Tech Solutions for Streamlining Your Small Business with Ryan Halloran

Embarking on a journey to technological enlightenment, Red Star Consulting's very own Ryan Halloran joins us to illuminate the path for small business owners looking for the perfect toolset. He brings years of expertise, steering us away from the seductive maze of tools and toward the ultimate destination: operational efficiency. We tackle the crucial steps needed to align technology with the heartbeat of your business, ensuring your selection process is driven by the actual challenges and goals you face—not just the shiny allure of the latest gadgets.

Together, we'll unlock the potential of web research, YouTube demos, and the wisdom of sales teams and their clients, providing you a map to the treasures of time and money saved. We don't journey alone; the voices of spouses, employees, and close confidants join the chorus, offering their insights to bolster our confidence as we make pivotal decisions for our business's future.
Ryan shares the importance of training your crew—both your team and the valued customers you serve—ensuring that every new tool implemented is as much about enhancing their experience as it is about upgrading your arsenal. Join us for this episode, and transform your small business into a vessel of unmatched efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Click here to download the PDF: https://bbb.org/content/dam/0995-oklahoma-city/podcast/Tech%20Solutions%20for%20Streamlining%20Your%20Small%20Business%20with%20Ryan%20Halloran.pdf

Contact Ryan Halloran:
https://www.bbb.org/us/ok/oklahoma-city/profile/consultant/red-star-consulting-llc-0995-90071038
https://www.redstarconsultingllc.com/
RED STAR CONSULTING, LLC
(312) 818-0811   
(405) 625-3559
info@redstarconsultingllc.com

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Transcript

Ryan Halloran: 0:00

My clients will say look, I've got all. I've got all of these different tools. How do I know which one's right? I don't have time.

Casey Farmer: 0:25

Hey there, welcome back to the build with BBB podcast. I'm your host, casey Farmer, here with Ryan Halloran of Red Star Consulting. Ryan, welcome to the podcast.

Ryan Halloran: 0:33

Thank you very much for having me. I appreciate it.

Casey Farmer: 0:35

And I think our viewers probably don't know you, so let's learn all about you, red Star Consulting and what you do.

Ryan Halloran: 0:41

Wonderful. So, as you said, my name is Ryan Halloran. I'm the founder and CEO of Red Star Consulting. We are a technology and operations organization that focuses specifically on small businesses and trying to work with them to help them find the best ways to be able to generate and drive revenue not only for their business but also for the opportunities with their clients to improve and really drive that sort of technology and operations focus into the community.

Casey Farmer: 1:10

So for anybody who heard that kind of like overview spiel, what I understand it to be when we first met in person today, even though we've known each other for some time, you do a lot of different things. It's not it's really not just one or the other.

Casey Farmer: 1:25

You've got some experience in radio and so you're excited to be here today and you've worked at what we call corporate America, so today we're going to be talking about different tools for small businesses and how to evaluate whether that's worth it not worth it. Do you want to talk about that?

Ryan Halloran: 1:41

Sure, absolutely so. Really, the foundational aspects that we work with when it comes to our clientele is trying to sort of steer them away from just the tool and the tooling for their business and more into what is your operation and how does your business work and helping them make good decisions so that they are not relying completely on the technology to really run their business. And this is why this is one of my favorite topics is so many of the customers that we work with, the clientele that we have they? They dive down this rabbit hole really quickly into technology and I need a tool and I saw this in a commercial and this is amazing. And the first question that will always come out of my mouth is great, what does it do for you? And they will start to stutter over their own words, they will not be able to answer the question and I will very quickly say, ok, let's talk about what it is you're really looking to accomplish for your business.

Ryan Halloran: 2:47

Tools are great. We all have tools every single day, right, we have tools in our kitchen, we have tools in our car, we have phones and computers, but those are tools to help us do other things, accomplish other goals. We use those tools because they make things easier. But we wouldn't be using those tools if it wasn't for the job that we're trying to accomplish. So until you understand what it is the job that you're trying to accomplish, it's really hard to pick a tool. Why would you bring a, a sledgehammer, to you? Know a, a concert, you know a concert with you know violins and orchestra and things that those two things don't go together wrong tools. Understand where you're getting to first, then choose your tools. That makes sense, it does.

