In this episode, Lisa J. and I sat down to recap the Small Business Mastermind; If you remember, she owns a farm in Australia. Lisa J.’s farm and life has been improved by the products and systems from Organize 365®. When she heard there was an in person opportunity to work with me, she jumped on the opportunity!! Lisa J. was also excited to be in a room with like minded accomplished women but what she didn’t expect to walk away with was so much more self confidence in business.

I put out a survey asking the attendees what they were hoping to learn. Glad I asked because I was on the wrong track as far as what I had planned to teach. I love learning about other people’s businesses and consulting them how to move forward and grow and I wanted to address what they needed. I decided to hop on voxer with everyone and get a better understanding of who they were and their businesses. This also got them talking with their teams and more focused on what they wanted out of the mastermind. Once they arrived, I opened with me introducing them to the group. And then we talked about all the ways I analyze time. It was time for lunch and I needed a break because Imposture’s Syndrome was setting in. These were amazing accomplished women. What could I teach them?

Coming back from lunch they introduced themselves to the group and talked about their strengths and weaknesses. I talked about the Kolby Index test. Once they took that and heard them explain themselves, it opened the door for authentic conversations in a safe space, advising each other how to overcome their weaknesses, strengths they saw in each other, and true camaraderie.

That was a huge success but how would I continue to provide value to these women going into day 2? I knew what to do, 12 minutes - one to one with me. I remember from my coaching days that by 8 minutes people would be so overwhelmed with actionable to-do’s that they wanted to go start strategizing on ways to implement those ideas. I also knew we needed a couple of minutes to say hi and hug. But then what would everyone do while I was tied up in these one to one’s? I had Tanya available for remote work conversations, Steph for Chief of Staff conversations, and Anna was available for information and documentation conversations. They could shop or tour the warehouse and of course check out Joey’s car. Lisa J. said they all agreed that the 12 min one to one’s were genius because it gave a deadline as to when the conversation was going to end so you really needed to be prepared going into the coaching session. She said everyone should have been recorded leaving the one to one’s because of the confidence they exuded.

One of the biggest benefits was all of the networking all of the attendees got to do during the day and at night. They all stayed at the same hotel, chose to have meals together, and explore the area a little. Due to being connected before the mastermind via the app, they were able to get the backstory of everyone and know what they needed help with. They are now a group of 20 friends doing business together and making connections in business. From our one to one, Lisa J is working on a retreat for farmers where they can work on the transfer of their farm to another owner or a younger generation. Can’t wait to catch up later this year. If you too are looking for guidance and a network of like minded business owners, get signed up to attend the next Small Business Mastermind!

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• The Friday Workbox®

• Transformation with Lisa J.

• Small Business Mastermind

• Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter

On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365­® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday.

Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

You have found pockets of time to make a little extra money here and there. Now you are enjoying making the extra money and even are relying on it. This new stream of income is usually a little unconventional in the sense that it’s not W2 work. Your family loves how flexible it is because you are still available for them and there’s extra money. You are challenged by how flexible it is. You still have all of your previous responsibilities but now you the additional ones the new stream of income demands too. It’s time for a “regorganizing of the company.”

Just the Facts

This is just the facts people, no one is debating that women do more house work than men. Men normally go to work for 8-10 hours and the rest of their time is considered to be leisure. How much leisure time do women claim to have? Women on the other hand (generally speaking) do the house work and take care of children or pets, doesn’t leave much leisure time. And once you have a side hustle that is consistently bringing in money for your family, YOU have more responsibilities and almost no leisure time. This was mirrored in my childhood. Dad worked then golfed…a lot! And mom took care of the home, my sister and I, and she created a business in our basement. She was always working. As a business owner, which we established you are now, you are thinking about the daily operations of your business, ways to develop your business skill set, ways to grow the business, additional services or products you want to offer, and possibly being responsible for workers.

