This week Lucy is flying solo - eek! This episode delves into the essential aspects of tech and operations for new or new-ish business owners. Building on the conversation from the previous episode with Dom Marshall, this episode focuses on whether a new business needs a website and tips for smoothing out the process. We offer advice on balancing tech needs without the overwhelm, emphasising that initial business focus should be on acquiring the first few clients through personal connections! We talk about mapping out client journeys and identifying areas where tech can enhance or simplify business operations and practical and personal experiences are shared to help you streamline their new business operations effectively.
Key Moments in this episode 00:00 Introduction and Welcome 00:59 Continuing from Last Episode 01:16 Website Essentials for New Business Owners 02:42 Tech and Operations Overview 04:15 Client Acquisition and Initial Steps 05:54 Evaluating and Improving Client Experience 09:55 Mapping the Customer Journey 16:35 The Dilemma of Business Tools 16:57 Anecdotes and Advice 18:35 Navigating Business Beginnings 21:43 The Role of Technology in Business 23:59 Balancing Automation and Personal Touch 28:26 Continuous Improvement and Adaptation 29:43 Concluding Thoughts and Future Episodes
🚨 BIG NEWS YOU GLORIOUS HUMANS 🚨 Disobedient Business® LIVE; the newbie palooza is coming June 2024! A 4-day virtual summit aimed at helping newbie business owners with wtf this online biz thing is and how tf it all works! Tickets available real soon, get on the VIP list and be the first to hear at disobedientbusinesslive.com
This week Lucy is flying solo - eek! This episode delves into the essential aspects of tech and operations for new or new-ish business owners. Building on the conversation from the previous episode with Dom Marshall, this episode focuses on whether a new business needs a website and tips for smoothing out the process. We offer advice on balancing tech needs without the overwhelm, emphasising that initial business focus should be on acquiring the first few clients through personal connections! We talk about mapping out client journeys and identifying areas where tech can enhance or simplify business operations and practical and personal experiences are shared to help you streamline their new business operations effectively.
Key Moments in this episode 00:00 Introduction and Welcome 00:59 Continuing from Last Episode 01:16 Website Essentials for New Business Owners 02:42 Tech and Operations Overview 04:15 Client Acquisition and Initial Steps 05:54 Evaluating and Improving Client Experience 09:55 Mapping the Customer Journey 16:35 The Dilemma of Business Tools 16:57 Anecdotes and Advice 18:35 Navigating Business Beginnings 21:43 The Role of Technology in Business 23:59 Balancing Automation and Personal Touch 28:26 Continuous Improvement and Adaptation 29:43 Concluding Thoughts and Future Episodes
🚨 BIG NEWS YOU GLORIOUS HUMANS 🚨 Disobedient Business® LIVE; the newbie palooza is coming June 2024! A 4-day virtual summit aimed at helping newbie business owners with wtf this online biz thing is and how tf it all works! Tickets available real soon, get on the VIP list and be the first to hear at disobedientbusinesslive.com
Well, hello? Hello. Hello. And welcome back to the disobedient business podcast. This week's episode, you have the delight of just me, let alone leave C and possibly an interruption from account because he's in that kind of mood. So we'll see how we get on. How are you? How are you doing? I hope you're having a wonderful day wherever you are in the world. And whenever you're listening to that, so this week's episode. We are following on from the last episode with Dom Marshall. by all means pop. And have a listen to that episode with the lovely job. before coming to join me on this episode. And Donovan pepper. We're talking about websites, whether if you're a new or new-ish. Business owner. If you need a website, And if you do. some, some tips about how to get that done and have it be less of a struggle. and. You know, I definitely agree. I've seen so many people. Myself included. get very focused on the whole must have a website. Must have everything all set up. Beautifully perfectly wonderfully. like I'm some big multi-million corporation just from the get go when it's me and my spare room on my laptop. Trying to trying to start a business. So, yes, following on from that, we're not talking exclusively about websites in this episode. for those that. Do I know that much about me. I'm new C on the other half of The co founders of the disobedient business code. And whilst Pipper. Is, all about coaching and the kind of. Businessy side of business. I am kind of a little bit more. The. Operations side of business, the, the tech, the systems, the strategies. On. Kind of. Doing the do rather than the. Business nerdy stuff. so we are in this episode going to be talking about. About WelTec tech and operations. When you are starting