Casey Farmer: 3:37

So what criteria should a small business use to evaluate? You know where do I even start. What should I even start looking at? What's the first step?

Ryan Halloran: 3:45

So first step is always always has to be looking at your own business first. What are the pain points that I'm having? Where is it that I'm not spending enough time in the relationships with my customers? Or where am I spending too much time sitting behind a computer and not out doing things that actually have positive impact to my total revenue, my total sales? What is my sales pipeline? Those types of things.

Ryan Halloran: 4:12

Looking internally to your business and saying where are my pain points? And being willing and honest enough with yourself as a business owner or someone who participates in the business because, let's be fair, there's lots of people who don't like to look at the dirty laundry in the back room of their business Really taking an honest look at where those pain points are. Then, once you look at those pain points, starting to decide all right, I've got three, maybe four areas that I need to work on Genuinely. They're impacting my customers, they're impacting my ability to be productive, whatever that negative thing is and try to work through how do I try to resolve those things. And we're not even to the tools yet Now.

Ryan Halloran: 4:57

We're just talking about, operationally speaking, how do I want to resolve those problems? So you go from pain point to. How do I actually want to fix that problem? Is it even something that requires a tool, or is it something with people? Is it something that requires dollars? Is it something that just requires time and trying to figure out what the right direction is for those things?

Casey Farmer: 5:22

So let's say I'm a small business owner and I'm even overwhelmed trying to figure out what pain points I have going to call you how do you maybe guide a small business through looking at that?

Ryan Halloran: 5:33

It's excellent question and thanks for stealing my business model. So really, the end game of this is the concept of walking through your day today. A lot of people will say, well, focus on your balance sheet what's my P and L? And start to look at the dollars and cents. Tell a lot of stories, but they don't necessarily tell the whole story.

Ryan Halloran: 5:58

I usually will instruct organizations or business leaders, business owners, to look at two different things. One where are you spending the most time on a day to day basis? Are you spending time in the places that give you the most return into the valuation of your business, whether that is with your people, with your clients? Is it creating product? Whatever? That is right. So this part one. Part two is what about your clients? Talk to your clients. What are the problems that they see that you have? Sometimes?

Ryan Halloran: 6:29

Having that external perspective on your organization is huge. It shows two sides One, that you have a desire to understand what your organization looks like to the people on the outside, but it also has the perspective of you as a client. I value your opinion, I want to hear what you have to say about what I'm doing, and you'd be amazed how many clients, when they engage their clientele, get great information back from the people that they're servicing. Hey, you know, just for an example, the checkout process is very slow. Or you know, what you're providing to me in this particular product is sort of substandard. It used to be better and now it's substandard. I don't feel like I get enough contact or information from you in order for me to be best at what I do. So a lot of times that's where you'll find those pain points too. So usually when I first engage a client, it's those two sides. It's looking at yourself and looking at where the pain points are that you feel, but then also engaging your clients at the same time.

Casey Farmer: 7:35

So where I take that info is then? You know, last year, at the end of 2023, might have been a time that small businesses were sending out surveys or looking for information from their clients, so this is a great time to look at that and implement it.

Ryan Halloran: 7:51

Yes, absolutely it is. So I guess the question I would ask, though, is is like, when you hear those surveys, right, what are people doing with the information that's there? So those, those surveys that come back, you have to really take those, and take them with a gigantic grain of salt. Right? There's that standard bell curve. You throw away the top five and the bottom 5%, and then you start to look at the trends inside of that survey information, and what does it really tell you? And so many people tend to get wrapped up in the information or the huge positives or the huge negatives that come into the surveys, and it sort of diverts them from what the critical issues are. Look for the patterns in that data. Look for the information where you're seeing people saying the same thing over and over again, or where what you're seeing in those surveys matches what you feel like is one of those pain points we were talking about a moment ago, and now you sort of have data to back up the direction that you should be taking with your business.

Casey Farmer: 8:50

So I've had a meeting internally. We've kind of looked at the data we figured out. Here are the top three pain points of my business. Then I go on a little Google search and I find that there are a thousand tools that solve said problem that I'm facing in my business. What do you do from there?

Ryan Halloran: 9:07

You just get all of them.

Casey Farmer: 9:08

You do. All of them Sign up for every subscription, every single one of them.

