November 19, 2025 • 49 mins
Are you trapped doing the work in your business instead of on it? In this episode of Small Business Pivots, host Michael Morrison welcomes business systems expert Allison Bridges, founder of Experts Only, to unpack how service-based business owners can finally build a business that grows without you.
With over 20 years and 46,000 hours in the trenches, Allison shares why trading time for money doesn’t scale, how to create your secret-sauce system, and the exact tools and frameworks you can implement this week to avoid burnout and turn your business into a freedom machine.
We dive into:
- The system mindset vs. the founder-doer trap
- Where to start when you don’t even know where your SOPs begin
- How to store and deploy your systems for maximum impact
- Choosing your version of success and designing your business around life (not the other way around)
Whether you're a doctor-turned-entrepreneur, running a field-service business, or simply ready to scale, you’ll walk away with actionable steps to stop being the business and start owning the business.
Connect with Allison Bridges
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/expertsonlyallisonbridges/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/expertsonlyconsulting
- Website: https://expertsonlyconsulting.com/
Show Notes Summary (Bullet + Timestamps):
00:00 – 02:30 – Introduction: Allison Bridges sets the stage — 20 years, 46,000 hours, fascinated by systems.
02:30 – 08:00 – Allison’s upbringing: serial entrepreneur since age 10, multi-sport athlete, corporate roles, and the shift to being truly “unemployable”.
08:00 – 15:00 – The big trap: You are the business. Why that kills scalability and what to do instead.
15:00 – 23:00 – Defining burnout and success: It’s unique to you, not a generic checklist. Designing your business around life.
23:00 – 33:00 – Where to start when there are no Systems: Allison’s guest-situation working with a 30-year business that never had SOPs. Her approach: Grab your phone, voice record, build SOP bank.
33:00 – 40:00 – Storage & rollout of systems: binder vs. online knowledge-base; leveraging tools like ChatGPT, Loom, ManyChat for automation & training.
40:00 – 50:00 – Proprietary secret-sauce: If you don’t have something unique, you’re in the sea of sameness. How to claim your edge and document it.
50:00 – 58:00 – Full-circle: Allison’s services explained, how to connect with her, and one last actionable tip: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
58:00 – end – Wrap-up & closing.
Allison Bridges is the founder of Experts Only Consulting and owner of a children’s athletics franchise. With 20+ years in entrepreneurship and 46,000+ hours logged, she has built, scaled, sold and consulted in numerous service-based industries, including med-spa, construction and franchise rollout.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
All right, welcome to another Small Business Pivot.
Today we have another specialguest from around the world.
And if you watch or listen toour show, you know that no one
can introduce themselves likethe business owner.
So just introduce yourself, yourcompany, and what we're going to
help our listeners with today.
SPEAKER_01 (00:17):
Absolutely.
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm obsessed with business andcannot wait to chat with you.
My name is Allison Bridges.
I'm the founder of Experts Only.
We're a full-service boutiquefirm.
And I also own a children'sathletics franchise as well.
And over the last 20 years and46,000 hours, I have learned so
(00:39):
much about taking the time tocreate the systems to get ahead
in your business later on.
And we're going to discusstoday, again, that's one of my
favorite topics, how to actuallyoptimize, put those in place,
and why you shouldn't feel likeyou're behind while you're
working on those systems.
SPEAKER_00 (00:59):
This is going to be incredible.
And for the business owner thatwe just had a coaching session
with this morning, I hope you'rewatching this show because we
were just talking about systemsand the benefit and how do I
find time to actually do themand everything.
But first, we're going tointroduce the show and we'll be
right back.
Welcome to Small BusinessPivots, a podcast produced for
small business owners.
(01:20):
I'm your host, Michael Morrison,founder and CEO of Boss, where
we make business ownershipsimplified for success.
Our business is helping yourgrowth.
Boss offers business loans withbusiness coaching support.
Apply in minutes and getapproved and funded in as little
(01:40):
as 24 to 48 hours at businessownershipsimplified.com.
All right, welcome back to SmallBusiness Pivot Assistance.
It's my jam.
Everybody knows that, that knowsme.
Where do we even start?
I mean, you've got 46,000 hours.
I'm sure you've got just acouple of insights.
(02:07):
So let's start with kind ofmaybe your upbringing a little
bit because I know as a businessowner, we didn't come out the
womb.
As an entrepreneur, there wassomething that triggered us to
do that.
And I find with most businessowners that we work with as a
business coach, they're eitherrunning from something or
running to something.
So kind of what was yourupbringing like so people can be
(02:30):
relatable to your story?
SPEAKER_01 (02:32):
Yeah, absolutely.
I always say I've been a serialentrepreneur since I was like 10
years old.
I used my form of creativity,ironically, was creating these
like clubs and businesses.
I literally have a tape of medoing what now is a podcast to
my stuffed animals back in theday.
(02:53):
So I think I just it's it'svery, very funny because I look
back and I'm like, wow, like ifonly you created that, you know,
you would have been so ahead ofthe times.
But uh I very much used, Ithink, creation as a way to just
kind of escape reality a littlebit.
That was my thing.
Everyone has theirs.
Um, I spent a lot of time inathletics, so um was a multi
(03:15):
sport athlete.
And I think that one of thefirst things that I realized was
the correlations betweeneveryone having a job on the
court, um, no matter what itwas.
And I had a really greatunderstanding of that being in
sports.
There's so many correlationswith the two.
And so fast forward a littlebit, um, go to college.
(03:39):
You know, I've I graduatedcollege like literally 2008, the
worst time in the world to getto get a job, found out I was
pregnant, like literally thesame week.
I'm like, wow, this istremendous.
Like, what the hell am I gonnado?
Um, and I think, you know, uh mywork ethic started very young
because I was uh I startedworking when I was 14 at
McDonald's.
(04:00):
I just want to make my ownmoney.
I wanted to be off my own.
I didn't want anybody, includingmy parents, I didn't want anyone
to tell me what to do or whereto be.
And that's been my personality,my entire life on this.
SPEAKER_00 (04:10):
So the freedom.
SPEAKER_01 (04:11):
Yeah.
And yeah, definitely very mucha, I don't know if anyone's into
astrology, but I'm definitely avery textbook Sagittarius.
And so I I think my entire lifein a nutshell has been chasing
freedom.
And I thought initially, becauseof I'm a millennial, uh, almost
I'm almost 40.
And so I think that what Irealized was, or I what I
(04:34):
thought, I guess, initially wasokay, if I get a job and I'm in
charge and I'm the CEO andwhatever, then I'm gonna have
this freedom and all this moneyand all these different things.
And I worked my way up to thatand was running several, I I've
run several companies, mostly inlike the medical space and
things like that.
But I realized that that's likethat's actually not it.
(04:57):
You're actually more of aprisoner.
It's you're actually almost moreof a prisoner than than
anything.
And I always say that I was likethe best employee, won tons of
awards, everyone loved me untilI decided I wanted to leave and
go about my way.
Um, and I think that the reallythe last corporate role that I
had, I decided that I wasprobably just unemployable.
(05:19):
And that came from there just II truly don't listen.
I I like to learn and I'm veryinquisitive, but I don't like to
copy or do anything that anyoneelse does, right?
And so that is very much anentrepreneurial mindset because
I'm not gonna say, like, oh,they did this, I'm gonna copy
them, I'm gonna, you know, rollwith it.
Um, I wanted to make sure that Iwas like truly creating on my
(05:42):
own.
And the only way to go aboutdoing that, that I finally
realized it wasn't by runningsomeone else's company, it
wasn't by running a division, itwas none of those things.
It was truly being off on myown.
And when I was able to connectthe two, that like you're such a
hard worker, but you get sofrustrated because you know how
it needs to get done, and youcan't, you know, you're not the
(06:04):
owner of the company.
So that's kind of where my uh myjourney started.
But it started very, very young,and I just I I I consider
business a hobby.
I know that sounds really lame,but even my favorite show is
Shark Tank.
So there's that.
SPEAKER_00 (06:20):
Well, so you don't like barriers and entrepreneurs,
that's one of our favoritethings.
And for those that areconsidering, I know we have some
listeners that just haven'tquite pulled the plug yet.
They want to be an entrepreneur.
And for those listeners outthere like that, uh I want you
to hear that you aren't chasingthe money.
(06:41):
Most entrepreneurs don't.
So if it's only for the money,you're probably not gonna go as
far as you could.
It's gotta be for that freedom,the experience, the making
choices of your time.
You know, there's other things.
So uh so let's start with whenyou first started your first
business.
Yeah, what were some of thethings you would have done
(07:03):
differently now that you have46,000 hours of a lot, long
time.
SPEAKER_01 (07:09):
Um I've actually had a few failed businesses before I
got to where I'm at now.
And a lot of people just don'teven know that because I stayed
very private on social media forso many years.
I really didn't post anythinguntil just recently.
Um, so I my first venture was anevent planning business.
And ironically, I was very farahead of the curve.
(07:30):
This was back in like 2012.
So event planning is a totallydifferent industry now.
I I started before Pinteresteven existed, really, or like it
wasn't it wasn't popular yet.
Instagram really wasn't a thing.
And I think that, and this issomething I still struggle with,
by the way.
So it's a lesson I've learnedand I'm cognizant of it, but I
(07:53):
have to constantly reset mybrain.
I'm such a giver and I reallylove helping people, and I think
that that's why I love helpingbusinesses be successful.
I I truly just love it, or else,you know, I'd be miserable
because I work, you know, allday long.
I work pretty much all day long.
But I I think with thatbusiness, the first thing, and
and again, talking aboutservice-based businesses, that
(08:14):
is a service.
It's very time consuming andit's very high pressure, right?
Which, which a lot of a lot ofbusinesses are.
So what I realized was I was100% the business.
It was 100% not scalable becauseif I'm the person that's doing
X, Y, Z and they want me, I cannever really truly step away
(08:35):
from that.
And this was before beforepersonal branding as well, and
before all these resources wehave, right?
So I didn't want to spend everysingle weekend away, like at the
time I had two young children.
I'm I'm married.
It's like I don't want to go doany of these things.
I hate, I actually like hatethis.
And I don't like to be toldwhere I need to be at any given
time, you know, unless it'ssomething I truly want to do.
(08:56):
So I think for that, I learnedthe importance of creating a
business that works for you thatisn't you.
And I identify that so early andwas able to help a lot of, I
worked with a lot of doctors,and a lot of times the doctor
was business, and that's very,very difficult to change the
model.
But I've been very successful indoing that.
So I'd say overall, the lessonis you cannot be the business.
(09:21):
It is not scalable if you arethe business.
And so you have to take yourselfand place your personal brand as
one thing, and that's how you'reshowing up, that's how you're
talking, that's podcasting, it'syou know, speaking, whatever it
is.
And then you also have to createeverything in the background
that runs so you could literallytake it and hand it to someone
and say, All right, so you dothis first, second, third,
(09:43):
fourth, and fifth.
And I just wasn't aware of howto do that yet.
I hadn't been exposed to it.
There's no entrepreneurs in myfamily but me, you know.
So I kind of was like, ah, whatdo I do?
SPEAKER_00 (09:55):
Yeah, we we both kind of wear that patch.
I believe I was one of the veryrare entrepreneurs in my family
as well.
But there's uh something yousaid that was interesting there
that I want our listeners tohear.
What you were kind of saying, itsounds like, is in the event
space, when it was just you, youwere trading time for money.
Well, guess what, people?
(10:16):
There's only so much time in aday.
