Process Breakdown Podcast (audio)

Do you want to systematize your business?

In this interview, Sam Craven Co-Founder of Senna House Buyers reveals how he was able to take his real estate company from generating $1.5 million in sales to $10 million in just three years by systematizing his business!

You will also discover how he was able to automate his marketing process, how the business has transformed into one that can run without him, and what he learned from being a part of a mentorship program called FortuneBuilders!

 

 

In this Episode You will Discover:

* How Sam was able to create a system for estimating home repair costs.

* How Sam was able to systematize his marketing process.

* Why Sam started by systematizing the major pain points in his business.

* Why Sam felt that determining the right processes to implement for his business was a challenge.

* How Sam was able to get buy-in from his team members.

* Why Sam believes that individual employees should tweak processes for their specific job roles.

* How Sam has gradually been able to transform his business into one that can run without him.

* How Sam uses a key performance indicator tracker to measure how his team is performing.

 

Episode Transcript:

OWEN: My guest today is Sam Craven and he is the co-founder at Senna House Buyers. Sam, welcome to the show.

SAM: Thanks Owen, I really appreciate it. It’s an honor to be here.

OWEN: Awesome. This show is all about going out there and talking to entrepreneurs like you and finding out how exactly you systematize your business so that it can run without you successfully. Before we even talk about what you even did to do that I want to know what are some mind-blowing results that you now experience as a result of going through that process of systematizing and automating your business.

SAM: We started our company about 3 year ago, and our first year in business we only did about a million and a half in sales. And this year, three years later we’re going to do well over $10 million.

OWEN: That is mind blowing. Now I’m going to listen to how you did that. How has your company been transformed as a result of systematizing your business?

SAM: It really allows us the leaders to lead the company and steer the company, and at the same time allows the technicians to excel in their position with clearly defined tasks and direction. I think that’s probably the biggest thing that it’s been able to do for us.

OWEN: And you also mentioned something about going faster, talk about that.

SAM: Okay. Every single time that we reach this choke point in our company, and we write this process, and we’re able to delegate that task with a clearly defined process. It allows us to grow faster and faster because the leaders are able to do things that leaders are supposed to do. We’re not just trying to go hand to mouth and feed ourselves, it’s more about steering the company, looking for directions, and finding opportunity. Not so much in our business where when you’re starting off you’re just like where’s the next deal? That’s kind of how it is when you’re starting off. But once you get those processes and you’re systemizing everything you start thinking a lot more strategically.

OWEN: Awesome. If we’re just going to talk about the business itself we’re not giving a full picture because the business is also benefiting you. How will you say your personal life has been transformed as a result of systematizing your business?

SAM: My personal life has been transformed as well. One of the major drivers for me leaving the corporate world ...

Is building effective teams a priority for you?

In this interview, Tim Hoopmann Managing Director at Cornerstone Group reveals the strategies he implemented to build effective teams in his company and how systematizing the day-to-day operations of the business led to a happier, calmer work environment for his employees.

You will also discover how is able to run his business on the go and live a location independent lifestyle!

 

 

In this Episode You will Discover:

* Why Tim ran into issues with the Australian tax office and compliance when doing work for his clients.

* Why Tim decided to take a look at his entire business, break it up into four pieces, and discuss each part with his team.

* Why Tim and his team chose to systematize the operational piece of his business first.

* How Tim mapped out his business visually to create his manual, checklists and summaries.

* How Tim was able to learn from his corporate experience and how he was able to apply it to his own business.

* How Tim came to realize that he needed to live and breathe the changes that were happening in his business to encourage his team to follow.

* How Tim came to understand that he needed the right people in place handling the right systems.

* How Tim gets his team members to try out systems if they are reluctant to adopt them.

 

Episode Transcript:

OWEN: My guest today is Tim Hoopmann and he is the managing director at Cornerstone Group. Tim, welcome to the show.

TIM: Thanks very much Owen, a real pleasure to be here. I’m all the way from Australia.