Ryan Halloran: 9:13

It doesn't matter, you can just try all of them. So, joking aside, so you're absolutely correct. The next place that we go, all the time, clients will say look, I've got all of these different tools, how do I know which ones? Right, I don't have time to go through all of these different things. I'm running a business, I'm not running a technology firm, absolutely correct. So you have a couple of options. First thing is remember the problem. Always start with your why Remember the problem? Then, when you look at the tools, make sure that you understand what does that tool actually do?

Ryan Halloran: 9:54

My dad worked for IBM for 40 years, over 40 years, and he'll probably get mad at me if he finds out that I shared this with him. But when I graduated from college what seems like four score and seven years ago, he imparted several pieces of advice. He was a programmer, and so what he would say to me all the time is Ryan, I can make a computer do anything, but if you don't tell me what you want it to do, I can't make it do anything. And so for me, it always spurs the thought of yes, there are tools, but what is that tool actually going to do for you. So you have to go a layer deeper. If you go to a website for any tool, they're gonna tell you that it can colonize Mars. It can take you to Tahiti tomorrow. If you're looking for it, they'll tell you it can solve every problem under the sun.

Ryan Halloran: 10:52

My suggestion to my clients is again twofold, and usually there's more to it than just maybe those two, but the two primary areas are do your research. There's plenty of places that you can go to look at, evaluate different tools that are out there in the marketplace. Place number one go out to the web, obviously, google search. Find reviews where people are willing to give feedback about the different tools that are there. The second place, and this is where I even I go right I'm a small business owner too. I pick my own tools Of all the places in the world YouTube you would be shocked how much is out there and less from a review perspective, but more from a demonstration perspective, where people will actually take software that they have and they will demonstrate to you how they use it for specific situations. So you have an opportunity to see for yourself, through these demonstrations, how they map together. Here's my problem that I'm experiencing, and then here's a problem that someone else is experiencing. That may not be exactly the same, but let's see how they decided to address it and let's see if there's some I hate to use this word synergy to put those things together. So there's those opportunities that are there as well.

Ryan Halloran: 12:14

Lastly, which this one is a little bit, you know, a little bit harder to run with, a little bit, but there are so many of these organizations, these software providers, that if you engage their sales organization it's free to use as a small business owner. Ask them a variety of questions, not just hey, I have a problem with X, how would your software handle this? But then also ask for a referenceable clients, ask that business, that tool owner. I'd like to have a conversation with one of your clients that has a similar problem to mine and I'd like to hear how they use your software to address that problem. And you'd be shocked how many of those sales organizations are more than happy to get you on the phone with someone else because it helps their case for, frankly, selling you the software and the solution that they have. So there's a variety of different places to go.

Casey Farmer: 13:12

So in those conversations let's say that you have you get to ask the person who's already using the software questions. Do you have recommendations on what a small business owner should ask that person using the software?

Ryan Halloran: 13:24

Be as direct as possible.

Casey Farmer: 13:26

Don't beat around the bush.

Ryan Halloran: 13:27

No, do not. I mean really, at the end of the day, how often do you get to speak with somebody who's also a business owner that probably is not going to be in the same space that you are, but is willing to give you information about how they tackled certain problems about their organization? Most people, especially in small business, they don't want to give away the secrets, don't say anything. This is I don't want to give away my competitive advantage, but in reality, a lot of these other organizations. They're willing to give that information up, just like we. As a consultancy, part of what I do is to take the learnings from other clients and apply them forward.

Ryan Halloran: 14:03

Same concept here these companies that you will call on. They will directly tell you this is how it should do, this is how it should work, this is the problem that we were having. It saved us this much money, this much time, and they will be very direct with you. So be direct with them. Ask them those specific questions, give them scenarios, tell them the pain points that you're having and let them try to give you some direction as well. Why not use as much of the resources at your fingertips as you can?

Ryan Halloran: 14:32

There's a variety of different things that are there. And so before pulling the trigger the proverbial trigger on actually purchasing and implementing a solution, you need to be very clear as to what the return on that investment is. And everybody knows ROI, but it really is important and it doesn't necessarily have to be dollars and cents, but it does need to make sense. And if you cannot reasonably, rationally articulate what that return is really, you shouldn't be considering that solution at all. You'd be shocked how many times I will tell business owners go talk to your spouse, go talk to your employees, do a temperature check, do a reality check, see what they have to say, explain to someone else your understanding of that tool and what it does and how it will benefit your business, and you'd be surprised how many times other people may be able to poke holes in it.