So if you have a business thatyou are the business and you're
wanting to hit you know 10million or whatever, you're
gonna burn out because you'reworking all hours and you're
really never gonna scale itbecause you there's not enough
time.
SPEAKER_01 (10:30):
You are so you're so very correct.
And it it's the words that youmentioned, I think like we
should take a second really todissect them because they're so
powerful and there's so muchmeaning behind them both.
But unfortunately, with Chat GPTand everyone in America starting
a business from Chat GBT andCanva and whatever, I feel like
(10:54):
you see that those words and youdon't you you don't really know
necessarily what it means,right?
So, what does scale really mean?
What does burnout actually mean?
And I think for me, burnout, youhave to identify what it looks
like.
I start getting angry.
Like I actually get angry, andeverything that happens, I will
like I'm just mad at.
(11:14):
Like I can go to the gas stationand be mad at the gas pump, like
stupid stuff like that.
And so when I when I step intothat, I know I'm out of
alignment and I know that I'mdoing something within my
business that is frustrating me,and I really need to figure out,
or even within my role incorporate, and I need to figure
out like what that is, and Ineed to solve for X.
(11:35):
So I think that what burnoutmeans is like when you feel that
sensation in your body that'slike, I don't want to do this.
I'm I do not want to do this.
To me, that's what burnout is.
It's not staying up too latebecause there's plenty of times
I've been happy as all get outto stay up all night long.
You know what I mean?
So I think that we see thingslike this online, and it's like
(11:56):
every single person's differentand how they want to operate as
a human, it's it's alldifferent.
Some nights I love to stay upall night because it's peace and
quiet.
My kids aren't, you know, awake.
Sometimes I like to get 4 a.m.
on a Saturday.
Sometimes I like to go to myworkout in the middle of the
day.
I I think truly, like all ofthose things could be identified
(12:16):
as burnout in some way if youtold a story around it.
So I think that you really haveto sit with yourself as a
business owner and say, like,number one, what do I want to do
every single day?
Like, what is it?
Is it, I want to make sure I cantake my dogs to the dog park?
Okay, write that down.
Like, write literally everysingle thing that would fill
your cup up every single dayfirst.
(12:37):
And then in the gaps where youdon't have something, that's
where you fill in your business.
And if the business that youhave doesn't fit into that, it's
probably not gonna work for youat some point because you're
going to have the push and pull.
Like, I don't mind working allday as long as I can get to my
daughter's volleyball game, myson's baseball.
I don't care.
That burnout to me is whensomeone's calling me and being
like, Allison, Allison, Allison,and I'm trying to watch a game.
(12:59):
Or do you see what I'm saying?
Yeah.
So I think we have to reallyidentify what burnout is, and no
one's doing a good job of thatright now because we're just
recycling content.
That's a conversation foranother day.
SPEAKER_00 (13:09):
Very well said.
Build your business around yourlife.
SPEAKER_01 (13:13):
Yeah.
unknown (13:14):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (13:14):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (13:15):
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00 (13:15):
Make sure it fits the mold.
SPEAKER_01 (13:18):
Yeah.
And you know, definitely verylong-winded there, but I feel
like you have to really thinklike use my examples to think.
Like, think for yourself.
Don't think for the thoughtleader on social media.
Like, think for yourself becauseeveryone's everyone's different.
You don't have to get up at 4a.m.
to be successful.
But if you feel like doing thatone day and you feel good about
it, then by all means go for it,you know?
(13:39):
Um, I think the other thing isfrom a scaling standpoint, it's
like if I went, like my bestquestion to answer that is like,
if I decided I wanted to go toJamaica for 30 days, what what
happens?
Like, what what happens to thebusiness?
Do I have money coming in?
Do I have a recurring revenuestream?
(14:01):
Does my lead system, you know,is it is it on autopilot?
Is it automated?
Is there an AI bot available toanswer questions?
Do I have an employee that I cantrust?
And you know, employees arebecoming less and less scalable
too.
So it really starts from thefoundation of like what things
can you automate?
And like you've got to spend allyour time doing that.
I meet like as soon as you getdone listening to this.
SPEAKER_00 (14:24):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (14:24):
Actually.
SPEAKER_00 (14:26):
Well, follow you first, and then uh yeah, well,
that's powerful.
And you said another word inthere.
I guess we could play on powerwords for a second because you
said another word success.
So just like burnout isdifferent and unique to each
person, so it's success.
For some people, they may feelsuccessful, just being able to
go to the dog park, money isreally not the issue, or go on
(14:48):
to watch their kids.
And for another person, thatsuccess could be$10 million or a
quality of life, a different,you know, going to Jamaica,
going to these different places,traveling the world.
So, you know, there's there isno there are a lot of buzzwords
that I feel like influencershave put limitations on, or if
it were to be success, this iswhat it looks like, and you're
(15:08):
not successful if it's not.
Choose your own lane, right?
And stay with it.
That's that's so powerful.
Well, when you started or gotout of the event uh business,
then did you find a businessthat fit the mold, or did you
still have to learn that?
SPEAKER_01 (15:26):
I had this, yeah, I had this whole dream, and this
is the trap that I got into.
And I'm gonna be super honestwith you, it was a rough trap.
I mean, I started that businessbecause I hate like I hate
working for people.
I there's no other way to putit.
I really just don't like to doit.
And so I wanted to be off on myown, and I knew I could be, but
(15:48):
there just weren't resourcesthat like I don't even think
business coaches existed.
Like I I really don't I I don'treally know what existed at that
time because I just know Ididn't have anything other than
my brain, and I didn't knowenough because I hadn't been
through enough.
And you talk about, and I I'llanswer your question, but you
think you talk about tradingtime for money, and that's
(16:10):
actually what you're doing withwhat you do and with what I do,
because if you've been throughit and you know what to do, you
can save someone 46,000 hours oryou know, in your background as
well.
You can save all that time, hitthe fast forward button and get
so far ahead so quickly.
Whereas, like I it took me, Imean, I was gosh, 20, I got I
(16:31):
don't even know, 25 maybe at thetime.
And going on 40, it took me thatlong to finally figure out from
trial and error and runningdifferent businesses to how to
actually, and I'm still notprobably an expert at running my
business, if I'm being honestwith you.
Like, you know, you you don'tknow what you don't know, and
things are continuing to changeso quickly.
So wanted to just mention that.
(16:52):
I mean, trading time for moneyis available now.
It was not available back then,I'll tell you that.
The only option was trial anderror.
And unfortunately, I was so Iwas everything really within my
career, one thing fed into theother, and I've really never had
to apply for a job or reallydon't do a lot of advertising
for clients.
(17:13):
Uh I I'm mostly referral.
So ironically, I did an eventfor someone that worked for a
company that I had actuallyapplied to for several years in
the aesthetic space, right whenaesthetics started, like very
like 2013, 2012, something likethat.
And I saw her post it after I'ddone an event for her for her
(17:37):
child, and I was like, I wantto, this is what I want to do.
And so I actually took a job asa a front desk person and was
there for a week and then workedmy way up.
By the time I left, I wasmanaging like over a hundred
employees, um, redid the entiresales process and marketing for
the company.
It was an 18-location med spacorporation.
(17:57):
So I went and I I went ended upjust throwing myself back into
corporate, but it happened for areason because when you take
something that is so heavilyregulated, and I think a lot of
my why I think like I do as faras systems is running a medical
spa is it's very, very, veryhard because you have the
(18:17):
medical board.
You also have like theadvertising, it's reach it's
retail medicine at the end ofthe day.
So I had to very much,especially when I was working
with so many people, and thenalso had, you know, my world at
corporate in addition to workingwith people like in the field, I
there there really was no otheroption but to have the checks
(18:39):
and balances.
And that's honestly where Ilearned a lot.
And I took that knowledge and Ijust applied it to every
industry that I've because Iwork in all different types of
industries now, but I justapplied all of that to all these
different industries.
And even though maybe, you know,I have a construction company
right now, I wouldn't be like,oh, you need to do you need to
(19:00):
review charts and you need tohave three people sign off on it
because obviously that's notrelevant, but you can take that
same system and plug it intothat business.
So um I I don't think that Icould have done anything that I
that I'm doing now had I notgone through the corporate kind
of circle.
And you know, I I had probablythree or four CEO roles before I
(19:22):
actually, and then I didfranchise sales for a year and I
took a brand new franchise to200 locations in a year.
Um, and then that's when I justhad I honestly I just had the
money to go.
Like that that's honestly whathappened.
I just sold a lot.
I sold a lot, I sold like 3.2million and had a very high
commission structure.
And I literally took my bonusesand I was like, this is your
(19:45):
chance, Allison.
Run, like literally run and youjust go.
And that's when I bought my myfranchise that I have.
And so it it took much longer.
But for anyone listening, likeyou know when you're like you
know when you're done withsomething and you know when it's
your time to go, and you knowwhen you're ready to go off on
(20:07):
your own.
And I don't think that I coulddo what I do now had I not gone
through a lot of those differentthings because there's almost
nothing I haven't been through.
Like you see a lot, you see alot when you're when you're in
charge, and you know, you can'tunsee that.
But um, yeah, I I went back intocorporate America and then
finally, you know, I I told myhusband, like sometimes he's
like, why don't you just go geta nine to five and you know, you
(20:31):
can just you don't have to workall day.
And I'm like, that I wouldrather die actually than do
that.
And I know that for certain now,but if you if you went back five
years, I didn't know that.
Yeah, because I didn't know whatI didn't know, and I had no
mentor either, that was theother thing.
SPEAKER_00 (20:44):
So yeah.
Uh my first business was startedbefore 2000, we'll say that.
And the only way you could learnanything was go to the library
and starting a business.
If anybody knows what a libraryis, but starting a business, who
has time to go read a book tolearn that many things?
(21:04):
You know, I I I still readtoday, but back then that was
the only source.
There weren't coaches, thereweren't consultants.
And what I've learned is justlike you, uh we don't know what
we don't know.
I've been through divorce, I'vebeen through a bankruptcy, I've
been through all these things,and I can catapult you faster,
just like you can, your clientsfaster by recognizing those
(21:27):
signs that are coming up,forecasting, and trying to keep
people on the straight path andnot have to go down those things
that took you and I years tolearn.
SPEAKER_01 (21:36):
I know.
I'm just like, I mean, I and thefinancial stress too.
Oh, don't, yeah.
I mean, it's stressful.
Like I have, I mean, I reallytruly have the burden of being
the person that kind of decideswhat our life looks like.
And that's hard.
You know, it's hard to be mom.
It's hard to have that everysingle day.
But that's the the ironic thingis on the flip side, I don't
(21:59):
think I would have it anotherway because I love being in
charge, you know, like that's mything.
And I think a lot of peoplewon't admit that.
Like, I just like being incharge of whatever the situation
is.
I like being in charge of plans.
I, you know, I'm that controlfreak, we can throw that word
out there if we really want to.
But I think that I very muchjust like to manage situations,
and I don't think there'sanything wrong with it.
(22:21):
And I also don't think there'sanything wrong with being a
control freak, and there'snothing wrong with being a
perfectionist, and there'snothing wrong with wanting
things done your way.
But if you if you're listeningto this and you're that person,
you need to start your ownbusiness.
You need to start your ownbusiness if you're never gonna
be happy.
SPEAKER_00 (22:38):
Yeah, it's not control freak, it's you're
controlling your freedom.
Yeah, you're controlling yourfreedom, and that's that's why
we do what we do.
So on the freedom side, I want Idon't want to push off the
systems because that isessential in any business to be
successful and scale.
Uh I hear so many businessowners, they know they need
(23:00):
them, they hear about SOPs, butit's just always on the shelf,
it's always on the back burner,and I always hear, well, I just
don't have enough time, I don'tknow where to start.