OWEN: Awesome. So this interview is all about us getting entrepreneurs like yourself who’ve been able to systematize your business and automated so it runs without you successfully, and I want to share how exactly you would do that. Before we even talk about how you’re able to transform the business so it does that let’s talk about what are some mind blowing results that you now experience as a result of going through the process of systematizing and automating your business.

TIM: Probably one of the most important of mind blowing results has been much happier employees. I’ve got happier employees that lead to a calmer environment, which then leads to happier customers. So what we’ve done is implementing process and systematizing and help save time, effort, and that’s a great result for everybody. And really, if I’ve got a nice and calm environment in the office then my customers further benefit of that. And what I also get is clarification in the office, clarification with my team, and then clarification with the customers. So they’re probably the big, mind blowing things for me, much calmer, much happier people around me.

OWEN: Awesome. How will you say your company has been transformed as a result of systematizing your business?

TIM: One of the key areas is the ability to be mobile. With the changing world we live in, we’re all moving around, people what to run their business in different places. The ability to be mobile is one of the key benefits that I find personally for me because I’m mobile, I travel. In fact I’m going to the US next week, so I can run my business and go. I have everything online. I’m not relying on how you could go into the office, sit at my desk, and sit at my computer. And I can work anywhere and my team can be available. If they’re away from the office for the day they’re still connected. And we can still cooperate and work together.

OWEN: Awesome. Besides being able to be mobile and work from anywhere in the world I’m wondering how else has your personal life been transformed as a result of systematizing your business?...

Do you want to create a vision for your business?

In this interview, Darren Root CEO of Rootworks reveals how he created a vision for his ideal business and achieved freedom through systematization!

You will also discover how he was able to build a business that supports the life he wants to live, and gives him the freedom to travel when he wants to, and work when he wants to work.

In this Episode You will Discover:

* Why Darren believes that if you build a business that relies entirely on you, it keeps you tied to a location.

* Why Darren’s lowest moment in his business was when tax season hit.

* How Darren came to realize that he built a job and not a business.

* Why Darren eliminated 80% of the services he was selling.

* How Darren figured out what kind of product to offer to attract the right kind of customer.

* Why Darren focused on solving pain points with this systems.

* Why Darren has off-site one-week retreats with his entire team on a yearly basis.

* Why Darren never goes into a meeting by himself.

Episode Transcript:

OWEN: My guest today is Darren Root and he is the CEO of Rootworks, LLC. Darren, welcome to the show.

DARREN: Thanks Owen, it’s great to be here. I’m looking forward to a good discussion today.

OWEN: Awesome. This interview is all about us going out there to get entrepreneurs like yourself who have been able to systematize your business so that it runs successfully without you and get you to share how you actually did that for our audience or listeners who’s listening today. Before we talk about how you systematized your business let’s talk about what are some mind-blowing results that you currently experience as a result of going through the process of systematizing and automating your business?

DARREN: I think the big one Owen is freedom. I have the ability to have a business that supports the life that I want to live, which gives me the freedom to travel, to work from wherever I want to work, when I want to work, and not sacrifice. Often times when you’re working and everything depends on you and you’re not working then all of a sudden the money goes away. What’s really nice is when you systematize the business and it gives you this freedom, and the money’s still coming in. That’s probably the best results.

OWEN: That word, freedom is huge. It’s nothing to sneeze at. It’s a huge thing. Everybody’s looking for that and I’m glad you have that. How has your company been transformed as a result of systematizing the business?

DARREN: I think the big thing is that my team, when I first start systematizing, we brought eight staff people. Now we have 32. I think the big transformations there from the systematizing, it’s really hard to run a company of 32 of employees if you don’t have systems and processes in place. The fact that we systematize our business, it gives my team the confidence to run the day-to-day operations without feeling this need to sort of tug on my pant leg all the time, if that makes sense.

OWEN: I totally understand. And you already mentioned you have freedom but I was kind of looking from your personal life. During the pre-interview you said you travel a lot now. Talk about that.

