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Episode 1079 highlights a topic very relevant to entrepreneurs – how to buy back your time. Guest Lloyd Thompson from VirtualDOO.com helps founders and visionaries with this on a regular basis through his fractional operations services.
In this chat, James and Lloyd talk about the limits solopreneurs encounter in terms of income and time freedom.
They discuss the change of mindset needed to shift from selling time to buying time.
And they look at ways of effectively delegating responsibilities to create space for focused strategy and living.
Table of contents:
1. The shift from solopreneurship
2. From selling time to buying it
3. The simple act of auditing tasks
4. How far would you delegate your life?
5. Doing what moves the needle
6. I don’t have time to write an SOP…
7. Sales – to delegate or not to delegate?
8. When you don’t have the skills in team…
9. The mistake some founders make
10. What’s the outcome you want?
11. The one-three-one technique
12. Two signs an operator could be needed
13. A great way to plan out time
14. Put the big rocks in first
The shift from solopreneurship
Lloyd shares his transition from being a solopreneur to leading a team, and the initial struggle of balancing client work, admin, and marketing. Having a team now, he says, allows him flexibility and time to focus on strategy and business growth.
Dan Martell’s book, Buy Back Your Time, was an inspiration, resonating with Lloyd’s journey.
James remembers Rich Schefren’s manifesto that illustrated the paralysis caused by handling all business functions alone. Other sources speak of the importance of focusing on one’s unique abilities and delegating other tasks in order to be highly effective.
James recalls a breaking point managing his online business alongside a demanding job. He realized he needed help, and quickly outsourced the support tickets and article writing for his online endeavor.
Hiring a support person and an article writer was well justified by the increase in James’s commission and the value of freeing up his time, letting him focus on higher-value activities.
From selling time to buying it
James remembers being a speaker with Dan Martell at Ryan Levesque‘s Mastermind in Texas, where James introduced the concept of buying time instead of selling it.
In his book Work Less, Make More, this line of thought continues, where James encourages hiring others to handle tasks you shouldn’t or don’t want to do.
James touches too on the value of repackaging purchased time as services. This brings to mind the birth of Lloyd’s fractional operator business. It began with understanding the business model, formulating an offer, and devising the fulfillment. Over time, James and Lloyd were able to strengthen the business by bringing in a team.
Of course, says James, Lloyd has strong leadership skills, which indicated to James he would be a success at this new business. Being a strong leader makes it easier to delegate tasks and buy time.
Lloyd agrees. Leading a team, he acknowledges, is his unique ability and where he feels most comfortable. James’s support and guidance in growing his team was a great help, too, and starting with small, manageable tasks helped him effectively buy time and focus on business growth.
The simple act of auditing tasks
Lloyd shares a simple task audit practice involving a Google Sheet, where he logs daily, weekly, and monthly tasks over a month. He has his clients do the same – it’s a simple and effective way for busy business owners to identify tasks that can be delegated.
Delegating tasks should be cost-effective, says Lloyd. A crude calculation shows that if you pay yourself $100,000 a year, delegating tasks for $12.50 an hour is a no-brainer. By hiring help for lower-cost tasks like bookkeeping and social media management, Lloyd frees up time to focus on higher-value activities that will benefit both his team and clients.
How far would you delegate your life?
James is interested in the balance between delegating personal and business tasks. He know some people, like Dan Martell, take delegation to an extreme, sending someone to a location ahead of time, for instance, to prepare food for him and his family.
James prefers a more balanced approach. He doesn’t mind meal preparation, but gladly hands over tasks that don’t bring him joy, such as mowing the lawn or checking pool chemicals.
Everyone, says James, should consider all aspects of their life when deciding what to delegate, not just business tasks. By identifying and delegating tasks that don’t bring satisfaction or enjoyment, individuals can free up time for more meaningful activities, whether personal or professional.
Doing what moves the needle
Lloyd stresses the need to focus on tasks that move the needle. Too many visionaries, he says, try to handle too many things at once. He recommends using the Eisenhower Matrix to prioritize tasks based on impact and urgency, which helps identify what needs immediate attention and what can be delegated or discarded.
James says he regularly uses this prioritization technique when mentoring others. He asks clients to list and order their tasks, helping them identify which ones are most valuable and impactful. His goal is to simplify and reduce the workload, focusing on one critical task each week to maximize impact.
Both James and Lloyd see the psychological benefits of task prioritization, such as using post-it notes or writing down top tasks to visually manage priorities. James even applies a simplified version of this system with his five-year-old, reinforcing the idea that getting the most important task done first makes tasks to follow more rewarding and less stressful.
I don’t have time to write an SOP…
In Lloyd’s experience, a common issue business owners face when handing over tasks is the imagined need to write a detailed SOP.
For this, Lloyd introduces a simple method, the I-WE-YOU approach, which he takes to another level in his team, the I-WE-YOU-ZOOM-AND-LOOM. Lloyd shows a team member how something is done, all the while recording it. He hands the recording over to his team member, who creates the SOP for review. Then the member performs the task with Lloyd watching. This is again recorded, and new learnings used to update the SOP. When the member can perform the task without supervision, Lloyd’s job is done. This allows for a smoother handover without the founder having to write the SOP themselves.
One of Lloyd’s clients actually used this approach to automate a 50-step process, eventually turning it into a Software as a Service.
The key to effective delegation, says Lloyd, is to capture and share what you’re doing, letting team members document and update the process themselves, freeing up the founder’s time and ensuring thorough documentation.
Sales – to delegate or not to delegate?