We do so much.
I there's no way I can talkabout uh can we debunk those
myths?
And since you've got so muchexperience in this, you've done
franchising and stuff.
Can you share, like, first ofall, if a business owner starts,
(23:23):
and I have businesses thatapproach us that's been in
business for 30 years and theydon't have SOP.
SPEAKER_01 (23:28):
Oh, that's that is actually, in my opinion, and uh
it sounds like yours, the mostcommon.
SPEAKER_00 (23:34):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (23:35):
The ones that are from the 90s and yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (23:37):
So where do they start?
Where do they find that time?
What's the benefit of them?
And I'll let you have the floor.
SPEAKER_01 (23:43):
Yeah, I do this a lot because and I do sell
businesses.
SPEAKER_00 (23:48):
Uh you're listening to small business pivots.
This podcast is produced by mycompany, Boss.
Our business is helping yoursgrow.
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(24:09):
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subscribe button and share it aswell.
Now let's get back to ourspecial guest.
So, where do they start?
Where do they find that time?
What's the benefit of them?
And I'll let you have the floor.
SPEAKER_01 (24:25):
Yeah, I do this a lot because and I do sell
businesses uh um a lot too.
Like I have a lot of businessesthat are like, I just want to
sell in six months.
Can you boost my revenue andthen you know create the sales
package?
So I actually do this a lot.
And the uh it's probably you cantell I'm getting excited to talk
about it because I reallygenuinely I I just believe that
(24:48):
like people don't even peopledon't think about what what's
with the end in mind.
And if you want to have a onelocation and that's what you
want, you you need systems.
If you want a franchise, youneed systems.
If you want to have you know alarge corporation with multiple
locations, by all means, samething.
(25:08):
And then if you want to licenseyour business, which is what I
plan to do uh in the future, youyou need you still need all the
same things, but you build allof it differently for a certain
reason.
And I think people just don'tknow what avenue to go for each
one, and they just get very,very overwhelmed because it is
time consuming to type.
But my and I do work with a lotof service-based businesses, so
(25:30):
people are in the field, they'rethey're on job sites, they're
injecting, they're you know,physicians, like all sorts of
stuff.
And if you're working all day,when are you gonna work on your
business?
Right.
And so the easiest way nowadaysthat that you can do this, and
this will this will probably betried and true forever and ever.
So whenever you're listening tothis, uh I tell my clients, I'm
(25:55):
like, if you're driving down theroad or you're not doing
anything, you're on a walk,whatever it is, send me a voice
note to explain, and I obviouslygive them what I want them to
explain, right?
So if it's I have a doc buildingcompany, so how you build your
docs, why you do it differently.
Um, and I'll give them likeprompts and questions, and I ask
(26:15):
them to answer those questions,and I literally create SOPs from
there.
So for the business owner that'ssuper busy, it's not
overwhelming to like get grabyour phone and talk into it
because you have your phoneevery second of every day.
But it does feel overwhelming tosay, okay, I would love for you
to document on it, you know,this this big document all of
the things that you do.
(26:37):
It it sounds very, veryoverwhelming.
And so just make it easy.
You can also do the same thingin uh Chat GPT.
I personally recommend Chat GPTfor any SOPs.
They have a they do have a voiceoption as well, and they also
have an app on your on yourphone.
You can literally talk straightinto it and be like, I want to
(26:58):
create an SOP for building adoc.
This is how I do it.
Make sure that this is relevantto someone just starting out,
you know, blog, whatever,whatever the criteria is, and
it's gonna create that for you.
And then you just plug that intoGoogle Docs, make sure it stays
super organized with tabs, andthere you go.
You've got you've got an entirebank.
(27:18):
And then if you want to take ita step further, and for example,
you want to build like a littleuh uh localized internet for
your franchise or for yourcorporation or for your small
business, what whatever it is,all you do is take all of those,
turn them into pages, and voila,it's all there for you.
(27:38):
Another tool that I use a lotbecause I developed a uh CRM and
EMR as well.
Um I use Loom a lot.
And I find it's very effectivebecause now, again, it
summarizes everything for you.
Your face can even be in thebottom, so it doesn't seem like
(27:59):
just a screen.
And it's for those of you thatdon't don't know what Loom is,
sorry, I'll I'll explain that.
It's basically a screen record.
So think of how you can screenrecord on your iPhone.
It's basically like that foryour computer, and it's so, so
efficient for course building,anything like that.
And you sit down and dosomething that you're already
doing and be like, oh, let melet me bring up Loom and let me,
(28:20):
you know, go ahead and savethis, and you can actually
create an entire SOP bank inLoom.
And then that way, if you hire anew employee, one of my biggest
issues before all these thingswere available was again, if
you're in charge, you're incharge of everything, right?
So me hiring an assistant, a newoffice manager, like I would get
so much anxiety because so Iknow, trust me, I've been there.
(28:44):
I I would get so much anxietybecause I'm like, okay,
nothing's in place yet.
I'm in charge of putting thesethings in place.
But in order for me to have thetime to put the things in place,
I I this person needs to knowwhat to do.
So I have to train them.
And so that takes me out of myworkday.
And that's tried and true forany business.
It's it's like a push and pullof time.
So it's almost like beforeyou're hiring somebody, go ahead
(29:05):
and get those things in placebecause don't assume that you're
gonna have a forever employee.
Right.
You know, like most likelyyou're not gonna have a forever
employee.
I don't think that anyone isgonna be an employee in the next
like five years.
I think we're all befreelancers.
Another story for another day.
But I I think that between ChatGPT, voice text, and Loom, those
tools will help you so easilybuild a bank where anyone can
(29:28):
watch a video at any given timeand you have it right there.
And then when it comes time toput together your sales package,
if you do want to sell yourbusiness or if you want to
franchise it or whatever thecase may be, you aren't going to
scramble and you're gonna lookso much more put together and
the valuation of your businessis gonna be significantly higher
because they're realizing that,oh, you actually do have a
(29:48):
business.
You don't just have a servicethat you provide in exchange for
money.
And I think that that's whatSOPs actually do for you is they
take uh something that you'redoing.
Trading time for money or aservice for money, and you're
putting logic to it so that thenyou actually have something that
(30:08):
is scalable.
And without that, you're you'regonna do at some point, you're
just gonna phase out, in myopinion.
So yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (30:16):
You're either gonna phase out or you're not gonna be
able to just survive the companywithout Lulu or Mark, whoever
that person is that is the mostvaluable.
SPEAKER_01 (30:26):
Lulu.
I haven't that's so freakingthat's funny.
I thought you were gonna sayLululemon initially.
I was like, is he?
SPEAKER_00 (30:33):
I don't know.
One of my old uh businesspartners, he always used to
because Lulu is not a commonname, so he was like, I don't
want to use common names, that'sall just Lulu.
That was before Lemon.
SPEAKER_01 (30:44):
That way, uh that way nobody gets no one gets
offended.
SPEAKER_00 (30:48):
No one gets hurt, right?
SPEAKER_01 (30:49):
Not like, oh, wait a second.
SPEAKER_00 (30:52):
So you've uncovered a lot here, and one of those is
the best opportunity I hear iswhen a new employee starts, if
there's anything you have totrain them on, make a system for
it, make an SOP for it rightthen.
That's your best opportunitybecause for those business
owners that are stuck saying, Idon't even know where to start.
Well, when you hire somebody, ifyou have to train them on
(31:14):
something, there's your SOPright there.
You need to make.
But what about for oh go ahead?
SPEAKER_01 (31:18):
Yeah, no, I was gonna say, and if you are
training someone, that would bethe perfect time to record what
you're training.
Set up your set up whatever itis that you need to set up and
do it right then and there,because like I said, they're not
gonna be a forever employee.
We all know that.
And so then you can hand whatyou did for that employee on to
the next one, and you're good togo.
So, like, that's definitely anexample of working harder or
(31:40):
sorry, working smarter, notharder.
Because if you're already doingsomething, then it's so much
easier just to be like, Oh, letme do this.
So, sorry, go ahead.
SPEAKER_00 (31:48):
No, no, that that that was good.
I mean, I you see, I'm gettingexcited with you.
SPEAKER_01 (31:52):
I know, I I can do this all day.
SPEAKER_00 (31:54):
I literally so what about those companies that
aren't hiring right now?
Those are the ones that alsoseem overwhelmed where I we do
so much, I don't know where tostart.
So, in other words, is there astructure that you like to
follow?
And then, secondly, where do youstore those so people actually
use them?
SPEAKER_01 (32:13):
So, repeat the very beginning of that question.
SPEAKER_00 (32:16):
Uh, is there a structure that you follow?
So let's say we're not hiringsomebody, so we don't know what
to start with.
Is there a structure or aframework that you prefer?
SPEAKER_01 (32:26):
Yeah, I I mean, I think the biggest thing is if
you are not, I always start withlike whatever you don't want to
be doing first.
Well, I mean I I know thatsounds crazy, but if you think
about it, if it's something thatisn't creative, because like
(32:47):
there's you can't make an SOPfor creativity, right?
And so depending on what thatlooks like, I mean, you you you
you're just not gonna be able toreplicate that.
So if you think about, okay, Iam building, I'm just gonna use
the doc example.
I build docs.
Well, I'm not building everysingle doc.
(33:07):
So what would be the first thingthat I need to tell someone how
to do?
It would be this, right?
Or if there's something that'svery time consuming within your
niche or your business that youknow you could hand off, but you
would need to actually like,here's the link for this, here's
where you go for this.
Those things always have to bedone first because the second
(33:28):
you have those, it's very copyand paste, but it does take a
long, I mean it takes time toput together.
So um that would be probably thefirst thing.
It's like whatever is mymindless that you could have
someone in middle school or highschool do, you need to go ahead
and get that done immediately.
Um, I also think if there's aproprietary, and by the way, if
(33:53):
you do not have this within yourbusiness, you are swimming in
the sea of perfect competitionand you it's a race to the
bottom.
We all want to be competing injust a monopolistic type way,
meaning like you have to havesomething proprietary so that
you're actually able to standout against your competition.
(34:15):
So, just to like say that first.
So if there's anything that isvery proprietary, this is our
very specific way that we do afacial, or this is a very
specific way that we build adock, or we do our consultation
process, those things are highon the totem pole as well,
because that is actually yoursecret sauce, and that's what
people pay you for.
And if you don't have somethinglike that in your business,
(34:36):
here's your sign to go figurethat out.
Because if not, again, you'll beswimming in the sea of perfect
competition where everyonesounds the same, which is what
we actually talked about in thebeginning, where everyone's
saying scale and burnout, andeveryone's trying to solve for
that, but no one's doing it in away that is actually effective
or custom, in my opinion.
SPEAKER_00 (34:55):
So, what do people do?
Because uh most business ownersthey'll say, What if somebody
takes that with them?
Now that I've given the recipeout there, do you have any kind
of gaps or things that canprevent that or maybe calm their
nerves on that?
SPEAKER_01 (35:11):
Yeah, I mean, if you have any employee that's working
within your business, theyalready know what those things
are, right?
SPEAKER_02 (35:19):
True.
SPEAKER_01 (35:19):
Um, facts, facts are facts, you know what I mean?
Like I I'm trying to think of anexample.
I mean, I I opened up a a big, abig, big, big med spa that um, a
franchisable med spa, and I likefrom start to finish, I did I
did all the things and we didthings very, very differently.
And that's the first thing thatI had to train the staff on,
because that was the secretsauce, you know what I mean?