DARREN: I do. You enter different phases of your life. I’m at the point I’m an empty nest. My wife and I have been married for 32 years and I do a lot of speaking gigs around the country, but also around the world a bit now. Having the freedom to pick-up. An example is I was doing a speaking gig in London in mid-April, a couple of places in London. We decided to stay over there for 3 weeks and hit Paris, and hit a few other great spots.

Do you want to double your revenue and drastically increase your company’s bottom-line profit?

In this interview, Michael Erickson the founder of Search Scientists reveals how he has been able to double revenue every year and stay profitable as a result of systematizing his business!

You will also discover how he has been able to deal with the ongoing challenges connected to growth by implementing systems, how he was able to get his team onboard with following systems, and the simple method he uses to track the work and results his employees deliver.

 

 

In this Episode You will Discover:

* How Michael has been able to deal with the ongoing challenges of growth by implementing systems.

* Why Michael was feeling burnt out working with his team members.

* Why Michael’s systems were initially too long and hard to follow.

* How Michael was able to consolidate all projects and put them in one place.

* Why Michael allowed demand to drive the creation of systems.

* How Michael was able to get his team onboard with the idea of following systems.

* Why Michael’s goal was to enable his team members to duplicate great work.

* How Michael is able to track employee results by measuring the results he achieves for his clients.

 

Episode Transcript:

OWEN: My guest today is Michael Erickson and he is the head of sales and client happiness at Search Scientist. Michael, welcome to the show.

MICHAEL: Hey Owen. I’m happy to be here.

OWEN: Awesome. The show is about getting guests like to who’ve been able to systematize their business regardless of whether they use SweetProcess or not. They come in here to talk about how they did so that our listeners can learn from it and implement what they learned in their business. Before we get started I want to know what are some mind blowing results that you now experience as a result of going through that process of systematizing and automating your business?

MICHAEL: Absolutely. I think one of the biggest things is when I initially set out to start a business and I was picturing… We all like to do the back on napkin type planning where we’re planning our business and saying, “Maybe I can grow a certain percentage each year. In the few years that we’ve been in business we’ve doubled every year. And I think a big part of that is having systems in place. So I’m excited share some of the insights that I’ve experienced working with systems and SweetProcess since I’m currently a customer myself too.

OWEN: Awesome. I think during the pre-interview you said you actually have more vacations in the company as a result too.

MICHAEL: That’s right. This is something that’s personally satisfying. I think every entrepreneur out there can relate to the grind where you’re working a ton of hours, you’re working on the weekends, you’re working after dinner, when you’re tired and all you want to do is just relax and be with your family. I know that for me it was a huge victory once I was finally able to take a short vacation, or even a long vacation with my wife. That was really, really important for us. And internally at the company too we’re starting to do a lot more team meet ups. I know that Bobby, one of our account managers at Search Scientist is actually flying down. We’re going to have some fun down here in the Caribbean so I’m excited about that too.

OWEN: That’s awesome. How will you say the company has been transformed as a result of systematizing your business?

MICHAEL: Like I said at the top of the show I don’t think we would’ve been able to grow the way that we did without being systematized.

Do you want to achieve and maintain a healthy work-life balance?

In this interview, Mathew Heggem Owner and CEO of SUM Innovation reveals how he was able develop a company culture that empowers his employees to make important business decisions, and how that has allowed him to achieve a meaningful work-life balance!

You will also discover how an anxiety attack led him to the important realization that his business needed to be systematized, and how his employees helped to systematize his business.

 

 

In this Episode You will Discover:

* Why Mathew had an anxiety attack and how that led to the realization that his business needed to be systematized.

* How Mathew solicited feedback from his employees, and how that helped him improve the systems in his business.

* Why Mathew sits down with his business partner on a regular basis to talk about their vision for their company.

* How Mathew allowed his employees to come to the realization that they needed certain systems and tools.

* How Mathew resolves differences with his business partner.

* Why Mathew puts such great emphasis on work-life balance.

* Why Mathew is now working on developing content for thought leadership.