Fire Yourself

Let’s revisit stage 1. Remember you didn’t have a lot of extra money but you did have time? You were the one painting the walls or making the things you wanted. It may be time to evaluate all those tasks and hire someone to do them instead. Does it make sense for you to spend a day painting your walls OR would the time be better spent on your business because now you can afford to pay someone instead? Even if your family is counting on the money you bring in, could you do one more organizing job to pay to get that room painted? You spend more time in your business AND you get the room painted? It’s the same thing with hiring a house keeper or book keeper.

The Tradeoff

There is always a trade off right? Either you spend time or money. I say spend your money on tasks that don’t take you out of your business hours and instead use that time to get more experience in your business. In Home Planning Day, you can evaluate just the next 120 days. What do you want accomplished? How much will it cost? And who will do it? Then all you have to do is run that plan.

It doesn’t mean you are boujie because you hire someone in your home. The first hires I always recommend are a house keeper, book keeper, or an executive assistant. And my first hires were contractors for only like 5 hours a week.

A. That person is likely grateful for the work. I was so thankful that people let me clean their homes so I could send my kids to private school. You could really be helping someone out.

B. Hiring someone to do those tasks not associated with your business or the non CEO tasks reduces your task switching and increases your focus on your business.

In stage 5, you are focusing on finding body doubles to give you more time to commit to overseeing your business and be more cognitively available for your family.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• Home Planning Day

• Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter

Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

You’re a business owner - Congratulations!! In stage 4, there needs to be a mindset shift. You are no longer just doing this little side hustle, you are an entrepreneur! I will never forget when a friend said to me that I was a home organizer. That was it!! The common thread of all my side hustles was some aspect of home organizing. But I identified as a stay at home mom. However, she was right and that’s when my mindset shifted because now my unique talents had an identity. Did you know that 39.1% of all businesses are owned by women? Those women, on average, are 42 and have been in business for 11 years. The most common reasons people start new businesses are to pursue a passion, seeking financial freedom, and to increase flexibility in their life.

Do you do this?

Now that your household is counting on this income, you need to get the math straight. The trap a lot of us fall into is still thinking like a W2 employee. Before we got a $2000 paycheck and all of that was for our house. Now, as an entrepreneur, you need to account for your business expenses AND taxes. So if your business had $500 in expenses and you need to save $500 for taxes, all your house really gets is $1000. In stage 4 you may need to evaluate your services or product offerings to make sure you are working smarter not harder. Because you are both the business owner and the admin, it can make it challenging to hit income goals.

Entrepreneurs

As an entrepreneur, you are officially dedicating time outside of your W2 employment and all your time is no longer for household tasks and leisure. This can include volunteer/charity work where you are dedicating your time to benefit people outside your home. And the longer you are in this work, the more you will narrow down the services or products you want to offer, keeping the ones with the best money exchanged for your time. That’s the beauty of entrepreneurship, flexibility. You also have flexibility in your time. This can be a double edged sword because since you are likely working from home, all your household tasks are there, begging for your attention. When you go to your W2 work they don’t expect you to clean the bathrooms. But at home…

How to Organize Administration and Track Profitability

And you may think your business isn’t taking that much time. But you probably aren’t tracking how long it takes for your administration tasks. Just like in your home, you use the Sunday Basket® to get it all done, you need a Friday Workbox® at work to get everything done. You are wearing a lot of hats in your business now. There are 4 types of work I teach you about in the Friday Workbox® and they are color coded.

The pink slash pockets are a safe place for ideas you have for the business, future products or services, and personal development you’d like to consider. The purple slash pockets are for projects with deadlines or products that are making money. With all of your paid work is plenty of invisible unpaid work too. And all of those tasks fall into administrative work which is in green slash pockets. Administrative work is bookkeeping, invoicing, emails, leads, tracking expenses, monthly P&L, and more. And blue is for the team we will talk about in stage 5.

In stage 4, it’s time to legitimize your business by organizing all of your tasks and creating an LLC. Administration is the key in stage 4. You need systems in place to free up capacity to be more productive and profitable.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• The Friday Workbox®

• The Paper Solution®

• The Productive Home Solution

• Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter

Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!