(35:41):
So I think that first andforemost, if you're really it's
it's first of all, it's hard tostart a business, right?
So if you've already started andyou have things going, you have
the secret sauce, like you'realready way ahead, so don't
worry about that.
But I also think that by makingyour employees, if it's that
(36:02):
type of situation, really a partof the business and a part of
the changes in the business, Ithink that they'll stay with you
a lot longer too.
And there's also a lot of likeprofit sharing options and
things like that.
But to an extent, every singleperson and every single business
that exists right now has somepiece of something that they
learned somewhere else thatthey've put somewhere else.
(36:24):
But that doesn't mean that onebusiness is going to be more
successful than the otherbecause everything revolves
around like, who are youremployees?
What is your branding?
What does your visibility looklike?
How are people finding you?
Are you showing up on socialmedia?
You know, are you optimized forSEO, AEO, and GEO?
I mean, there's like ninemillion things that you can look
(36:45):
at that would are are very bigdeterminants.
It's not necessarily like thisis how you do this.
I mean, I'll give you anexample.
Um, this is a really goodexample, actually.
I'm really excited.
I can so have a good example.
SPEAKER_00 (36:58):
Anticipation here.
SPEAKER_01 (36:59):
Oh, yeah, I know.
I'm I'm building it up rightnow.
So Oreo, who's had an Oreo?
Everybody.
I freaking love Oreos.
Uh so Oreo was actually there,there was a different company
that made the Oreo cookie first.
No one's ever heard of it.
And I actually can't evenremember the name of it because
I didn't, I've never seen themin my entire life until you know
(37:20):
I was reading up on it.
And what was the difference?
Was it the icing in the middle?
Was it the cookie?
No, it was literally exactly thesame thing, tasted the same.
Oreo came through with very,very, very, very, very um just
like amazing marketing, amazingbranding, and they just took it
(37:41):
and ran with it.
And they exist, and theircompany doesn't.
So that's just an example ofbranding.
Um, Coca-Cola, uh, Coca-Colaactually has two different
companies that are traded on thestock market, and one is
literally just like the essenceof Coca-Cola, like the branding
of Coca-Cola.
So, I mean, there's differentthings that you can put, and
(38:02):
you've got patents, and likethere's so many different
things, right, that you that youcan do for sure.
It just depends kind of whatyour industry is.
But just know that just becausesomeone does something that
you've done before doesn't meanthat you can't be successful or
they can be more successful thanyou.
SPEAKER_00 (38:19):
I assure you that probably calms some nerves
because that's a good way tolook at it is just because they
might have the one secret saucedoesn't mean they have
everything else to take thatbrand to the or that sauce to
the next level.
Yeah.
So what do people do?
I also hear business owners say,well, how do I get people to
follow these?
In other words, do I put them ina binder and throw them on the
(38:39):
copier on the desk, or do Iwhere how do I store them so
they're easily accessible andpeople actually use them?
SPEAKER_01 (38:47):
Yeah.
So I think first a good way isjust a very easily accessible
knowledge base, number one,making, I mean, this that not
nothing crazy, making sure thatall employees know where to go
for things.
I think you also have to trainpeople.
And I even have to do this withmy clients because I've I've
tons of things done for them,and they're like, hey, can you
(39:07):
send me this?
It's in the drive that you'vehad for 90 days now.
Like, you know, and so I couldeasily find it and send it, but
I also am doing them adisservice by not being able to
allow them to operate on theirown.
SPEAKER_02 (39:20):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (39:20):
And I mean, independence is huge for me.
I'm I've been very I'm I've beenindependent my entire life.
You know what I mean?
I used to, I kind of just foundmy way through life by myself, I
feel like a little bit.
And I let my kids operate thesame way.
Like I let them, you know,handle things on their own.
I don't, you know, handhold ifthey need anything, obviously,
all the system, but very much atough love manager back in the
(39:41):
day or CEO.
I'd be like, nope, you can golook for it.
It's right there.
Um, so yes, you can put it in abinder and that's fine.
And if you're it just depends onthe business.
I think depending on howtechnologically savvy your
business is running.
If it's not, by the way, youneed to get it.
But um, it's not a terrible ideato have a binder.
(40:02):
Um, I think that what we allhave to do is just commit to the
fact that your staff isn'tstupid, they know where to look,
they just are lazy, and you haveto train them to not be lazy.
And because we all wantinformation so quickly, um, I
think by having that onlinedatabase where you can actually
just like search whatever it isand it will pop up.
And there's several platforms,like Go High Level, for example,
(40:24):
is one, you can create thoseknowledge bases and it's right
there in front of you.
Uh, so definitely 100% um can doit that way.
But just know like staffmeetings and communication and
things like that are alwayssuper beneficial.
So, like maybe rotate on oneprocedure and talk about that at
each staff meeting.
(40:45):
So, everyone, you know, you caneither improve the processes or
people are reminded of how to dothings.
And then when they they ask youfor the shortcut as the business
owner or manager or whatever,whatever the situation is, make
sure that you're redirectingthem and you're not holding
their hand through that.
Like make them go to the binderand figure it out.
SPEAKER_02 (41:05):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (41:06):
And I I would always say, I can tell you how to do
that, but I would be doing you adisservice to your professional
development if I gave you theshortcut.
So you go figure out how to useit, and then come back to me and
you know, tell me tell me whatyou learned.
SPEAKER_00 (41:21):
So no, that's a great point.
I used to tell my kids when theywere growing up, when they were
smaller, if it wasn't a moralissue or ethical issue, I would
tell them if they'd ask aquestion, I'd say, Google it.
In other words, find theinformation.
Here's the tool, here's theresource, you find it, and now
they can they're independent.
SPEAKER_01 (41:41):
That is that's how honestly, that's how I've
learned pretty much everythingthat I know.
I'm very much an expert in trialand error, but I think because I
failed so many times, and I'vewon a lot too, right?
But I think because I failed somany times, I know what not to
do.
Like I've made a lot ofmistakes, but I I always say,
(42:02):
and I even would tell myemployees that they ever like
everyone would always uhemployees now, but then also
employees when I was incorporate America, everyone
would always come tellingthemselves to me.
I just created that culturewhere I never had to like pry,
nothing was ever a secret.
People would come to me and belike, Allison, I I did this.
And they like they knew I wouldcoach them through it.
(42:23):
And my first thing would alwaysbe like, congratulations, you
have learned something today.
It's totally fine, nothing,everything's fixable, but just
don't ever do it again and learnfrom it.
Turn your L's into lessons, youknow?
So I think that, and andactually when there's a mistake,
that's actually an opportunityto create a system.
SPEAKER_00 (42:47):
Another value.
SPEAKER_01 (42:48):
Most of the SOPs I do now for especially for med
spots, because I ran them forgosh, like 15 years.
I and I've done a lot ofstartups there.
I I think that that that was thefirst thing.
Like almost all of my SOPs aremistakes that people have made.
But had I not done it and seenit, I wouldn't have been able to
solve the problem.
So I think too, if you're juststarting out, because I know
some people have been inbusiness, you said, for 30
(43:09):
years.
Some people are like, I want tobecome an entrepreneur, and
they're everyone's in differentseasons.
But if you think about like aspecial skill you have or
business that you want to start,really what you should be doing
is sitting and thinking, like,okay, what is everything that
could go wrong in thissituation?
Like, what could go wrong withthe client?
What could go wrong with theprocess?
And you literally solve for Xbefore it's even a problem, and
(43:32):
then tweak it if it ever, youknow, doesn't work out.
Um, I think what everyone does,and it's funny because our
brains are mostly negative, buta lot of times when we think
about um, you know, howsomething's gonna go, we do
assume that it's gonna go well,especially in business.
And and I guess in my opinion,I'm like, oh, this client's
gonna be great and we're gonnado this, this, and this.
Uh but I actually think you needto reverse it and say, like,
(43:55):
what could go bad in thesituation and just like make
sure that that isn't a thingever.
SPEAKER_00 (43:59):
That's called being proactive, people.
SPEAKER_01 (44:02):
Proactive.
SPEAKER_00 (44:03):
My favorite word.
SPEAKER_01 (44:04):
I try not to use, I know, I try not to use uh I
explain more than use wordsbecause I feel like I see them
online so much now.
I'm like, but now when you seeproactive online, you know what
that means because we justactually talked about it.
SPEAKER_00 (44:17):
Exactly.
Well, Allison, it's obvious thatyou know your stuff, and I
assure you that you've got theears of so many people.
They probably want to learn moreinsights and tips.
Where can they do that?
Where can they find you?
SPEAKER_01 (44:31):
Yeah, I'm most active on Instagram, I'd say
Allison M.
Bridges.
And um I am definitely big onAI, and you might get my AI
bought sometimes when youmessage me, but I do always
check direct messages andinquiries and things like that.
So if you need any sort of helpwith anything, obviously would
(44:51):
love just to give you tips andtricks.
And that's mostly what myInstagram's focused on too, is
just free resources.
I think that definitely a littlebit um on the Alex Hermozzi
train in terms of just likegiving away free knowledge
because I really do wanteverybody to win.
SPEAKER_00 (45:06):
So that's for the free knowledge.
Tell us about your businesswhere they can pay you.
SPEAKER_01 (45:12):
Yeah.
So I do I have three differentoptions.
Um, I have like a full servicebuild where I basically either
flip or start your business andit's all done within 90 days.
So that's anything from likeCRM, automations, mini chat,
anything AI bot related,website, logo, you name it.
It is all full service, justneed about an hour of your time
(45:33):
a week.
I also am uh launching the nextweek Founders Circle, which is a
done with you uh lower, lowerticket option.
It's like$79 a month orsomething like that.
And each week we do a workshopand work on a part of your
business.
And I don't know that thatexists anywhere, which is why I
built it.
I really feel like people needthe opportunity to take at least
(45:56):
one hour a week and work ontheir business so that we can
get things like this done.
And it just keeps you on track.
So it's not like a as much of acoaching session as it is
coaching and doing at the sametime.
And then we also have um expertsonly mini.
And basically what that is is ifyou just need like to pull a
solution off the shelf, we turnaround most of those in about a
(46:17):
week.
So that could be anything froman AI bot to I bring up many
chat a lot because many chat'sgreat for service-based
providers, and uh especially ifyou need to book and things like
that.
So, really anything, a logo,website, automations, you name
it.
SPEAKER_00 (46:30):
And is this all on your experts only
consulting.com?
SPEAKER_01 (46:35):
Yes, um, it is.
SPEAKER_00 (46:37):
And then your personal website,
Allisonmbridges.com, what canthey find there?
SPEAKER_01 (46:43):
Yeah, so I I just recently launched that.
I haven't actually even publiclythrown that out there yet.
But um for that You heard ithere first, people.
Yeah, like actually breakingnews.
Yeah, so we uh on on that site,if you want me to, I I do a lot
of the recording videos fordifferent businesses, like if
(47:04):
they want me to be kind of theirspokesperson versus um not as
much of like an influencerthing, but like if you want a
video explaining X, Y, and Z, soI do that for like construction
companies and wellness brandsand stuff like that, where I'll
just kind of go through andexplain all the things, or if
you want to do any brandcollabs, even if uh speaking gig
or anything like that, I do allof those things, and I just love
(47:25):
to help and see what I can dofor your brand or your company.
SPEAKER_00 (47:29):
Well, I always end with a question, and that is if
you were in a room full ofbusiness owners, different
seasons of business, differentindustries, what's one thing
that could be applicable for allof them?
It could be a quote, it could bea book, some one last piece of
insight or tip.