Casey Farmer: 15:31

Do you often see that small business owners have an array of tools that they maybe are underutilizing or maybe don't need at all?

Ryan Halloran: 15:38

Every single day. It's the old expression death by a thousand paper cuts. I see leaking organizations that have dollars and cents going out the door every day, every month, every year, on tools, subscriptions, other things that they don't use or they underutilize them to a point where having them really isn't necessary. So you need to be able to again go back to the why. Why did I purchase this tool? Let's be fair. I did this a week and a half ago. I looked at a subscription that I had to a particular software vendor, who I won't talk about. Absolutely fine, what they do, no problem.

Casey Farmer: 16:17

We're not dragging anybody through the mud.

Ryan Halloran: 16:19

Not at all. They serve their purpose in the time that I needed them, and then, all of a sudden, I'm seeing them pop up on my financials and I'm going wait a minute, so we're not immune to it.

Ryan Halloran: 16:31

all of us get tied up in the operation of our business, so make sure that you are regularly auditing. What do I have in my technology stack, what are the things that I have that I use and what do I need to keep, what do I need to get rid of? And maybe there's something in there that needs to be adjusted. So many of these solutions have different levels of subscriptions, right, talk about your Netflix or your Apple or whatever. You can get the basic $5, or here's the 9.99 a month, and then here's the 14. So a lot of these solutions have that, and that should also be something not that you just considering as a part of an audit, but also as you're selecting the solution as well. Make sure that you're picking the right level of solution as you're going through that process of engaging with whatever that solution set is.

Casey Farmer: 17:23

How do you and I know we're going a little off track, but how do you decide what level of this like? Should you just start baseline, or do you start at the highest here and work your way down? Do you have a solution for that or an idea for that?

Ryan Halloran: 17:35

So the rule of thumb less is more. Ciao, let's be fair. How many people have gone and gotten their cable service or their satellite TV service and they sell you on the? Well, you'll get three free months of the movie channels, but then it's on you to call up said provider and to cancel those things at the end of the three months. It's really hard to do and usually it doesn't happen until they ding you at least once on your bills.

Casey Farmer: 18:10

And you forget about it and then you think, oh, I'll call and cancel it, and you're like man, I don't really want to call and have to cancel, like I totally understand that.

Ryan Halloran: 18:18

So welcome to the same thing that happens with software for small business, and even I should, and I should qualify. It's not even necessarily just software, it's the solutions that are there as well. Always start basic. It is very. Trust me every business, every solution provider, they'll be more than happy to take more of your money every day. Oh, you want to upgrade from the $25 a month to the 50. We will. You'll see, just like that. You're now our platinum tier indeed, and they will gladly take your cash and off you go. If you want to downgrade, have fun hanging on with their technical support or their sales team for hours on end, because they don't want to give up those dollars or online platform, or your 10 clicks in and are like are you sure we'll give you 50% off for the next six months?

Ryan Halloran: 19:07

or yeah, the AI chatbots that are now on all the websites that promise you everything and you're like, wait a minute, my name is not, you know, billy Bob, and you know. But what? Who? Who am I talking? So, yes, it's important right to start basic and then, as you start to see that there is additional need, then start to upgrade the software, the solution. It's the same thing too. You'll find a lot of these providers, a lot of these solution providers. They will also be based off of the number of users that you have using the software itself. A lot of them will start off with either one user or two users, and then, as time goes on, depending upon the size of your business, you may need to add additional users to it. Well, again, a lot easier to add than subtract. So, start basic, do the basics, move forward with the basics and then upgrade as necessary.

Casey Farmer: 19:58

And this is an opportunity for you had mentioned earlier. You know, evaluate those tools, software, processes, whatever it is, on maybe a quarterly basis and maybe, you know, next quarter, if you decide I want to bump it up to the gold tier or whatever it is. Maybe that's the opportunity to do it, read your business.

