Best Advice: Work on Your Business, Not in It

I received a lot of good advice over the years from a wide variety of people, both personal and business. So thinking about the best advice I’ve ever received is not as easy as it may sound. As I pondered this question over the last week I kept going back to advice I received many years ago. That advice was to:

Work on your business, not in your business.

I first read that advice in a book published in 1986 called the E-Myth: Why Most Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do about It by Michael Gerber. I frankly don’t remember who recommended this book. And, I’m not really sure when I actually read it. But I do know that it changed how I think about what it takes to create a successful business.

The book expands on four key ideas:

• Idea #1: There is a myth in this country – the E-Myth – which says that businesses are started by entrepreneurs risking capital to make a profit. This is simply not so. Businesses are started by someone that does something well (the technician) and has an entrepreneurial seizure, thinking they can do “it” better than their current boss, and thus begin their own business. I do believe this myth continues to exist today.

• Idea #2: There is a revolution going on in American business, what Gerber calls “the turnkey revolution.” The growth in franchising is an example. There are many ways today to create a turnkey business.

• Idea #3: Creating repeatable processes and systems is at the heart of the turnkey revolution and creating a successful business.

• Idea #4: Creating business processes allows any organization to create a predictable way to produce success.

In the early 90s, I began to see how computers and the development of various technologies would allow any organization – in my case insurance organizations — to create a systematic way of nurturing a relationship with prospects so that they think of the insurance agency when they are ready to buy.

I created my first prospect follow up system in 1992 using a piece of software to manage the process. I was hired by an insurance agency in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to sell insurance programs to midsize commercial businesses. I realized that most insurance agents did not do a good job of staying in touch with prospects that were not yet ready to purchase. What I now call follow-up failure.

So, I created an automated prospect follow up system. Most insurance policies are purchased at one time during the year. For those business owners that were not yet ready to talk to me about working on their insurance program, I created a follow-up process that allowed me to send them a personal letter once a month until it was again time for me to call and set up an appointment. I used a computer program that printed the right follow-up letter to the right person on the right day. I personally signed every letter and put it in the mail.

The term for this process today is marketing automation and/or campaign management. The tools to support this process have gotten much better. Yet, I am surprised how few organizations take advantage of the technology tools that allow them to create processes and systems to deliver a consistent predictable positive customer experience.

Gerber’s advice helped me to think differently about working “on my business” by creating a “turnkey solution” that allowed me to keep my name in front of a large number of prospects without me needing to know who I needed to contact each day.

Other advice I’ve received over the years seems to have its roots in Gerber’s concept of “working on your business, not in it.”

Several of Seth Godin’s books over the years have built on this original concept and have continued to develop my though process.

Permission Marketing talked about how to turn strangers into friends and friends into customers. Marketing has changed. It is no longer shouting at the customer to get them to buy, but creating relationships over time by using technology to create high touch.

Purple Cow explored how to transform your business by being remarkable. Again, being able to create processes and systems that allow you to consistently deliver a high quality customer service experience helps make your organization remarkable.

And Linchpin laid the framework for how to think about creating a tribe and making yourself indispensable.

I realize that Gerber’s original concepts – without me realizing it -- continue to permeate my thinking. My “marketing automation” platform is Infusionsoft. It is a remarkable program that allows me to create a consistent experience automatically. I can use this technology platform to create a high touch experience.

Did you start your business by having an entrepreneurial seizure? Are you working in your business – trying to work more hours to grow – instead of on your business? Creating process and systems will help you deliver consistent results. And perhaps allow you to enjoy more of the benefits of being an entrepreneur.

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Steve Anderson is an authority on insurance agency technology. He is a prolific writer known for his knack for translating “geek speak” into easily understood concepts. Check out his free weekly newsletter “TechTips” and other resources for the insurance industry on his website