* Why Mathew hired a person that handles his in-depth employee review process.

 

Episode Transcript:

OWEN: My guest today is Mathew Heggem and he is the owner and CEO of SUM Innovation. Mathew, welcome to the show.

MATHEW: Thank you man, I’m excited to be here.

OWEN: Let’s jump right in. This interview is all about getting entrepreneurs on here who systematized their business and we want to always learn how they did it by showcasing the current result that they’re experiencing right now as a result of systematizing and automating their business. And then going back into the journey of before now, what was it like in how you transformed the business. Starting now, what will you say are some mind blowing result that you now currently experience as a result of going through that process of systematizing and automating your business?

MATHEW: Yes, absolutely. I think the first mind blowing result that I truly experienced was actually the ability to take a vacation. It sounds very simple at the end of the day but realistically the fact is that you get so caught up in the day to day and the activities that you need to do that the moment that you really feel like you can step away from the business, it becomes a critical turning point for you. And I’m pleased to say that I actually have multiple vacations planned for this summer, and then just super excited about that. The other thing that’s really important to pay note to is quite frankly, it rolls back to the bigger conversation about work-life balance. But I think frankly when you get to the place where you can push the development of your business to have the systems that you need for it to run itself. You can spend more time with your family and friends, personal things. Another thing that I’ve been able to do in that regard is to spend some time educating myself in other ways and start to go through this certification program and really investing in my own education, my own development. And that’s a really important milestone I think for me because it really does help me to find that work-life balance that we need to have in order to be successful business owners.

OWEN: How will you say your company has been transformed as a result of systematizing your business?

MATHEW: I think the transformation really has come in the sense that you see more leadership amongst the team and certainly more leadership and management responsibility being taken by other people within your practice to lead the way.

Do you want to rapidly grow your business?

In this interview, Jeff McMenamy Owner and CEO of Teton Therapy reveals how he is able to grow his physical therapy clinic substantially year after year as result of systematizing it!

 

 

In this Episode You will Discover:

* How Jeff was able to systematize his physical therapy clinic.

* Why Jeff’s wife was working part-time in the company and why she wanted to quit.

* Why Jeff believes that pride will get in the way of growing your business.

* Why Jeff started tracking everything in his business.

* How Jeff’s executive council reports to him and helps to create policies and handle important projects.

* How Jeff got his employees to write up job descriptions for their roles.

* Why Jeff’s biggest challenge was getting his employees to buy into the systems.

* How Jeff uses corrective plans to help employees work on their weaknesses.

* How Jeff tracks and measures relevant stats in his company and turns them into to-do lists.

 

Episode Transcript:

OWEN: My guest today is Jeff McMenamy and he’s the owner and CEO of Teton Therapy. Jeff, welcome to the show.

JEFF: Thank you.

OWEN: Awesome. This show is all about getting guests like yourself where they’ve been able to systematize their business so it runs successfully without you. And I want to know how you did that. So before we jump right in to the detail of how you did that let’s talk about what are some mind-blowing results that you now experience as a result of going through that process of systematizing and automating your business?

JEFF: Well, one of the things that blows my mind is how a small business can continue grow substantially, and essentially very small markets. And so some of the things that I’ve experienced is that we track the amount of business we do and we continue to feel these all-time highs on a regular basis. And so that’s mind blowing to me that you think that you can continue to grow just by simply systematizing.

OWEN: Let’s make that clear. During the pre-interview you gave some details about that. You said that you live in a town where you have 10,000 people and then how many visitors a week?

JEFF: Yeah. We have two clinics. One is about 10,000 people and one of the communities there is more like 7,000 people. And our most recent all-time high was 340-patient visits in one week. Before systematizing I think our top we were hitting and that was very rare was about 90 visits a week.

OWEN: Wow. I’m glad you clarified on that. How will you say your company has been transformed as a result of systematizing your business?

JEFF: Well, the company has transformed into what used to be me the driving force wanting to succeed and grow the business. And I was just doing so much of it, it felt very…

OWEN: All on you, right?