Ryan Halloran: 20:15

Read your business and where it's going. What's your pipeline? What does it look like? You know there are some organizations, retail organizations. They ramp up what August, september, because they're trying to get ready for the end of the year rush. You may need to make those sort of modifications and, depending upon the software or the solution, a lot of times they'll be prepared for you as well. They'll know that you're going to be coming back for them. Hey, I need to bump this up because we're in a situation where we need to add on, you know, additional labor for the end of the year and then we're going to pull back off of that. Those software vendors, they know those things, they've seen those trends. So don't be afraid to sort of look out into the future and go do I really need all of the bells and whistles today, or can I use those for a little time and then back off of that when I no longer need it? So excellent point.

Casey Farmer: 21:05

I want to go down this line and I think this will tie nicely into our next point. I'm a brand new business owner and I have just purchased 15 subscriptions to 15 different tools that I think are all worth it and I want to try out and how do I go about implementing those into my business? Awesome.

Ryan Halloran: 21:21

Yeah, awesome, you're going to have a couple of sleepless nights. You are probably going to lose some of your hair. Your kids will not see you for a few days. Really, at the end of the day, 15 different solutions how do I phrase this nicely? Everything goes in building blocks. Life in general, when you stop and you think about life, happens in building blocks, one on top of another, on top of another. To build a house, to build a building, you go one floor at a time.

Ryan Halloran: 22:00

Yes, there are always going to be situations where you know that you're going to need multiple tools. You're going to need a website, you're going to need a CRM of some sort, you are going to need a financial program to help you with your dollars and cents, you are going to need a task tracking or task management and we're not going to go into, like I said, brands or specific tools, but you know that you're going to need those things. But foundationally, as a business owner, you can reconcile those things in your brain. You know that you're going to need those things. If you're going out and buying 10 or 15 additional tools on top of what you already have, really consider what that does to your business. Let's back this up and let's give a real life example. You're a business owner who does retail. Are you an individual who wants to add 10 brand new product lines to your business overnight? Is that going to be something that you're going to be able to purchase for successfully? Are you going to be able to market those products successfully? How do you price those things? How do you know when those products should be sold or when you should be putting them on sale? What is the revenue that you're generating off this? It's really hard to know when we do things incrementally and we add on and build slowly. That's when things work really well.

Ryan Halloran: 23:25

Now let's go to the actual question that you asked, which is I bought 15 new tools. How do I integrate them? The direct answer is one by one, pick the solutions that are the most important to you, which ones are key to your operations. Get those tools working smoothly well, so that they are nice and greased and everything is working smoothly inside of your business. Then tag on another one. When you get that additional one on, tag another one on. Then start to slowly build them out.

Ryan Halloran: 24:00

Be prepared to pivot. A lot of these solutions are not just a one-way street. There's a lot of different configurations, a lot of different models to them. It's very important that you are open-minded about what you may or may not be able to do with some of those tools. As you consider your direction forward, be prepared to pivot, add on slowly and surely and you'll see them all start to come together. You may also need additional tools that you don't have in your 15 tools that you've already purchased, because not every single tool talks to each other. Be aware that there are tools on the market that will help solutions speak with each other. Just know that you're starting to creep into needing some more. That isn't as easy as plug-and-play.

Casey Farmer: 24:54

I ask you that question for the reason that sometimes a small business owner can be inundated with information, whether they've attended different trainings. They're like, oh, I need to get this tool, I need to get this tool, I need to do this to make my operations better, or I need to do this to get my marketing up to speed. But, as you mentioned, a tool is not going to fix every problem that you have within your business overnight. It truly is that, like you mentioned, there's no silver bullets.

Ryan Halloran: 25:22

I've been doing this for a long time. I went to college forever ago and I'm starting to get up there. I have yet to find something that is that true silver bullet that handles everything. There never will be because, again, a tool is a tool. It serves a specific purpose. The only all-purpose tool that I know of is humans. We're the only ones that can do it all.

Ryan Halloran: 25:47

It's more about picking out those things that make the most difference for your business. I want to be customer facing with the people that I work with. I don't want to sit in a back room and do financial reports, so I pick for my business robust tools that have large-scale financial reporting behind it, so that I don't have to worry about those things. Same thing with my business development pipeline excuse me trying to get those sort of set in line so that they work very smoothly, so that I can spend time with my wife and my children. At the end of the day, I don't have to worry about having to deal with what would typically be referred to as back room type of tasks that need to be completed. So be mindful of what those tools do for you so that you know where it's applying to your business and where you, as a business owner or an employee in a small business, are really getting the biggest bang for your buck.