your new business. and I feel like, it sounds like it's a little bit dry, but it isn't, and we're not going to be talking about. Heap of platforms or anything like that in this episode, earned as fr. I am autistic and ever so slightly unhinged. So. Who knows where we're going to end up. but yeah, buckle in. and let's go on this wild ride. so. Let's talk about tech. I mean, especially if you're an online business owner, off the back of it. It's online. Right? So. There's I guess an assumption and possibly a fear, that you're going to have to be. Techie. and I think it's undeniable that there is going to be a little bit of tech involved. So do you need all the tech, do you need to sign up for all the apps? All the platforms, all the things. Well, no. Of course you don't. There are some things that you'll need. Because if you're online business owner, then. You're going to be doing some business online. but that can take. Myriad of different forms. And methods. So. I think before we dive in. Two. Some of the meatier parts of the episode and the, kind of the doing the do. We should probably preface the episode by saying that none of the shit that we're about to be talking about. Should be getting in the way of you getting your first clients. We've talked about it in previous episodes. I think possibly even the last episode, I know I've heard pepper say it before. and I think other people. Not like. This idea is unique to PIP. I mean, she's. magnificent, but, But I think possibly one of our recent guests has brought it up and my mind is completely blanking right now. but I digress. You already know your first clients. Right. You don't start a business and it's like, oh, I've just got to kind of like. Naturally accumulate some clients now. And, you know, how would anyone know I've got a business? If I don't have all the marketing from day one, You don't need that for your first clients, your first clients are going to be friends. Colleagues. Friends of family. Friends or friends it's going to be a bit of word of mouth. and it's going to be. You know, talking about your business. To the people around you and then, yeah. It's amazing how much just comes out of that, of you going, oh, I'm doing this thing now when people are like, oh, fascinating. Okay, cool. So, yes, none of the sheds. Needs to be getting in the way of you. Working with those first few precious, precious clients. So let's get to it. What tech do you need? Wow. It's going to be, it's going to be a little bit of a. leading you on and taking you back. With, with, the. Tech equivalent of edging. Oh, it didn't notify. Should've said that. Oh, wow. Yeah, it is what it is. We first need to take a look at our operations before we start looking at tech. And we need to look at what our business is doing. And. Realized that the needs of a life coach will be very different to someone who's doing accounting, which will be very different to a web developer, which will be very different to a graphic designer. And I'm not just talking about. The actual platforms that they're doing to do, I think, cause like obviously graphic designers can need some graphics, software, life, coach. Probably not going to need that much in the way of comprehensive graphics software. Are they. And I would say. As a starting point. To think about. The service and the experience that you've received elsewhere in the past. You might've bought a thing from an online business before. and this could even be. Something as simple. it just even needs to just be online. It could be things like physical businesses, but that you've, you know, Don the do online. like book to table or. The hotel or, you know, Bought a book. It doesn't just need to be an online, online service that you've used. But have a think about that experience, what those. Those experiences. I'm sure. I'm guessing it's not just one time. that you've used the internet. otherwise I feel like starting an online business would be quite, quite, and then quite, quite an interesting turn of events if you've only used the internet once in your life. But. alas photographs, So have a think about businesses that you've used before, things that you've booked things that you've bought. and to think about that. Experience what. What have you liked? What have you not liked? Where things fall in down. Maybe. You were going to a book, a restaurant, and it was really hard to find the menu online. And you need to look at the menu because I mean, you need to look at the. It was really hard to find out where to book or there. Way that they had that booking system was really clunky. Maybe something felt like it had too many steps. For fuck sake, just. Let me book the fucking thing already. Maybe there were some really good things. Maybe you got. Reminder of your reservation or several reminders of your reservation. Oh, God. So helpful. Maybe a hotel state, they had a post-stay follow-up. And. You know, that was really valuable to you and you, it made you feel really good as a customer