JEFF: Yeah, all on me, and I love that. It was fun to play that game but as time went on it just started to become a drag. And what’s happened now is with systematizing you put others in charge of their respective areas and they have that same passion. They’re the ones trying to grow the company and grow their area and so forth. That’s probably been the biggest transformation, it’s not just me. My momma sit back and watch these other individuals grow.

OWEN: I think you mentioned during the pre-interview that you asked one of the employees why they want to work for you guys, and what did he say?

JEFF: Well, he said at that point he wanted an opportunity to grow in his career and he thought in the future he would like to either start his own practice, or become a partner, or something like that.

Is running your business stressing you out? Do you feel like you are trapped by the amount of work you have to do?

In this interview, Stephanie Spaan President and CEO of Excel Achievement Center reveals some of the personal crises she experienced and how systematizing her business allowed her to keep going without becoming stressed out.

You will also discover how she was able to encourage her employees to come up with possible solutions to the problems they ran into, how she uses self-evaluation forms to ensure that her employees are on track, and how she was able to create a culture where her employees contribute to the team and feel appreciated.

 

 

In this Episode You will Discover:

* Tips for managing business stress.

* How Stephanie was able to transform her business from a top-down culture to a teamwork oriented business.

* Why Stephanie has manuals for every role in her business.

* How Stephanie encouraged her employees to come up with possible solutions for problems they encountered in her business.

* Why Stephanie believes in staying current with your business and creating systems accordingly.

* How Stephanie uses a database to keep track of the progress of her students.

* How Stephanie uses self-evaluation forms to ensure her employees are on track.

* Why Stephanie hires detail-oriented teachers that pay attention to the details of the systems.

* How Stephanie was able to create a culture where her employees feel appreciated.

 

Episode Transcript:

OWEN: My guest today is Stephanie Spaan. And she is the president and CEO at the Excel Achievement Center. Stephanie, welcome to the show.

STEPHANIE: Thanks so much for having me. I’m really super excited.

OWEN: Awesome. This interview is all about getting guests in here who have been able to systematize their business so that our audience can learn how exactly you did that. And so before we even talk about the actual meat per se that pertains to the content today I want to give the listeners an understanding of what are some mind blowing results that you now currently experience as result of going through that process of systematizing and automating your business.

STEPHANIE: My goodness, there are so many of them. Of course the biggest one is that I don’t have to be here all the time. I’m a single mother. I had some health issues that I’ve gone. I’ve gotten to go on vacations even to far away countries, like I’ve been to France. And my company, there’s not even a glitch in the system. So that’s one of the great big ones. The other huge one is that everyone in my company feels empowered, feels a part of it, and it’s not just Stephanie’s company but it is definitely Excel Achievement, the people. So I would say those are the two huge benefits.

OWEN: How will you say your company has been transformed as a result of systematizing your business?

STEPHANIE: It’s far less top down. I think as a new business owner I definitely wanted to be in control, wanted everything my way and that’s great. I think when you’re first starting off and ensure that it does go according to the mission or your business plan. But then when you start to pull in other people’s point of view you realize that you can brighten and even make better based on other people’s gifts and strengths. And so therefore as I started to put systems in it empowered my employees then to be able to take more ownership and add their own strengths and capabilities.

OWEN: You mentioned during the pre-interview that now it’s gotten less top down and is more team-oriented, right?

STEPHANIE: Definitely less top down. It used to be very much so top down.

Have you had a business fail on you? Have you ever thought about quitting or starting over from scratch?

In this interview, Dan Norris co-founder of WPCurve shares how he went from running an agency in constant chaos without Business Systems and Processes to Building a Rapidly Growing Company that is Systematized and highly Scalable!

You will discover why he had to offer the services of his new company as a product, how he systematized the day to day operations of the business from the get-go and how he was able to build up his customer base solely off content marketing!

 

 

In this Episode You will Discover:

* Why Dan decided to scrap his agency-style business and start from scratch.