Casey Farmer: 26:50

So we've now talked about different tools. You know business owner. Let's talk about a business owner who they kind of have their tools arranged, they have slowly implemented them, added them into their business. Now comes the training and support for their team. Let's go down that line.

Ryan Halloran: 27:06

Yes, so we talk about change management. So the idea of we have a tool. We either have and we have change coming into our organization either new people are entering and so I need to get them up to speed, or I have a new tool that's entering and I need to get the people in my organization up to speed on this new tool, for whatever it is, and so largely it's referred to as change management. So let's talk about the first one, which is I have a new person coming in and training Well, a couple of different ways to be able to approach that. A lot of these organizations, these tool providers, actually have training sessions that go with their solutions. So you have the ability to go out either to their website or to YouTube or wherever, and you can find produced videos and other instructional materials that can be used by those business owners to get those employees on board relatively quickly. Now, remember, most software is configured and customized in some form or fashion, so as a business owner, you are going to have to sit with that person at some point in time. Now, if you're lucky to have multiple people, you may also have the opportunity to take another employee and say hey, you're one of my top performers. I need you to sit with this new person and really kind of walk them through the ins and outs of how this may work, but leverage a lot of what the collateral that is out there already, that these solution providers already give to us as consumers of their tools. The other side of it, which may be inputting a new tool into your existing operation, your existing business, you need to start thinking about what does that tool do, not only to my organization but to my customers, and so very often what I see is business owners who go my organization. I know what it's going to do to my business, but I'm not necessarily taking the time to think through what does this change do to my customers? So, as a business owner, you think about it. This is the goal and objective. I know that this is what I need it to do. I know that I'm going to make this software change. I'm going to implement it during my slow season, which is and I'm just going to make this up it's June of the year, so it's summertime. People are not really doing a whole bunch of business with me, so June it is, and then I'm going to do it in off hours so that there's nobody coming into my business to actually transact at that time. So perfect, I've got it all worked out, everything is good, we're ready to go. But what is your customer thinking?

Ryan Halloran: 29:46

Think about your local business dry cleaner, coffee shop places of that nature. How many times have we seen the cash register that used to sit on the counter All of a sudden is now a square or a stripe terminal where they're touch screening and they flip it around? And here you are right, and as business owners, sometimes we don't think about that. We may have customers that don't necessarily know how to interact with that. So how are we slowing down our processes and making sure that we, a are letting our customers know that there is a change coming, and then, b, how are we prepared to help people our customers specifically who may have trouble dealing with those solutions that we put in place?

Ryan Halloran: 30:32

And not to pick on anyone by any stretch, there was a gentleman in my local dry cleaner the other day who was struggling with the touch screen for the checkout process using and for this case it was a square terminal and nothing against square we use them all the time, but just this individual was having a tough time understanding how those things work and that was okay. But having someone who's able to help that individual go through that process Only what you do for your clients. When you have one of your employees or you as a business owner who's willing to come to the other side of that counter and stand next to someone and go, it's okay, let me help you with this process, and so now you're prepared for that. So making sure that you are evaluating not just what is good for you as a business owner, as you put a tool in, but also what's good for your clientele, is almost, if not more, important than what it is for you.

Casey Farmer: 31:32

And what you just mentioned goes beyond just training your team or providing support. It has to do with your culture it does. What kind of culture are you building within your team to empower your employees to make those decisions on the spot and help a customer when they see them?

Ryan Halloran: 31:47

Think about the circumstances that you've been in when you go into retail, a professional service, whatever place that is. Think about the experiences that you have. We all remember the really bad experiences and we all remember the really good experiences. Don't you want to be that really good experience for your customers? I mean, really, isn't that what we're all striving for Now? Let's be fair, we're not all going to have those.

Ryan Halloran: 32:12

It's not every day, is not going to be rainbows and unicorns, but we do know, I know right, but we do know that people remember those positive engagements that they have, especially with those small businesses. And so many of those small businesses think about the knock on effect of oh, I have a Google business page or I have a Yelp page or I have a Facebook page for my business, and somebody's out there, you know, typing in a review that says, hey, this really was a difficult experience with this place because of X, y or Z type of engagement that I had with that business. It's not what we need as small business owners. We need to be doing our very best and, of course, we're always going to have those people that have a problem, but we need to be doing our very best to try to give whatever we can.