and, Like your business had been valued by them. So all of these things. have a think about things. I know it's always easier to remember the things that pissed you off rather than the things that you really loved. That try, just have a little think, jot some of it down. open up a good old Google doc. Or the document platforms are available. And Um, Yeah, just some of those things down. Or, you know, good old fashioned pen and paper. We'll also do just fine. So once you've got that and we've had. A little. A little thing about things that we've liked that we've experienced before. Then we need to start looking our own business. Now you. Could have been in business five minutes, literally. I mean, we're Hey, if you find. If you found this episode five minutes after deciding to start your business. How very fucking exciting. Welcome. Welcome to being a business owner. but maybe you've had your business for six months, maybe a year. And you've just kind of been muddling through so far. Ain't no shame. That was definitely me. Oh, probably stem is me sometimes. So, yes. So we've thought about these really great and frustrating experiences that we've had before. so now let's look around business. And. Kind of. See where these things might apply. Because even if you're not running a restaurant, It doesn't mean that some things that you've learned from booking. Experiences at restaurants don't apply to your business. So. This is where things like a, a flow chart. Come in really handy. Either again, pen and paper. or online, you can do it in a simple document. or there are tools, Like Miro is a really good flow chart tool for planning out lots of. Lots of schemes, but anyhow, We want to make a flow chart. Or a map of our. Customers current journey through our business from when they first find us through to how they leave us. And. You want to do that for any services that you are currently offering? Although, if you're one of the first five minutes people in business. It was probably only just one thing at the moment. And that's cool. You don't need to be doing all the things when you're starting out. Keep it simple. So, yes, you might want to make a note about anything that you think currently works really well or that you love, or the. Maybe you've had some really good feedback on from, from some clients. Oh, also some, some frustration points. Maybe clients not rocking up to calls on time. Or asking for links because I can't find X, Y or Zed. Inquiry messages that have mentioned. Something or recurring inquiry messages, that people are inquiring about the same, same thing. maybe they. Weren't sure what your prices were. Same thing can be applied to, Maybe some wasted connection calls where. a lot of folks offer. a free. You know, 30 minute, 20 minute. Coffee chat. A lot of people offer a free, get to know you, chat, coffee, chat, connection, chat, call it what you will discover. Recall. And maybe you're finding the, some of those feel like really wasted time because the client's rocked up and it's clear that it's not a good fit. At least clear to you, even if not to them or possibly also to them. and you're finding maybe that your calls aren't converting well. And that can be lots of reasons for that. It could be, you know, that whole. Sales aspect and the. The pepper, the pepper side of that. but that could also be. That. They've not really got to know you before having that call. and that may be, there are some things. In your current setup, whether that's your social media, whether it's a website where things aren't really reflecting you or. Things aren't easy and simple for people to find. Before they're booking that call with you. So. Once we've got that mapped out. we can look at what we're currently doing. We can then kind of, you see what maybe see where I'm going with this. We can go through and we can start to have a look at. What we're currently doing versus some of the things that. We said before that we really liked, or didn't like about our own previous experiences. And we can start to weave. The good things in. It's not less, not less. That's all you have the bad things. leave the bad things where they are. So as a really simple example, maybe you currently do, Connection calls or those discovery calls. or even just a standard client call. And you're not doing email reminders 24 hours before. The scheduled call. and that's something that you think would be really lovely to add in. as a reminder, and as a chance to have your client or prospective client kind of prepare and get into the Headspace. I once had someone say that they really liked the, I did one. I'm not saying do this because what works for me might not work for others, but I once had someone say that they really appreciated. I used to have a five minute reminder, And it was because it would ping up. It would mean that the link to our call was right at the top of the. Email inbox. and it was like, go grab a cup of tea, come from, can come and do the meeting. So, yes, things like