Lloyd notes that while many service-based business founders delegate admin, delivery, and marketing tasks, they often hold on to sales and strategy the longest. A founder with a substantial team might seek external services like his to handle operations, allowing them to focus on sales and strategic planning.
Sales is a critical role, says James, but it can be streamlined through effective pre-marketing and middle-of-funnel processes, such as email marketing and self-service conversion methods. His approach is to publish content and use behavioral email triggers to follow up with potential clients, reducing the need for traditional sales calls and a dedicated sales team.
Despite James’s extensive experience in building and training sales teams, he has structured his business to minimize the need for direct salespeople. He suggests that founders can handle sales until they reach a point where they prefer a more hands-off role, shifting towards an investor mindset.
In his own business, James leverages partnerships and performance-based arrangements, focusing on supporting founders and providing distribution without directly managing sales or other operational tasks.
When you don’t have the skills in team…
When a business lacks the necessary in-house talent, plugging in contractors can be an effective solution. This allows access to high-level expertise, such as operations management, without requiring a full-time hire, which is particularly useful for businesses that aren’t yet generating the revenue to justify a $250,000 to $350,000 salary for a high-level executive.
Fractional agencies and contractors can fill gaps, providing specialized skills like SEO, copywriting, and video production that the internal team may lack. This approach enables businesses to enhance their capabilities without the need for full-time staff, effectively using external experts to meet their needs. It’s something James does, bringing in experts like Zac Mason of vidsurface.com or SEOLeverage’s Gert Mellak, and involving them with the team in Slack.
The mistake some founders make
Lloyd observes that many business owners struggle to delegate properly once they reach a certain team size, typically between seven and thirty employees. At this stage, founders often face a bottleneck and may consider hiring an operator to manage tasks more effectively than they have. Often these owners have been running on adrenaline and scattergunning their team with tasks, causing confusion and burnout.
The issue, says Lloyd, typically lies in how tasks are delegated. Founders often assign tasks instead of outcomes, leading to a cycle where the team constantly seeks decisions from the founder. This behavior trains the team to depend on the founder for all decisions, preventing them from taking ownership of outcomes and hindering overall efficiency.
What’s the outcome you want?
Lloyd suggests, Instead of giving a specific task like creating more LinkedIn carousels, perhaps frame it as a goal to increase audience engagement and impressions on LinkedIn. This allows the team member to determine the best methods, such as carousels or reels, and take ownership of achieving the desired outcome.
This approach requires the founder to shift their mindset from task delegation to outcome delegation, which can be challenging. Founders must also resist the urge to provide answers when team members seek decisions, encouraging them to think critically and find solutions themselves. This coaching framework helps develop a more autonomous and empowered team.
The one-three-one technique
Lloyd suggests the “one-three-one” technique as a simple yet effective framework for decision-making. When a team member comes to the founder with an issue, they should present one challenge, three potential options (with flexibility on the exact number), and one suggested course of action. This approach encourages team members to invest in their decisions and think critically, making them more committed to the outcomes they propose.
This method, says Lloyd, helps build confidence and autonomy within the team. He acknowledges, though, that it can be difficult for founders to transition from task-oriented delegation to this more strategic approach. For founders struggling with this shift, hiring an operator to manage the team and foster a culture of autonomy and critical thinking can be an effective solution.
Two signs an operator could be needed
James identifies two indications a founder may need to hire an operator. First, when the founder frequently introduces unexpected new ideas or initiatives from external sources, overwhelming the team. Second, when team members are criticized for not achieving desired results or making suggestions, creating a hostile environment that discourages contribution and leads to disengagement. James can speak from his own experience with a difficult boss.
Lloyd adds that such environments make it unsafe for team members to fail, stifling innovation and growth. James likens an operator’s role to a shock absorber, protecting the team from the founder’s erratic demands and maintaining stability. If founders notice persistent issues with their team’s performance or alignment with their vision, they might consider bringing in an operator like Lloyd to mediate and support the team effectively.
A great way to plan out time
What sort of actions might a founder take after listening to this episode? Lloyd suggests business owners start by identifying tasks they can offload and use the I-We-You-Zoom-And-Loom method for an effective handover. Tasks should be delegated in the right order, typically starting with admin, followed by delivery, marketing, and finally, sales. He emphasizes delegating by focusing on outcomes, measuring results, and coaching the team using the one-three-one technique.
Additionally, Lloyd advises using a scheduling tool like Calendly or OnceHub to plan time efficiently. This approach helps avoid the back-and-forth of arranging meetings and ensures a balanced work-life schedule. For instance, he schedules work time in the morning, takes a break in the afternoon, and opens up his calendar again in the evening, allowing for flexibility and reducing unnecessary coordination efforts.
Put the big rocks in first
Lloyd discusses a concept he heard from TED speaker Vinh Giang: prioritizing big rocks (important tasks and events) before small rocks (day-to-day tasks) in one’s schedule. By planning the significant aspects of life and business first, such as holidays and family time, it becomes easier to fit smaller tasks around them, leading to better time management and fulfillment.
This approach has allowed Lloyd to focus on his passions, relationships, and strategic business activities, finding a balance that leads to personal and professional satisfaction.
Lloyd stresses that everyone has different priorities and that planning time effectively enables individuals to work on what truly matters to them, which he hopes for all his clients.
James appreciates the timelessness of the big rocks concept and other classic productivity techniques, noting their continued relevance and value.
If you think your business could benefit from the services of a fractional operator, look up Lloyd at VirtualDOO.com.
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