SPEAKER_01 (47:48):
Yes, it is my favorite, favorite quote ever.
It's you always miss 100% of theshots that you don't take.
So don't be scared to be thefirst person to do anything.
Just look at look at I'm a hugeSteve Jobs fan, and look at
Steve Jobs.
He lit, I mean, may he rest inpeace.
He created apps out of thin air,and we exist off of apps
(48:14):
nowadays.
You know what I mean?
So don't be scared to createsomething that doesn't exist.
And in fact, I encourage you todo that because those are the
people that will truly besuccessful, not the successful
people that are trying to do andcopy everybody within their
industry.
So just be different.
SPEAKER_00 (48:29):
Sound advice.
Well, Allison, you've been ablessing to many.
Thank you so much for sharingyour insights and your time with
me and our listeners.
SPEAKER_01 (48:38):
Of course.
Thank you so much.
I appreciate it.
SPEAKER_00 (48:40):
My pleasure.
Thank you for listening to SmallBusiness Pivots.
This podcast is created andproduced by my company, Boss.
Our business is growing yours.
Boss offers flexible businessloans with business coaching
support.
Apply in minutes and getapproved and funded in as little
as twenty-four to forty-eighthours at business ownership
(49:02):
simplified.com.
If you're enjoying this podcast,don't forget to hit the
subscribe button and share it aswell.
If you need help growing yourbusiness, email me at Michael at
michaeldmorton.com.
We'll see you next time on SmallBusiness Business.
All right, welcome to another Small Business Pivot.
Today we have another specialguest from around the world.
And if you watch or listen toour show, you know that no one
can introduce themselves likethe business owner.
So just introduce yourself, yourcompany, and what we're going to
help our listeners with today.
SPEAKER_01 (00:17):
Absolutely.
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm obsessed with business andcannot wait to chat with you.
My name is Allison Bridges.
I'm the founder of Experts Only.
We're a full-service boutiquefirm.
And I also own a children'sathletics franchise as well.
And over the last 20 years and46,000 hours, I have learned so
(00:39):
much about taking the time tocreate the systems to get ahead
in your business later on.
And we're going to discusstoday, again, that's one of my
favorite topics, how to actuallyoptimize, put those in place,
and why you shouldn't feel likeyou're behind while you're
working on those systems.
SPEAKER_00 (00:59):
This is going to be incredible.
And for the business owner thatwe just had a coaching session
with this morning, I hope you'rewatching this show because we
were just talking about systemsand the benefit and how do I
find time to actually do themand everything.
But first, we're going tointroduce the show and we'll be
right back.
Welcome to Small BusinessPivots, a podcast produced for
small business owners.
(01:20):
I'm your host, Michael Morrison,founder and CEO of Boss, where
we make business ownershipsimplified for success.
Our business is helping yourgrowth.
Boss offers business loans withbusiness coaching support.
Apply in minutes and getapproved and funded in as little
(01:40):
as 24 to 48 hours at businessownershipsimplified.com.
All right, welcome back to SmallBusiness Pivot Assistance.
It's my jam.
Everybody knows that, that knowsme.
Where do we even start?
I mean, you've got 46,000 hours.
I'm sure you've got just acouple of insights.
(02:07):
So let's start with kind ofmaybe your upbringing a little
bit because I know as a businessowner, we didn't come out the
womb.
As an entrepreneur, there wassomething that triggered us to
do that.
And I find with most businessowners that we work with as a
business coach, they're eitherrunning from something or
running to something.
So kind of what was yourupbringing like so people can be
(02:30):
relatable to your story?
SPEAKER_01 (02:32):
Yeah, absolutely.
I always say I've been a serialentrepreneur since I was like 10
years old.
I used my form of creativity,ironically, was creating these
like clubs and businesses.
I literally have a tape of medoing what now is a podcast to
my stuffed animals back in theday.
(02:53):
So I think I just it's it'svery, very funny because I look
back and I'm like, wow, like ifonly you created that, you know,
you would have been so ahead ofthe times.
But uh I very much used, Ithink, creation as a way to just
kind of escape reality a littlebit.
That was my thing.
Everyone has theirs.
Um, I spent a lot of time inathletics, so um was a multi
(03:15):
sport athlete.
And I think that one of thefirst things that I realized was
the correlations betweeneveryone having a job on the
court, um, no matter what itwas.
And I had a really greatunderstanding of that being in
sports.
There's so many correlationswith the two.
And so fast forward a littlebit, um, go to college.
(03:39):
You know, I've I graduatedcollege like literally 2008, the
worst time in the world to getto get a job, found out I was
pregnant, like literally thesame week.
I'm like, wow, this istremendous.
Like, what the hell am I gonnado?
Um, and I think, you know, uh mywork ethic started very young
because I was uh I startedworking when I was 14 at
McDonald's.
(04:00):
I just want to make my ownmoney.
I wanted to be off my own.
I didn't want anybody, includingmy parents, I didn't want anyone
to tell me what to do or whereto be.
And that's been my personality,my entire life on this.
SPEAKER_00 (04:10):
So the freedom.
SPEAKER_01 (04:11):
Yeah.
And yeah, definitely very mucha, I don't know if anyone's into
astrology, but I'm definitely avery textbook Sagittarius.
And so I I think my entire lifein a nutshell has been chasing
freedom.
And I thought initially, becauseof I'm a millennial, uh, almost
I'm almost 40.
And so I think that what Irealized was, or I what I
(04:34):
thought, I guess, initially wasokay, if I get a job and I'm in
charge and I'm the CEO andwhatever, then I'm gonna have
this freedom and all this moneyand all these different things.
And I worked my way up to thatand was running several, I I've
run several companies, mostly inlike the medical space and
things like that.
But I realized that that's likethat's actually not it.
(04:57):
You're actually more of aprisoner.
It's you're actually almost moreof a prisoner than than
anything.
And I always say that I was likethe best employee, won tons of
awards, everyone loved me untilI decided I wanted to leave and
go about my way.
Um, and I think that the reallythe last corporate role that I
had, I decided that I wasprobably just unemployable.
(05:19):
And that came from there just II truly don't listen.
I I like to learn and I'm veryinquisitive, but I don't like to
copy or do anything that anyoneelse does, right?
And so that is very much anentrepreneurial mindset because
I'm not gonna say, like, oh,they did this, I'm gonna copy
them, I'm gonna, you know, rollwith it.
Um, I wanted to make sure that Iwas like truly creating on my
(05:42):
own.
And the only way to go aboutdoing that, that I finally
realized it wasn't by runningsomeone else's company, it
wasn't by running a division, itwas none of those things.
It was truly being off on myown.
And when I was able to connectthe two, that like you're such a
hard worker, but you get sofrustrated because you know how
it needs to get done, and youcan't, you know, you're not the
(06:04):
owner of the company.
So that's kind of where my uh myjourney started.
But it started very, very young,and I just I I I consider
business a hobby.
I know that sounds really lame,but even my favorite show is
Shark Tank.
So there's that.
SPEAKER_00 (06:20):
Well, so you don't like barriers and entrepreneurs,
that's one of our favoritethings.
And for those that areconsidering, I know we have some
listeners that just haven'tquite pulled the plug yet.
They want to be an entrepreneur.
And for those listeners outthere like that, uh I want you
to hear that you aren't chasingthe money.
(06:41):
Most entrepreneurs don't.
So if it's only for the money,you're probably not gonna go as
far as you could.
It's gotta be for that freedom,the experience, the making
choices of your time.
You know, there's other things.
So uh so let's start with whenyou first started your first
business.
Yeah, what were some of thethings you would have done
(07:03):
differently now that you have46,000 hours of a lot, long
time.
SPEAKER_01 (07:09):
Um I've actually had a few failed businesses before I
got to where I'm at now.
And a lot of people just don'teven know that because I stayed
very private on social media forso many years.
I really didn't post anythinguntil just recently.
Um, so I my first venture was anevent planning business.
And ironically, I was very farahead of the curve.
(07:30):
This was back in like 2012.
So event planning is a totallydifferent industry now.
I I started before Pinteresteven existed, really, or like it
wasn't it wasn't popular yet.
Instagram really wasn't a thing.
And I think that, and this issomething I still struggle with,
by the way.
So it's a lesson I've learnedand I'm cognizant of it, but I
(07:53):
have to constantly reset mybrain.
I'm such a giver and I reallylove helping people, and I think
that that's why I love helpingbusinesses be successful.
I I truly just love it, or else,you know, I'd be miserable
because I work, you know, allday long.
I work pretty much all day long.
But I I think with thatbusiness, the first thing, and
and again, talking aboutservice-based businesses, that
(08:14):
is a service.
It's very time consuming andit's very high pressure, right?
Which, which a lot of a lot ofbusinesses are.
So what I realized was I was100% the business.
It was 100% not scalable becauseif I'm the person that's doing
X, Y, Z and they want me, I cannever really truly step away
(08:35):
from that.
And this was before beforepersonal branding as well, and
before all these resources wehave, right?
So I didn't want to spend everysingle weekend away, like at the
time I had two young children.
I'm I'm married.
It's like I don't want to go doany of these things.
I hate, I actually like hatethis.
And I don't like to be toldwhere I need to be at any given
time, you know, unless it'ssomething I truly want to do.
(08:56):
So I think for that, I learnedthe importance of creating a
business that works for you thatisn't you.
And I identify that so early andwas able to help a lot of, I
worked with a lot of doctors,and a lot of times the doctor
was business, and that's very,very difficult to change the
model.
But I've been very successful indoing that.
So I'd say overall, the lessonis you cannot be the business.
(09:21):
It is not scalable if you arethe business.
And so you have to take yourselfand place your personal brand as
one thing, and that's how you'reshowing up, that's how you're
talking, that's podcasting, it'syou know, speaking, whatever it
is.
And then you also have to createeverything in the background
that runs so you could literallytake it and hand it to someone
and say, All right, so you dothis first, second, third,
(09:43):
fourth, and fifth.
And I just wasn't aware of howto do that yet.
I hadn't been exposed to it.
There's no entrepreneurs in myfamily but me, you know.
So I kind of was like, ah, whatdo I do?
SPEAKER_00 (09:55):
Yeah, we we both kind of wear that patch.
I believe I was one of the veryrare entrepreneurs in my family
as well.
But there's uh something yousaid that was interesting there
that I want our listeners tohear.
What you were kind of saying, itsounds like, is in the event
space, when it was just you, youwere trading time for money.
Well, guess what, people?
(10:16):
There's only so much time in aday.
So if you have a business thatyou are the business and you're
wanting to hit you know 10million or whatever, you're
gonna burn out because you'reworking all hours and you're
really never gonna scale itbecause you there's not enough
time.
SPEAKER_01 (10:30):
You are so you're so very correct.
And it it's the words that youmentioned, I think like we
should take a second really todissect them because they're so
powerful and there's so muchmeaning behind them both.
But unfortunately, with Chat GPTand everyone in America starting
a business from Chat GBT andCanva and whatever, I feel like
(10:54):
you see that those words and youdon't you you don't really know
necessarily what it means,right?
So, what does scale really mean?
What does burnout actually mean?
And I think for me, burnout, youhave to identify what it looks
like.
I start getting angry.
Like I actually get angry, andeverything that happens, I will
like I'm just mad at.
(11:14):
Like I can go to the gas stationand be mad at the gas pump, like
stupid stuff like that.
And so when I when I step intothat, I know I'm out of
alignment and I know that I'mdoing something within my
business that is frustrating me,and I really need to figure out,
or even within my role incorporate, and I need to figure
out like what that is, and Ineed to solve for X.