* Why Dan needed to have established systems from the moment he launched his business.

* Why Dan decided that his business needed to focus on one service.

* How Dan gets his employees to manage procedures.

* How Dan solved problems as they came up in his business.

* How Dan was influenced by James Schramko’s mindset and approach to business.

* Why Dan knew that he couldn’t make his business work on his own.

* How Dan promotes his business through content and word-of-mouth marketing.

 

Episode Transcript:

OWEN: My guest today is Dan Norris. He’s the co-founder of WP Curve. Dan, welcome to the show.

DAN: Thanks for having me.

OWEN: This show is all about getting entrepreneurs on here who have been able to systematize their business so it runs successfully without them. The premise of the show is to learn how you did it. Let’s dive right in. What are some mind blowing results that you now experience as a result of going through the process of systematizing and automating your business?

DAN: No pressure. My story is really about having previously having an agency that wasn’t really systemized at all and then starting WP Curve, which is a business that’s running like a proper business, which is to say that it runs more or less without me having to hand hold people all day every day and deal with customers and that kind of thing. That enables me to do other things like start other businesses, or focus on my content which I’ve been doing a lot of. And since starting up WP Curve I’ve written two books, started a craft, be a business, started a software company, presented a bunch of conferences around the world, all that kind of stuff is not things I would’ve been able to do before.

OWEN: We will actually talk about what the experience you had in your prior business that made you when you decided to start the BP curve, to start this business from the ground up making sure that it was systematized. But I just want to give the listeners the results you actually experienced with WP Curve. I think during the pre-interview you mentioned the size of the team and revenue you’re making, stuff like that?

DAN: Yeah. I’ve got a bit of a cold today, so if I break out into a coughing fit then…

OWEN: No problem.

DAN: I did that on Pat Flynn’s podcast. Hopefully I won’t do it on this one. We employed contractors and most of them full-time. Not employees and such but around the world. Most of them are in the Philippines. We’ve got a team of 40-45 or something. I we’re at about 66 grand a month in revenue, mostly recurring. But that’s not without advertising or anything. We’ve had a couple of months where we’re sort of trying to test the pricing and figure out a few system internal things before we start really trying to push the growth. I think we’re going to grow quite a bit in the second half of 2015.

OWEN: Awesome. How would you say WP Curve has transformed as a result of systematizin...

In this interview, Scott Gellatly Managing Director at Bollo Empire shares how he quickly transitioned from freelancer to business owner!

You will also discover how he systematized his sales process to be effective and scalable, how he built up a team to deliver results to his clients and what painful lesson he learned from watching his father run an IT business that made him decide to set up his own business so that it can run without him successfully!

 

 

In this Episode You will Discover:

* Why Scott’s biggest challenge was systematizing his customer experience.

* Why Scott knew he had to systematize his business in order to grow it.

* Why Scott put a priority on systematizing the sales process in his business.

* How Scott structured his sales process to be effective and scalable.

* How Scott was able to systematize backend functions like invoicing in his business.

* Why Scott believes in documenting processes using video.

* Why Scott’s biggest challenge was cash flow when he was first getting started in business.

* Why Scott was committed to being a good example of systematization for his clients.

 

Episode Transcript:

OWEN: My guest today is Scott Gellatly and he is the managing director of Bollo Empire. Scott, I’m sure I didn’t pronounce your last name correctly so please make sure you correct me on this.

SCOTT: No problem, I’m happy to be here mate. Scott Gellatly is my name and managing director of Bollo Empire here in Australia.

OWEN: Awesome. This interview is all about getting entrepreneurs who have been able to systematize the entire the business so that we can share the story, the strategies, as well as we the tactics as to how they did that. Diving right in, what are some mind blowing results that you now experience as a result of going through that process of systematizing and automating your business?

SCOTT: Yeah, sure. The primary thing, the reason you systemize is you have a business that works without you. I’m off the tools Owen. I don’t have to actually get in and deliver my service anymore. I’m freed up to work on the strategy and the growth of my business. And also, being able to go on holidays and actually have some free time, which is also pretty good. Does that make sense?

