know? You’re the hero in your journey and then he guides you to where you want to be. It, of course, makes it all less lonely. It’s validating in a lot of ways too. because you’re like, okay, I’m doing the right thing. Give us some momentum, some accountability, some hope, some belief.

Cindy: Exactly. And just a different perspective, just having a different perspective of what an email, it could be as simple as the tone of an email that you’re reading to be upset and they say, oh my gosh, they were really nice about that. And I’m thinking, oh my goodness, I didn’t take it that way at all. And different perspectives just on how you see your operations, well, what about this? This could be an easier way to do this. And definitely, two heads are always better than one and you get a lot out of it.

Taylorr: All right.

Austin: Yeah.

Taylorr: So, last but certainly not least, Cindy.

Cindy: Yes. Is to have fun.

Taylorr: There it is.

Cindy: We talked a lot about the seriousness of the business and what we need to be doing in order to build the foundation and serve the people that we are wanting to help and guide and lead. But we always have to remember to have fun. If we’re not enjoying the work that we do, then maybe we should be doing something else, or maybe we should evolve to something different. And the fun part is, when you’re working with the clients and they’re laughing or they’re saying what a great job you did and we loved having you, and whatever it is, especially for speakers, because there is a lot of loneliness out there. 

When you go on the stage and all of this stuff, you give it your all on stage and you don’t really necessarily know how people are responding to you. And your clients may not know how to boost you up or give you feedback or tell you how great you were. And it’s just nice to remember that you did it because you had fun, you made a difference, you made an impact, and this is what you enjoy doing. I remember when I came back from the last influence, it was the weirdest thing, but for five days I had NSA withdrawal and it was deadly serious. It was really serious. You go to these conferences, another reason why to get involved in your industry. 

You go to these conferences and everybody’s so excited to see you, and they’re telling you how great you are and how much they follow you. And whatever you’re doing is doing good work. And then you come home and like, what’s for dinner? Nobody cares about you at all. Nobody’s telling you how great you are. But remember, part of the fun is being close to other people, doing the work that we love to do and making a difference. And we can’t forget about the fun.