that. You could also maybe see if you have fallen into any traps of. Things that you thought you should do. Or that had to be a certain way. And then realize that those are things that you haven't liked in your previous experiences with other, with other businesses. But your fucking doing them to your current clients. well, Which is a bit wild, right? You know, we've, we've just said, I really didn't like that. This was really difficult to find on a website. But lo and behold, our prospective clients are getting frustrated because they can't find things on our own website. So it's a lot, right? Is this. You see where this is a bit of a big undertaking. It's a. It's a real sit-down job. And I think this is why. Picker and Dom's episode. Was so fascinating. Because even with just a simple one page website, There's so much to consider. And when you're just starting out, you don't really know. What spot, what corner of the online business world is going to feel like home and feel like you. And. It makes me think of videos that I've seen on social media where, I don't know why this, this is what I get on my for you page, but alas. Well, they've got medical students and they're interviewing them because they're graduating and they're going into their. like specialty program. they asked them what they wanted to, what kind of doctor they wanted to be when they started medical school. And then what specialty they're going into now. for the most part, they're wildly different. And. The same thing applies. As to you starting your business, you start with this grand idea and this grand vision and a dream on the back of a napkin. And then you start doing it. And you're like, well, I don't want a second. This isn't quite the vibe. I thought it was going to be. I'm not, it could be really dramatic, like realizing that you started the intention of being a business coach and then realized that actually you want to help menopausal women with not just business, but life in general and all that encompasses that transition phase of life. Or maybe you realize that doing so much live, live calls, isn't possible with your flavor of neuro spicy or health or life situation. and they it's taking too much of your energy, too many of your spoons in a day. And so that's not a very feasible or sustainable way for you to work. There's just so much that you don't know when you're starting and that you can't really pound for, until you start doing the do. I'm not smart. Aye. And I think people would agree with me here. Get so hung up on the whole to website or not to website to tackle, not to tech thing, because. Just fuck. It's a lot of money down the drain when you sign up for things. And realize three months later, it really doesn't serve you. But also we've both definitely been there. So, you know, Not to not to do too many anecdotes, but, this, or, you know, tangents, but it's also makes me think of that song from. It's from Romeo and Juliet, but it's not from Romeo. And Juliet is Bosler, man. here. Directed Romeo and Juliet the shakes. The Shakespeare version. Oh, Can you tell me I have not finished my morning coffee yet. The modern Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes version. and there was a song. That. I think bows voices. cool. Everybody's free to wear sunscreen. Now I feel like depending on the age of the human listening, there might be quite a lot of people currently going. Yeah. Well, Durley. Do you see. But just throwing out there for those who might not know it. one of my favorite songs don't know if it still want to PIP his favorite songs, but she's definitely the person that showed me. and I love it. it's just like a song. That's all advice. And I'm not saying to follow any of it, but. There's a bit in it that says, Be careful whose advice you buy. But be patient with those who supply it. So, yeah, I think that applies. Everywhere. Even to me, even to us at DB co. Oh, I say he says, advice is a form of nostalgia. And it's like taking your experiences. Dusting them off painting over the ugly parts and. Recycling that. so. Yeah, advice is great because everyone's had experiences. Anyway. I've got lost. Haven't I, this is why I'm not allowed to be alone. I need chaperoning. any hoops, so your a business baby. You are still effectively shitting in your business. Nappy. And you don't have a routine yet. You don't know who you are yet. And you will likely start and absorb a ton of bullshit from the big name. Can we call them con RCS. I mean, I'm not going to name them. But there are some pretty big names. And so when people go into. Starting their online business and they Google. Being a business owner or whatever. There are so many. Books videos. Webinars from some. Big name people that earn. Too much money that then they know what to do with, And you're going to go. You're going to go down some paths. and then you're going to have a moment where you go. Hang on a second. And I think pepper said in her solo episode. A few episodes back. But starting