(11:35):
So I think that what burnoutmeans is like when you feel that
sensation in your body that'slike, I don't want to do this.
I'm I do not want to do this.
To me, that's what burnout is.
It's not staying up too latebecause there's plenty of times
I've been happy as all get outto stay up all night long.
You know what I mean?
So I think that we see thingslike this online, and it's like
(11:56):
every single person's differentand how they want to operate as
a human, it's it's alldifferent.
Some nights I love to stay upall night because it's peace and
quiet.
My kids aren't, you know, awake.
Sometimes I like to get 4 a.m.
on a Saturday.
Sometimes I like to go to myworkout in the middle of the
day.
I I think truly, like all ofthose things could be identified
(12:16):
as burnout in some way if youtold a story around it.
So I think that you really haveto sit with yourself as a
business owner and say, like,number one, what do I want to do
every single day?
Like, what is it?
Is it, I want to make sure I cantake my dogs to the dog park?
Okay, write that down.
Like, write literally everysingle thing that would fill
your cup up every single dayfirst.
(12:37):
And then in the gaps where youdon't have something, that's
where you fill in your business.
And if the business that youhave doesn't fit into that, it's
probably not gonna work for youat some point because you're
going to have the push and pull.
Like, I don't mind working allday as long as I can get to my
daughter's volleyball game, myson's baseball.
I don't care.
That burnout to me is whensomeone's calling me and being
like, Allison, Allison, Allison,and I'm trying to watch a game.
(12:59):
Or do you see what I'm saying?
Yeah.
So I think we have to reallyidentify what burnout is, and no
one's doing a good job of thatright now because we're just
recycling content.
That's a conversation foranother day.
SPEAKER_00 (13:09):
Very well said.
Build your business around yourlife.
SPEAKER_01 (13:13):
Yeah.
unknown (13:14):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (13:14):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (13:15):
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00 (13:15):
Make sure it fits the mold.
SPEAKER_01 (13:18):
Yeah.
And you know, definitely verylong-winded there, but I feel
like you have to really thinklike use my examples to think.
Like, think for yourself.
Don't think for the thoughtleader on social media.
Like, think for yourself becauseeveryone's everyone's different.
You don't have to get up at 4a.m.
to be successful.
But if you feel like doing thatone day and you feel good about
it, then by all means go for it,you know?
(13:39):
Um, I think the other thing isfrom a scaling standpoint, it's
like if I went, like my bestquestion to answer that is like,
if I decided I wanted to go toJamaica for 30 days, what what
happens?
Like, what what happens to thebusiness?
Do I have money coming in?
Do I have a recurring revenuestream?
(14:01):
Does my lead system, you know,is it is it on autopilot?
Is it automated?
Is there an AI bot available toanswer questions?
Do I have an employee that I cantrust?
And you know, employees arebecoming less and less scalable
too.
So it really starts from thefoundation of like what things
can you automate?
And like you've got to spend allyour time doing that.
I meet like as soon as you getdone listening to this.
SPEAKER_00 (14:24):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (14:24):
Actually.
SPEAKER_00 (14:26):
Well, follow you first, and then uh yeah, well,
that's powerful.
And you said another word inthere.
I guess we could play on powerwords for a second because you
said another word success.
So just like burnout isdifferent and unique to each
person, so it's success.
For some people, they may feelsuccessful, just being able to
go to the dog park, money isreally not the issue, or go on
(14:48):
to watch their kids.
And for another person, thatsuccess could be$10 million or a
quality of life, a different,you know, going to Jamaica,
going to these different places,traveling the world.
So, you know, there's there isno there are a lot of buzzwords
that I feel like influencershave put limitations on, or if
it were to be success, this iswhat it looks like, and you're
(15:08):
not successful if it's not.
Choose your own lane, right?
And stay with it.
That's that's so powerful.
Well, when you started or gotout of the event uh business,
then did you find a businessthat fit the mold, or did you
still have to learn that?
SPEAKER_01 (15:26):
I had this, yeah, I had this whole dream, and this
is the trap that I got into.
And I'm gonna be super honestwith you, it was a rough trap.
I mean, I started that businessbecause I hate like I hate
working for people.
I there's no other way to putit.
I really just don't like to doit.
And so I wanted to be off on myown, and I knew I could be, but
(15:48):
there just weren't resourcesthat like I don't even think
business coaches existed.
Like I I really don't I I don'treally know what existed at that
time because I just know Ididn't have anything other than
my brain, and I didn't knowenough because I hadn't been
through enough.
And you talk about, and I I'llanswer your question, but you
think you talk about tradingtime for money, and that's
(16:10):
actually what you're doing withwhat you do and with what I do,
because if you've been throughit and you know what to do, you
can save someone 46,000 hours oryou know, in your background as
well.
You can save all that time, hitthe fast forward button and get
so far ahead so quickly.
Whereas, like I it took me, Imean, I was gosh, 20, I got I
(16:31):
don't even know, 25 maybe at thetime.
And going on 40, it took me thatlong to finally figure out from
trial and error and runningdifferent businesses to how to
actually, and I'm still notprobably an expert at running my
business, if I'm being honestwith you.
Like, you know, you you don'tknow what you don't know, and
things are continuing to changeso quickly.
So wanted to just mention that.
(16:52):
I mean, trading time for moneyis available now.
It was not available back then,I'll tell you that.
The only option was trial anderror.
And unfortunately, I was so Iwas everything really within my
career, one thing fed into theother, and I've really never had
to apply for a job or reallydon't do a lot of advertising
for clients.
(17:13):
Uh I I'm mostly referral.
So ironically, I did an eventfor someone that worked for a
company that I had actuallyapplied to for several years in
the aesthetic space, right whenaesthetics started, like very
like 2013, 2012, something likethat.
And I saw her post it after I'ddone an event for her for her
(17:37):
child, and I was like, I wantto, this is what I want to do.
And so I actually took a job asa a front desk person and was
there for a week and then workedmy way up.
By the time I left, I wasmanaging like over a hundred
employees, um, redid the entiresales process and marketing for
the company.
It was an 18-location med spacorporation.
(17:57):
So I went and I I went ended upjust throwing myself back into
corporate, but it happened for areason because when you take
something that is so heavilyregulated, and I think a lot of
my why I think like I do as faras systems is running a medical
spa is it's very, very, veryhard because you have the
(18:17):
medical board.
You also have like theadvertising, it's reach it's
retail medicine at the end ofthe day.
So I had to very much,especially when I was working
with so many people, and thenalso had, you know, my world at
corporate in addition to workingwith people like in the field, I
there there really was no otheroption but to have the checks
(18:39):
and balances.
And that's honestly where Ilearned a lot.
And I took that knowledge and Ijust applied it to every
industry that I've because Iwork in all different types of
industries now, but I justapplied all of that to all these
different industries.
And even though maybe, you know,I have a construction company
right now, I wouldn't be like,oh, you need to do you need to
(19:00):
review charts and you need tohave three people sign off on it
because obviously that's notrelevant, but you can take that
same system and plug it intothat business.
So um I I don't think that Icould have done anything that I
that I'm doing now had I notgone through the corporate kind
of circle.
And you know, I I had probablythree or four CEO roles before I
(19:22):
actually, and then I didfranchise sales for a year and I
took a brand new franchise to200 locations in a year.
Um, and then that's when I justhad I honestly I just had the
money to go.
Like that that's honestly whathappened.
I just sold a lot.
I sold a lot, I sold like 3.2million and had a very high
commission structure.
And I literally took my bonusesand I was like, this is your
(19:45):
chance, Allison.
Run, like literally run and youjust go.
And that's when I bought my myfranchise that I have.
And so it it took much longer.
But for anyone listening, likeyou know when you're like you
know when you're done withsomething and you know when it's
your time to go, and you knowwhen you're ready to go off on
(20:07):
your own.
And I don't think that I coulddo what I do now had I not gone
through a lot of those differentthings because there's almost
nothing I haven't been through.
Like you see a lot, you see alot when you're when you're in
charge, and you know, you can'tunsee that.
But um, yeah, I I went back intocorporate America and then
finally, you know, I I told myhusband, like sometimes he's
like, why don't you just go geta nine to five and you know, you
(20:31):
can just you don't have to workall day.
And I'm like, that I wouldrather die actually than do
that.
And I know that for certain now,but if you if you went back five
years, I didn't know that.
Yeah, because I didn't know whatI didn't know, and I had no
mentor either, that was theother thing.
SPEAKER_00 (20:44):
So yeah.
Uh my first business was startedbefore 2000, we'll say that.
And the only way you could learnanything was go to the library
and starting a business.
If anybody knows what a libraryis, but starting a business, who
has time to go read a book tolearn that many things?
(21:04):
You know, I I I still readtoday, but back then that was
the only source.
There weren't coaches, thereweren't consultants.
And what I've learned is justlike you, uh we don't know what
we don't know.
I've been through divorce, I'vebeen through a bankruptcy, I've
been through all these things,and I can catapult you faster,
just like you can, your clientsfaster by recognizing those
(21:27):
signs that are coming up,forecasting, and trying to keep
people on the straight path andnot have to go down those things
that took you and I years tolearn.
SPEAKER_01 (21:36):
I know.
I'm just like, I mean, I and thefinancial stress too.
Oh, don't, yeah.
I mean, it's stressful.
Like I have, I mean, I reallytruly have the burden of being
the person that kind of decideswhat our life looks like.
And that's hard.
You know, it's hard to be mom.
It's hard to have that everysingle day.
But that's the the ironic thingis on the flip side, I don't
(21:59):
think I would have it anotherway because I love being in
charge, you know, like that's mything.
And I think a lot of peoplewon't admit that.
Like, I just like being incharge of whatever the situation
is.
I like being in charge of plans.
I, you know, I'm that controlfreak, we can throw that word
out there if we really want to.
But I think that I very muchjust like to manage situations,
and I don't think there'sanything wrong with it.
(22:21):
And I also don't think there'sanything wrong with being a
control freak, and there'snothing wrong with being a
perfectionist, and there'snothing wrong with wanting
things done your way.
But if you if you're listeningto this and you're that person,
you need to start your ownbusiness.
You need to start your ownbusiness if you're never gonna
be happy.
SPEAKER_00 (22:38):
Yeah, it's not control freak, it's you're
controlling your freedom.
Yeah, you're controlling yourfreedom, and that's that's why
we do what we do.
So on the freedom side, I want Idon't want to push off the
systems because that isessential in any business to be
successful and scale.
Uh I hear so many businessowners, they know they need
(23:00):
them, they hear about SOPs, butit's just always on the shelf,
it's always on the back burner,and I always hear, well, I just
don't have enough time, I don'tknow where to start.
We do so much.
I there's no way I can talkabout uh can we debunk those
myths?
And since you've got so muchexperience in this, you've done
franchising and stuff.
Can you share, like, first ofall, if a business owner starts,
(23:23):
and I have businesses thatapproach us that's been in
business for 30 years and theydon't have SOP.
SPEAKER_01 (23:28):
Oh, that's that is actually, in my opinion, and uh
it sounds like yours, the mostcommon.
SPEAKER_00 (23:34):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (23:35):
The ones that are from the 90s and yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (23:37):
So where do they start?
Where do they find that time?
What's the benefit of them?
And I'll let you have the floor.
SPEAKER_01 (23:43):
Yeah, I do this a lot because and I do sell
businesses.
SPEAKER_00 (23:48):
Uh you're listening to small business pivots.
This podcast is produced by mycompany, Boss.
Our business is helping yoursgrow.
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(24:09):
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Now let's get back to ourspecial guest.