OWEN: That makes sense. I’m wondering, can you give us a specific result that comes to mind as to what you now, or maybe recently experienced as a result of systematizing the business? I’m wondering if we can give the listeners something really good.

SCOTT: Yeah, I think the real key for me is that I’ve actually been able to scale my business up. So I’ve gone from being able to be a freelancer to someone who’s now on a path to creating a million dollar business, an asset at the end that I can sell. That’s without a doubt the key to I think actually starting a business and something often lost in the translation when someone goes out there and thinks he’s going to start their own gig up.

OWEN: That’s a great result. Let’s talk about how’s the company now been transformed as a result of systematizing your business?

SCOTT: Yeah, I guess when I started out as the technician, the guy that knew a lot about what I do but hadn’t run a business before I was the one doing all the work. I was working at an hourly work so you’re instantaneously restricted purely by the number of hours in a week. Even if you’re doing an 80-hour week you literally can’t charge more than you can physically work for. Once you actually do systemize your business I was able to bring on a team who could deliver the job, deliver the work as well or better than I could,

In this interview, Mike O’Hagan Founder and Owner of MiniMovers Pty Ltd reveals how the lessons he learned from a previous business experience enabled him to start his moving business and have it systematized from day one!

You will discover how he started his moving company with only a $200 investment, grew it to 400 employees and over $23m yearly turnover. You will also discover how having the right business systems and processes played a big role the rapid growth of his company!

In this Episode You will Discover:

* How Mike created a 28 point system and training program before he even launched his business.

* How Mike took inspiration from the McDonald’s model as he was creating systems for his business.

* How Mike discovered that his employees didn’t read the operations manual.

* Why Mike broke his operations manual down into 20 minute videos.

* How Mike was able to bring his operations manual online.

* Why Mike has had to overhaul his business software over time.

* Why Mike believes that his systems need to adapt to new technologies.

* Why Mike believes the key to succeeding in the service industry is to create happy customers.

Episode Transcript:

OWEN: My guest today is Mike O’Hagan and he is the founder of MiniMovers Pty. Ltd. Mike, welcome to the show.

MIKE: Hey, glad to be here.

OWEN: Awesome. This show is getting entrepreneurs in here who would be able to systematize their entire business so it runs successfully without them. And the goal of the interview today is to just basically how you’ll be able to that in your business. First of all, what are some mind blowing results that you’ve now experienced as a result of systematizing and automating your business?

MIKE: My main business I’ve had for many years called Mini Movers which does short just furniture moving. I started that business with $200 and utility drug. Today, I’ve got 450 people we’re turning over just under $13 million a year. It’s building and growing, and we can’t achieve that without systems and processes. We simply can’t do that. Systems and processes hold it all together. That’s what creates the continuity for my customers. That’s what creates the ability for me to have it run without me being there.

OWEN: Awesome. How has your company been transformed as a result of systematizing the business?

MIKE: From the very first day I started Mini Movers it was always going to be a bit coming. That was always my intention. It’s a people’s business. It’s a service business in the service sector. The only way you’re going to do that is to systemize it. I also remember I think I had one or two trucks right at the very start. Computers just come out. I was sitting at the computer one day and I was typing, and my father who was a farmer, he came in and he stood behind me and said, “What are you doing?” I said, “Dad, when we do the furniture moving jobs we seem to do the same stuff over and over again.” So I was sitting and I taught what I now call the set system. And MiniMovers, every time we do a job there’s 28 things we do exactly the same way. Those 28 points is what I typed in that computer 28 odd years ago when I started the company, that was the start of what we call set system. From the very start I start systemizing it out. Nowadays, it’s a little bit more than a Word document with 28 points on it. It’s become a very, very electronic and very, very systemized process during the capitals and everything else, but that’s how it started. From the very beginning I started and from there I just kept growing and adding to the system.

OWEN: So it flows down into that because the odds are th...