a business is a personal growth journey of the highest fucking order. And by fuck it is. Jeez. And it go with on I'm. So PIP has been doing business. There's been doing business. PIP has been coaching and has had kind of her business. I think there's eight years now. I think. Whereas I started in. 2021. I think it was 20, 21. Yeah, I think of a fault. The fall to taxes. Yeah. So 2021. Um, and. I'm still learning. And I'm been doing this full time. I was, I'm very fortunate. to have been able to, well, I mean, been in it full time by way of an accident and being made redundant. And so I was like, well, CBA to go looking for another job. Any heaps? So I've been doing this full time for three years. And. I still. growing and developing. Because as you do in life anyway, Then kind of hits you two fold as to how that impacts you in your day to day life, and then also in your business. I don't know if you can hear him. But the cat is back. Thank you. It's truly a wild journey. When you have the freedom to explore how you actually want to do things versus how you've been made to do things through your day job. When you realize with a bit of freedom, how you can honor yourself. And your needs. And just how much you learn and unlearn. In those first years. And also ongoing. Just really just fuck. Maybe you've had that moment already. Maybe you're on the precipice of having that moment. Maybe you're listening to me ramble on and thinking. Yeah. Yeah, whatever they say, I've got my plan. Nothing's going to stop me from doing it. Well power to you, my Powell, but I have some news. That apifany await. So, where are we? Maps. Yes. We're mapping mapping things. So you've got this map slash flow chart. Of how your customers are currently passing through your business and you've added in some notes, some, some notes in the margin. As to how. You want them to pass through your business? I now it's that time. My friends now. We can look at tech. Now, I can't really tell you what to do tech wise on a podcast. So I was, there are myriad people and myriad businesses. And myriad ways to run these businesses. So I'm afraid I can't be like to die. Here's a recipe for you. Although, if you wanted to have a call with me and strategize about tech and client journeys and your specific business, and, you know, Give me a message cause. That's kind of what I do. Or maybe, I dunno. I get on the wait list for the disobedient business school, because we'll be covering tech in more detail within that. And you'll have the support with all that, you know, Really crucial business strategy stuff too. Pepper's brain. Just saying, throw it out. but what I can help you with is this. You've got a map. And now it's a time to look at where tech might be supportive or not. In helping that map become the pass your clients actually take. If it, if it's beneficial and helpful to you, Then you can. Stack your tech up to the sky. And apart from actually doing the things folks, paying you for like, you know, actual coaching or designing. You can have everything else automated. Amazing. Not necessarily for free. But you can. But even I a certified tech geek, I love tech. I get a new login to a new platform. With the same kind of excitement as YouTube unbox things. There's nothing. There's nothing like looking into a new platform. All those settings to set up. All those things to connect all those integrations to map out. Oh, What a thrill. But even, I will say that tech is not always the answer. I know I'm going to pause. I'm going to wait for you to. Pick your jaw up off the floor. Tech can be so helpful. Like, If you never fucking remember to send that follow up email or reminder, email or invoice or. But also as helpful as the tech can be. You do need to manage your robots. If you automate the fuck out of everything, You might find that you're not quite as in touch with your business, you might not notice thing so much or be as present and in control or conscious of what's going on. So there's definitely a balance to be found for your particular way of existing. And running your business. I would probably say that if you're going to start investing in anything. Let it be. The things that you are either forgetting or regularly struggling to get done. That are affecting your client's experience. That might be having a clear and easy way to book a connection call. It might be how they pay you. It might be. How. They get to access your services. And for the love of everything. Don't forget about the pudding. You know, when you go out for dinner and the start is a lush, your main meal is epic. But then it comes to getting your dessert as a long way. Or the options are shit compared to. Everything that you've just feasted on. Or maybe they don't bring you the spoons before your paint comes out. And then you're just sat there looking at a bowl of ice cream, with nothing to eat it with. It's annoying. Right? It ruins the whole experience. The same applies. Don't just think about how your clients are