So, where do they start?
Where do they find that time?
What's the benefit of them?
And I'll let you have the floor.
SPEAKER_01 (24:25):
Yeah, I do this a lot because and I do sell
businesses uh um a lot too.
Like I have a lot of businessesthat are like, I just want to
sell in six months.
Can you boost my revenue andthen you know create the sales
package?
So I actually do this a lot.
And the uh it's probably you cantell I'm getting excited to talk
about it because I reallygenuinely I I just believe that
(24:48):
like people don't even peopledon't think about what what's
with the end in mind.
And if you want to have a onelocation and that's what you
want, you you need systems.
If you want a franchise, youneed systems.
If you want to have you know alarge corporation with multiple
locations, by all means, samething.
(25:08):
And then if you want to licenseyour business, which is what I
plan to do uh in the future, youyou need you still need all the
same things, but you build allof it differently for a certain
reason.
And I think people just don'tknow what avenue to go for each
one, and they just get very,very overwhelmed because it is
time consuming to type.
But my and I do work with a lotof service-based businesses, so
(25:30):
people are in the field, they'rethey're on job sites, they're
injecting, they're you know,physicians, like all sorts of
stuff.
And if you're working all day,when are you gonna work on your
business?
Right.
And so the easiest way nowadaysthat that you can do this, and
this will this will probably betried and true forever and ever.
So whenever you're listening tothis, uh I tell my clients, I'm
(25:55):
like, if you're driving down theroad or you're not doing
anything, you're on a walk,whatever it is, send me a voice
note to explain, and I obviouslygive them what I want them to
explain, right?
So if it's I have a doc buildingcompany, so how you build your
docs, why you do it differently.
Um, and I'll give them likeprompts and questions, and I ask
(26:15):
them to answer those questions,and I literally create SOPs from
there.
So for the business owner that'ssuper busy, it's not
overwhelming to like get grabyour phone and talk into it
because you have your phoneevery second of every day.
But it does feel overwhelming tosay, okay, I would love for you
to document on it, you know,this this big document all of
the things that you do.
(26:37):
It it sounds very, veryoverwhelming.
And so just make it easy.
You can also do the same thingin uh Chat GPT.
I personally recommend Chat GPTfor any SOPs.
They have a they do have a voiceoption as well, and they also
have an app on your on yourphone.
You can literally talk straightinto it and be like, I want to
(26:58):
create an SOP for building adoc.
This is how I do it.
Make sure that this is relevantto someone just starting out,
you know, blog, whatever,whatever the criteria is, and
it's gonna create that for you.
And then you just plug that intoGoogle Docs, make sure it stays
super organized with tabs, andthere you go.
You've got you've got an entirebank.
(27:18):
And then if you want to take ita step further, and for example,
you want to build like a littleuh uh localized internet for
your franchise or for yourcorporation or for your small
business, what whatever it is,all you do is take all of those,
turn them into pages, and voila,it's all there for you.
(27:38):
Another tool that I use a lotbecause I developed a uh CRM and
EMR as well.
Um I use Loom a lot.
And I find it's very effectivebecause now, again, it
summarizes everything for you.
Your face can even be in thebottom, so it doesn't seem like
(27:59):
just a screen.
And it's for those of you thatdon't don't know what Loom is,
sorry, I'll I'll explain that.
It's basically a screen record.
So think of how you can screenrecord on your iPhone.
It's basically like that foryour computer, and it's so, so
efficient for course building,anything like that.
And you sit down and dosomething that you're already
doing and be like, oh, let melet me bring up Loom and let me,
(28:20):
you know, go ahead and savethis, and you can actually
create an entire SOP bank inLoom.
And then that way, if you hire anew employee, one of my biggest
issues before all these thingswere available was again, if
you're in charge, you're incharge of everything, right?
So me hiring an assistant, a newoffice manager, like I would get
so much anxiety because so Iknow, trust me, I've been there.
(28:44):
I I would get so much anxietybecause I'm like, okay,
nothing's in place yet.
I'm in charge of putting thesethings in place.
But in order for me to have thetime to put the things in place,
I I this person needs to knowwhat to do.
So I have to train them.
And so that takes me out of myworkday.
And that's tried and true forany business.
It's it's like a push and pullof time.
So it's almost like beforeyou're hiring somebody, go ahead
(29:05):
and get those things in placebecause don't assume that you're
gonna have a forever employee.
Right.
You know, like most likelyyou're not gonna have a forever
employee.
I don't think that anyone isgonna be an employee in the next
like five years.
I think we're all befreelancers.
Another story for another day.
But I I think that between ChatGPT, voice text, and Loom, those
tools will help you so easilybuild a bank where anyone can
(29:28):
watch a video at any given timeand you have it right there.
And then when it comes time toput together your sales package,
if you do want to sell yourbusiness or if you want to
franchise it or whatever thecase may be, you aren't going to
scramble and you're gonna lookso much more put together and
the valuation of your businessis gonna be significantly higher
because they're realizing that,oh, you actually do have a
(29:48):
business.
You don't just have a servicethat you provide in exchange for
money.
And I think that that's whatSOPs actually do for you is they
take uh something that you'redoing.
Trading time for money or aservice for money, and you're
putting logic to it so that thenyou actually have something that
(30:08):
is scalable.
And without that, you're you'regonna do at some point, you're
just gonna phase out, in myopinion.
So yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (30:16):
You're either gonna phase out or you're not gonna be
able to just survive the companywithout Lulu or Mark, whoever
that person is that is the mostvaluable.
SPEAKER_01 (30:26):
Lulu.
I haven't that's so freakingthat's funny.
I thought you were gonna sayLululemon initially.
I was like, is he?
SPEAKER_00 (30:33):
I don't know.
One of my old uh businesspartners, he always used to
because Lulu is not a commonname, so he was like, I don't
want to use common names, that'sall just Lulu.
That was before Lemon.
SPEAKER_01 (30:44):
That way, uh that way nobody gets no one gets
offended.
SPEAKER_00 (30:48):
No one gets hurt, right?
SPEAKER_01 (30:49):
Not like, oh, wait a second.
SPEAKER_00 (30:52):
So you've uncovered a lot here, and one of those is
the best opportunity I hear iswhen a new employee starts, if
there's anything you have totrain them on, make a system for
it, make an SOP for it rightthen.
That's your best opportunitybecause for those business
owners that are stuck saying, Idon't even know where to start.
Well, when you hire somebody, ifyou have to train them on
(31:14):
something, there's your SOPright there.
You need to make.
But what about for oh go ahead?
SPEAKER_01 (31:18):
Yeah, no, I was gonna say, and if you are
training someone, that would bethe perfect time to record what
you're training.
Set up your set up whatever itis that you need to set up and
do it right then and there,because like I said, they're not
gonna be a forever employee.
We all know that.
And so then you can hand whatyou did for that employee on to
the next one, and you're good togo.
So, like, that's definitely anexample of working harder or
(31:40):
sorry, working smarter, notharder.
Because if you're already doingsomething, then it's so much
easier just to be like, Oh, letme do this.
So, sorry, go ahead.
SPEAKER_00 (31:48):
No, no, that that that was good.
I mean, I you see, I'm gettingexcited with you.
SPEAKER_01 (31:52):
I know, I I can do this all day.
SPEAKER_00 (31:54):
I literally so what about those companies that
aren't hiring right now?
Those are the ones that alsoseem overwhelmed where I we do
so much, I don't know where tostart.
So, in other words, is there astructure that you like to
follow?
And then, secondly, where do youstore those so people actually
use them?
SPEAKER_01 (32:13):
So, repeat the very beginning of that question.
SPEAKER_00 (32:16):
Uh, is there a structure that you follow?
So let's say we're not hiringsomebody, so we don't know what
to start with.
Is there a structure or aframework that you prefer?
SPEAKER_01 (32:26):
Yeah, I I mean, I think the biggest thing is if
you are not, I always start withlike whatever you don't want to
be doing first.
Well, I mean I I know thatsounds crazy, but if you think
about it, if it's something thatisn't creative, because like
(32:47):
there's you can't make an SOPfor creativity, right?
And so depending on what thatlooks like, I mean, you you you
you're just not gonna be able toreplicate that.
So if you think about, okay, Iam building, I'm just gonna use
the doc example.
I build docs.
Well, I'm not building everysingle doc.
(33:07):
So what would be the first thingthat I need to tell someone how
to do?
It would be this, right?
Or if there's something that'svery time consuming within your
niche or your business that youknow you could hand off, but you
would need to actually like,here's the link for this, here's
where you go for this.
Those things always have to bedone first because the second
(33:28):
you have those, it's very copyand paste, but it does take a
long, I mean it takes time toput together.
So um that would be probably thefirst thing.
It's like whatever is mymindless that you could have
someone in middle school or highschool do, you need to go ahead
and get that done immediately.
Um, I also think if there's aproprietary, and by the way, if
(33:53):
you do not have this within yourbusiness, you are swimming in
the sea of perfect competitionand you it's a race to the
bottom.
We all want to be competing injust a monopolistic type way,
meaning like you have to havesomething proprietary so that
you're actually able to standout against your competition.
(34:15):
So, just to like say that first.
So if there's anything that isvery proprietary, this is our
very specific way that we do afacial, or this is a very
specific way that we build adock, or we do our consultation
process, those things are highon the totem pole as well,
because that is actually yoursecret sauce, and that's what
people pay you for.
And if you don't have somethinglike that in your business,
(34:36):
here's your sign to go figurethat out.
Because if not, again, you'll beswimming in the sea of perfect
competition where everyonesounds the same, which is what
we actually talked about in thebeginning, where everyone's
saying scale and burnout, andeveryone's trying to solve for
that, but no one's doing it in away that is actually effective
or custom, in my opinion.
SPEAKER_00 (34:55):
So, what do people do?
Because uh most business ownersthey'll say, What if somebody
takes that with them?
Now that I've given the recipeout there, do you have any kind
of gaps or things that canprevent that or maybe calm their
nerves on that?
SPEAKER_01 (35:11):
Yeah, I mean, if you have any employee that's working
within your business, theyalready know what those things
are, right?
SPEAKER_02 (35:19):
True.
SPEAKER_01 (35:19):
Um, facts, facts are facts, you know what I mean?
Like I I'm trying to think of anexample.
I mean, I I opened up a a big, abig, big, big med spa that um, a
franchisable med spa, and I likefrom start to finish, I did I
did all the things and we didthings very, very differently.
And that's the first thing thatI had to train the staff on,
because that was the secretsauce, you know what I mean?
(35:41):
So I think that first andforemost, if you're really it's
it's first of all, it's hard tostart a business, right?
So if you've already started andyou have things going, you have
the secret sauce, like you'realready way ahead, so don't
worry about that.
But I also think that by makingyour employees, if it's that
(36:02):
type of situation, really a partof the business and a part of
the changes in the business, Ithink that they'll stay with you
a lot longer too.
And there's also a lot of likeprofit sharing options and
things like that.
But to an extent, every singleperson and every single business
that exists right now has somepiece of something that they
learned somewhere else thatthey've put somewhere else.
(36:24):
But that doesn't mean that onebusiness is going to be more
successful than the otherbecause everything revolves
around like, who are youremployees?
What is your branding?
What does your visibility looklike?
How are people finding you?
Are you showing up on socialmedia?
You know, are you optimized forSEO, AEO, and GEO?
I mean, there's like ninemillion things that you can look
(36:45):
at that would are are very bigdeterminants.
It's not necessarily like thisis how you do this.
I mean, I'll give you anexample.
Um, this is a really goodexample, actually.
I'm really excited.
