The Power of Documenting: How it Transforms Your Business

Are you documenting everything you do?

I know.

It's such a pain in the backside.

If you're anything like me, your default may be: "I'll record this next time. I don't have time now. I need to get [insert task] done"

And the documenting is pushed back another day, week, month, year, DECADE << no kidding. You'll see below.

Onward.

Last year, I finally took all the advice the team, colleagues, mentors, and coaches suggested for years.

And that was to DOCUMENT everything I do.

So that I could pull myself out of day-to-day operations and focus on the few things, I do best.

The 3 things for me are:

• Creative (writing, thinking - vision etc)
• Coaching (using my insights, knowledge, and expertise to guide other entrepreneurs through the minefields safely)
• Connection & Conversation (the 'sales' process - the necessary communication and caring that only I can do - not a "sales team" or "closer")

But this isn't about me.

Once you know where your time is best spent on money-making activities, your business grows

But if you are stuck in the weeds, you COULD grow your business (albeit slowly - OR you sacrifice a LOT).

If you are like most entrepreneurs you created a job for yourself.

The worst scenario is ... your business dies a slow, painful death.

So take note.

By the way, my hand is up.

I'm not pointing any fingers.

But perhaps the person beside you reading this will take on the advice from your Uncle Joey here ;)

After 40 years of being a solopreneur (yea - been an "I'll-do-it all-myself-preneur" for a LONG time) I know the struggles and how heavy the weight feels of doing it all alone.

Finally, last year I decided enough was enough.

My business didn't necessarily grow in revenue as in previous years because I chose to focus on building the back end of the business.

If you want to call that a "downside" then I guess we could.

But I'll take on a different perspective.

As I look at the back end of my business one year later, I can see how much I've done now to buy back HOURS and WEEKS of my time.

Not only that, I've been UTILIZING the documentation to save HOURS every week by having someone else do the tasks.

The recording process took me more time for each task than without recording.

But now that I've recorded the process, I never need to do it again.

And someone else can take over that part of the business.

PLUS - the mental space that has opened up for no longer having to remember processes, ideas, repeated replies, etc is priceless.

And it all starts with documenting what you do.

I want to shout out my friends and coaches Giovanni Marsico, and Alex Charfen who had been behind this all the way.

I also want to give props to Dan Martell.

These three dudes are such incredible icons to help us understand what it takes to build a business you do NOT want to take a vacation from or, for that matter, a business you grow to hate.

Trust me, my friend, when you hit a certain level of revenue such as your first 100k...everything changes.

And you will hit what Dan Martell calls the Pain Line sooner or later. This is a point where growth becomes impossible and/or painful.

So we avoid doing anything to grow (I know, it sounds crazy) at all costs.

Anyhoo, I could go on and on and on about what I have personally learned about building a business on the back end that no one sees so that you CAN buy back 96% of your time.

Today, I officially share all these growing pains and triumphs and help entrepreneurs avoid the traps in my Academy Elite Mastermind.

Still, I will be glad to answer your questions here if you have any.

Here are some resources to check out (these are the tip of the iceberg - but at least they will get you started)

I cannot recommend these books enough for buying back your time:

Buy Back Your Time - from Dan Martell

Come Up For Air - Nick Sonnenberg

Work the System - Sam Carpenter and Josh Fonger

SOME OF THE TOOLS I USE

Based on 35 + years of entrepreneurship, I landed on?Notion?to manage all of my personal knowledge, data, tasks, projects, and more. As a digital business, I cannot recommend it enough for creators like us. The best part is you can use it free.

And if you are anything like me, you will see how affordable the paid version is and wonder where this tool has been to help organize and FIND everything :-)

BTW, Marie Poulin helps me understand & use Notion in Notion Mastery.

I use SnagIt for quick capture and screen recording (for documenting processes etc)

For my courses and programs, I love Kajabi. You can get a 30-day free trial on me here.