starting their journey. But think about that crucial. Offboarding process and the end points. Think about aftercare. You are. How you ask the feedback doing follow-ups weeks or months down the line. If it's appropriate to Jack in, maybe you've designed like a whole brand for them. Surely you'd want to check in a few months later and be like, How are you enjoying the brown, like love seeing your. Socials or whatever. You know what a lovely touch. Possibly, No one wants to have a glorious male. With a we friends and family. And then be left with a dry ass brownie. That's covered in melted ice cream. A new spoon to eat it with. It's not how you want to win things. And yes. Yes, I did work In hospitality. So once we've done that, once we've looked at the tech. That would help us with those things that we're not doing, forgetting to do, unable to do with workload. that are affecting our clients or our ability to get clients. We can move on to the next step. Now I would say it's not just about signing up for the tech, the, you know, this, this thing that we're talking about, isn't just an afternoon. Possibly the mapping out of the journeys is an afternoon. But this like, We call it phase one of tech. It's not, you know, you're going to sign up for all these platforms in an afternoon. You're going to want to sign up for them. You're going to want to use them for a few months. And see how that's affecting your client journey. Go back to your maps and your flow charts. Look at how it's, you know, how is it? Been shifted as a result of that first. That phase one of tech that you've implemented. So then we can look at phase two. The next thing would be to look at the things that are a massive time. Suck. That can be automated. What is currently getting done? Fairly consistently in your business, but it's a monumental suck on your time because it's not your zone of genius or something you can do. But it's just so inefficient to be faffing with when that time could be spent doing client work or networking or. Or rest to, cause rest is important. It's not just about making your business slick. But it's about making. Your. It's about making a life slick, as well, because. You are important, right? We need to look after you as well. So that's phase two. Again, we're going to want to sign up for things. We're going to want to get to know how they work. We're going to want a bed in with them. Get cozy. Go back to our roadmap. Reevaluate. The layer after that. With them be the things that you just don't like doing. Maybe they don't take forever, but they take a little bit of the joy away. And then you can take those up. And then that's pretty much a lot. You should be left with the manual funny air tasks. That you enjoy doing and that keep you feeling connected with your business, and then you should have a business that is running smoothly and looking after you and your clients needs. Like Dom said about websites. It still applies here. It will never be done. It will never be finished. It is always a work in progress. Your business is going to evolved. Things are going to shift. As your business grows, you might add new services or adapt previous ones. And so that's when you can go back to these maps, right? you know, you've done that work so you can go back and revisit them. Have a review of them. You can give your tech. yearly appraisal, so to speak. And the tech changes as well. Maybe a new platform comes that can handle X, Y, and Zed. Meaning that you don't need three different systems. You can, you. Combine them into one. Maybe. system that you're using Dustin development and it all unravels. I think a new CEO and the direction changes or. There's so many things it's so much to consider. And you see now where I can't give you a little recipe. I would so love to give you a little recipe, but I just couldn't. This is just too much to consider. Deep breath. Sorry. To bring us to an end in a more positive and calming note. Starting a business is so exciting. It's so fun. It is a wild, wild journey to go on. And it's full of some absolute mega highs, top tier chefs, KES. And I'm not going to lie. It's got some really shit lows. But. Ultimately, it's very rewarding. It's really exciting when you move the needle on things. It's. So fulfilling when. You set yourself up with a business that really supports you. A nice fun for you to be in. and if this episode. Can save you from signing up for even one subscription that hangs around like a thought in a left. Then it has been worth it. I'm not, it's probably what I've got for now. And I dare say that's enough of my voice in years by now. Anyway. Join us for the next episode where Pippa is going to be talking to longtime biz Powell, Marie, Kenny. About getting sold on yourself before selling to others. And so to round us out because it would be very weird otherwise. That's all for this week. Folks. Join us again next week for more disobedient business, fuckery and messing with the status quo. We'll see you next Tuesday.