I can so have a good example.
SPEAKER_00 (36:58):
Anticipation here.
SPEAKER_01 (36:59):
Oh, yeah, I know.
I'm I'm building it up rightnow.
So Oreo, who's had an Oreo?
Everybody.
I freaking love Oreos.
Uh so Oreo was actually there,there was a different company
that made the Oreo cookie first.
No one's ever heard of it.
And I actually can't evenremember the name of it because
I didn't, I've never seen themin my entire life until you know
(37:20):
I was reading up on it.
And what was the difference?
Was it the icing in the middle?
Was it the cookie?
No, it was literally exactly thesame thing, tasted the same.
Oreo came through with very,very, very, very, very um just
like amazing marketing, amazingbranding, and they just took it
(37:41):
and ran with it.
And they exist, and theircompany doesn't.
So that's just an example ofbranding.
Um, Coca-Cola, uh, Coca-Colaactually has two different
companies that are traded on thestock market, and one is
literally just like the essenceof Coca-Cola, like the branding
of Coca-Cola.
So, I mean, there's differentthings that you can put, and
(38:02):
you've got patents, and likethere's so many different
things, right, that you that youcan do for sure.
It just depends kind of whatyour industry is.
But just know that just becausesomeone does something that
you've done before doesn't meanthat you can't be successful or
they can be more successful thanyou.
SPEAKER_00 (38:19):
I assure you that probably calms some nerves
because that's a good way tolook at it is just because they
might have the one secret saucedoesn't mean they have
everything else to take thatbrand to the or that sauce to
the next level.
Yeah.
So what do people do?
I also hear business owners say,well, how do I get people to
follow these?
In other words, do I put them ina binder and throw them on the
(38:39):
copier on the desk, or do Iwhere how do I store them so
they're easily accessible andpeople actually use them?
SPEAKER_01 (38:47):
Yeah.
So I think first a good way isjust a very easily accessible
knowledge base, number one,making, I mean, this that not
nothing crazy, making sure thatall employees know where to go
for things.
I think you also have to trainpeople.
And I even have to do this withmy clients because I've I've
tons of things done for them,and they're like, hey, can you
(39:07):
send me this?
It's in the drive that you'vehad for 90 days now.
Like, you know, and so I couldeasily find it and send it, but
I also am doing them adisservice by not being able to
allow them to operate on theirown.
SPEAKER_02 (39:20):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (39:20):
And I mean, independence is huge for me.
I'm I've been very I'm I've beenindependent my entire life.
You know what I mean?
I used to, I kind of just foundmy way through life by myself, I
feel like a little bit.
And I let my kids operate thesame way.
Like I let them, you know,handle things on their own.
I don't, you know, handhold ifthey need anything, obviously,
all the system, but very much atough love manager back in the
(39:41):
day or CEO.
I'd be like, nope, you can golook for it.
It's right there.
Um, so yes, you can put it in abinder and that's fine.
And if you're it just depends onthe business.
I think depending on howtechnologically savvy your
business is running.
If it's not, by the way, youneed to get it.
But um, it's not a terrible ideato have a binder.
(40:02):
Um, I think that what we allhave to do is just commit to the
fact that your staff isn'tstupid, they know where to look,
they just are lazy, and you haveto train them to not be lazy.
And because we all wantinformation so quickly, um, I
think by having that onlinedatabase where you can actually
just like search whatever it isand it will pop up.
And there's several platforms,like Go High Level, for example,
(40:24):
is one, you can create thoseknowledge bases and it's right
there in front of you.
Uh, so definitely 100% um can doit that way.
But just know like staffmeetings and communication and
things like that are alwayssuper beneficial.
So, like maybe rotate on oneprocedure and talk about that at
each staff meeting.
(40:45):
So, everyone, you know, you caneither improve the processes or
people are reminded of how to dothings.
And then when they they ask youfor the shortcut as the business
owner or manager or whatever,whatever the situation is, make
sure that you're redirectingthem and you're not holding
their hand through that.
Like make them go to the binderand figure it out.
SPEAKER_02 (41:05):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (41:06):
And I I would always say, I can tell you how to do
that, but I would be doing you adisservice to your professional
development if I gave you theshortcut.
So you go figure out how to useit, and then come back to me and
you know, tell me tell me whatyou learned.
SPEAKER_00 (41:21):
So no, that's a great point.
I used to tell my kids when theywere growing up, when they were
smaller, if it wasn't a moralissue or ethical issue, I would
tell them if they'd ask aquestion, I'd say, Google it.
In other words, find theinformation.
Here's the tool, here's theresource, you find it, and now
they can they're independent.
SPEAKER_01 (41:41):
That is that's how honestly, that's how I've
learned pretty much everythingthat I know.
I'm very much an expert in trialand error, but I think because I
failed so many times, and I'vewon a lot too, right?
But I think because I failed somany times, I know what not to
do.
Like I've made a lot ofmistakes, but I I always say,
(42:02):
and I even would tell myemployees that they ever like
everyone would always uhemployees now, but then also
employees when I was incorporate America, everyone
would always come tellingthemselves to me.
I just created that culturewhere I never had to like pry,
nothing was ever a secret.
People would come to me and belike, Allison, I I did this.
And they like they knew I wouldcoach them through it.
(42:23):
And my first thing would alwaysbe like, congratulations, you
have learned something today.
It's totally fine, nothing,everything's fixable, but just
don't ever do it again and learnfrom it.
Turn your L's into lessons, youknow?
So I think that, and andactually when there's a mistake,
that's actually an opportunityto create a system.
SPEAKER_00 (42:47):
Another value.
SPEAKER_01 (42:48):
Most of the SOPs I do now for especially for med
spots, because I ran them forgosh, like 15 years.
I and I've done a lot ofstartups there.
I I think that that that was thefirst thing.
Like almost all of my SOPs aremistakes that people have made.
But had I not done it and seenit, I wouldn't have been able to
solve the problem.
So I think too, if you're juststarting out, because I know
some people have been inbusiness, you said, for 30
(43:09):
years.
Some people are like, I want tobecome an entrepreneur, and
they're everyone's in differentseasons.
But if you think about like aspecial skill you have or
business that you want to start,really what you should be doing
is sitting and thinking, like,okay, what is everything that
could go wrong in thissituation?
Like, what could go wrong withthe client?
What could go wrong with theprocess?
And you literally solve for Xbefore it's even a problem, and
(43:32):
then tweak it if it ever, youknow, doesn't work out.
Um, I think what everyone does,and it's funny because our
brains are mostly negative, buta lot of times when we think
about um, you know, howsomething's gonna go, we do
assume that it's gonna go well,especially in business.
And and I guess in my opinion,I'm like, oh, this client's
gonna be great and we're gonnado this, this, and this.
Uh but I actually think you needto reverse it and say, like,
(43:55):
what could go bad in thesituation and just like make
sure that that isn't a thingever.
SPEAKER_00 (43:59):
That's called being proactive, people.
SPEAKER_01 (44:02):
Proactive.
SPEAKER_00 (44:03):
My favorite word.
SPEAKER_01 (44:04):
I try not to use, I know, I try not to use uh I
explain more than use wordsbecause I feel like I see them
online so much now.
I'm like, but now when you seeproactive online, you know what
that means because we justactually talked about it.
SPEAKER_00 (44:17):
Exactly.
Well, Allison, it's obvious thatyou know your stuff, and I
assure you that you've got theears of so many people.
They probably want to learn moreinsights and tips.
Where can they do that?
Where can they find you?
SPEAKER_01 (44:31):
Yeah, I'm most active on Instagram, I'd say
Allison M.
Bridges.
And um I am definitely big onAI, and you might get my AI
bought sometimes when youmessage me, but I do always
check direct messages andinquiries and things like that.
So if you need any sort of helpwith anything, obviously would
(44:51):
love just to give you tips andtricks.
And that's mostly what myInstagram's focused on too, is
just free resources.
I think that definitely a littlebit um on the Alex Hermozzi
train in terms of just likegiving away free knowledge
because I really do wanteverybody to win.
SPEAKER_00 (45:06):
So that's for the free knowledge.
Tell us about your businesswhere they can pay you.
SPEAKER_01 (45:12):
Yeah.
So I do I have three differentoptions.
Um, I have like a full servicebuild where I basically either
flip or start your business andit's all done within 90 days.
So that's anything from likeCRM, automations, mini chat,
anything AI bot related,website, logo, you name it.
It is all full service, justneed about an hour of your time
(45:33):
a week.
I also am uh launching the nextweek Founders Circle, which is a
done with you uh lower, lowerticket option.
It's like$79 a month orsomething like that.
And each week we do a workshopand work on a part of your
business.
And I don't know that thatexists anywhere, which is why I
built it.
I really feel like people needthe opportunity to take at least
(45:56):
one hour a week and work ontheir business so that we can
get things like this done.
And it just keeps you on track.
So it's not like a as much of acoaching session as it is
coaching and doing at the sametime.
And then we also have um expertsonly mini.
And basically what that is is ifyou just need like to pull a
solution off the shelf, we turnaround most of those in about a
(46:17):
week.
So that could be anything froman AI bot to I bring up many
chat a lot because many chat'sgreat for service-based
providers, and uh especially ifyou need to book and things like
that.
So, really anything, a logo,website, automations, you name
it.
SPEAKER_00 (46:30):
And is this all on your experts only
consulting.com?
SPEAKER_01 (46:35):
Yes, um, it is.
SPEAKER_00 (46:37):
And then your personal website,
Allisonmbridges.com, what canthey find there?
SPEAKER_01 (46:43):
Yeah, so I I just recently launched that.
I haven't actually even publiclythrown that out there yet.
But um for that You heard ithere first, people.
Yeah, like actually breakingnews.
Yeah, so we uh on on that site,if you want me to, I I do a lot
of the recording videos fordifferent businesses, like if
(47:04):
they want me to be kind of theirspokesperson versus um not as
much of like an influencerthing, but like if you want a
video explaining X, Y, and Z, soI do that for like construction
companies and wellness brandsand stuff like that, where I'll
just kind of go through andexplain all the things, or if
you want to do any brandcollabs, even if uh speaking gig
or anything like that, I do allof those things, and I just love
(47:25):
to help and see what I can dofor your brand or your company.
SPEAKER_00 (47:29):
Well, I always end with a question, and that is if
you were in a room full ofbusiness owners, different
seasons of business, differentindustries, what's one thing
that could be applicable for allof them?
It could be a quote, it could bea book, some one last piece of
insight or tip.
SPEAKER_01 (47:48):
Yes, it is my favorite, favorite quote ever.
It's you always miss 100% of theshots that you don't take.
So don't be scared to be thefirst person to do anything.
Just look at look at I'm a hugeSteve Jobs fan, and look at
Steve Jobs.
He lit, I mean, may he rest inpeace.
He created apps out of thin air,and we exist off of apps
(48:14):
nowadays.
You know what I mean?
So don't be scared to createsomething that doesn't exist.
And in fact, I encourage you todo that because those are the
people that will truly besuccessful, not the successful
people that are trying to do andcopy everybody within their
industry.
So just be different.
SPEAKER_00 (48:29):
Sound advice.
Well, Allison, you've been ablessing to many.
Thank you so much for sharingyour insights and your time with
me and our listeners.
SPEAKER_01 (48:38):
Of course.
Thank you so much.
I appreciate it.
SPEAKER_00 (48:40):
My pleasure.
Thank you for listening to SmallBusiness Pivots.
This podcast is created andproduced by my company, Boss.
Our business is growing yours.
Boss offers flexible businessloans with business coaching
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