Casey Farmer: 33:02

So let's talk about why. Why it could be a detriment to your business to only have one person on your team trained on a tool or a service. What kind of harm can that do? Let's say like I am out of the country and I'm the only person who knows how to do said tool and we have a business owner that needs help with doing that.

Ryan Halloran: 33:23

I think you hit the nail right on the head already. You know, so many times out in corporate America you hear the hit by the bus rule or the beer truck rule, right, you know, whoever understands it gets hit by the beer truck. Or they win the lottery and they're gone tomorrow, right, it's exactly that. It's that knowledge of how that tool operates, how it integrates the information that goes through it, how that impacts you as a business owner, how it impacts your customers, and as soon as they walk out the door, all that knowledge goes out the door too. So cross training is usually the term that we hear. Cross training people on different portions of the tools that are inside of your business, different elements of the jobs that they work, not just even from technology, but also from the business and the operations that they do. Cross training people so that they understand how things work. It is a stop gap or a risk management aspect of how you implement these solutions and keep them moving, because, lord knows if I'm winning, the powerball happens for me.

Casey Farmer: 34:22

Don't call you.

Ryan Halloran: 34:23

Audio.

Casey Farmer: 34:25

And what I'll mention, what I'll add to that, what we do here at BBB. That, I think, is an additional avenue.

Casey Farmer: 34:30

I think cross training is great, but for every process and procedure that we have here internally, we have a standard operating procedure for said you know, whatever it is, even with tools and different things that we utilize, though, like I'm not going to tell somebody, for an example, I'm not going to tell somebody how to you know, be creative or do a graphic design, or take show them how to train through Adobe, because, like you mentioned, you can find all of that information online, sure. But what I can do is say here's the steps and processes I go through to make sure that there's checks, that information is correct as it's going up online. Here's all the things that I do to make sure afterward, like postings up, and here's all the taggings and different things that we do internally, and I'm not just talking marketing, I'm talking operations, finances. If I had to go do something in operations today, I might not be the expert as the person who's sitting in that seat, but with the standard operating procedures we have in place, I can follow it and figure it out.

Ryan Halloran: 35:25

You'd be shocked how many businesses don't have written down procedures, and I understand that they can be time consuming to put together. But it's two pieces. That is what you've already talked about, which is the idea of hey, if somebody isn't here, I can still run this aspect of my business. But part two is also now. Let's bring this all the way back to the beginning of our conversation. It also helps you understand how your business operates and it helps you understand potential pain points.

Ryan Halloran: 35:59

A standard operating procedure is a fantastic document to have for a variety of different reasons.

Ryan Halloran: 36:07

So make sure that, if you do have either business partners or you have employees who are responsible for different aspects of your business, please, if you know someone who knows how to write a really good standard operating procedure, wink, wink, nudge, nudge it is tantamount keeping your business up and moving. If, for some reason, something happens, we always see this, especially with small businesses. It comes first and sometimes we have to duck away from what we do and we rely on the people that we work with to help keep that business moving forward. Do them a favor Take an hour or two, turn the ball game on. You know you're out at soccer practice for your kids Sit there with a laptop. If you have one or a piece of paper and a pen and just write out the things even if it's just what you do on a daily basis, and the steps that go with them, even if they're high level those things really have a benefit, because now you're thinking about, well, what happens if the disaster happens, but also how does my business work?

Casey Farmer: 37:18

And you might find and I think a lot of people can relate to this when you're writing a standard operating procedure, that you've gotten so into the routine of doing it. It's really not that difficult to put it together because you've already got it in your mind how that process works. But then you might also find like, oh, for the past three times I've done this, I haven't done this one crucial step that I it just it left my mind and I was just, you know, on a roll and here's all the things. But now you've got it in your operating procedure and if you look back at that I'll be at least on a quarterly basis and make sure it's up to date, to make sure that any changes that you have in that procedure, it can really be helpful.

Ryan Halloran: 37:55

Imagine the times that when you don't do those oh, I missed steps six of eight, right, while you're doing it it doesn't really make a big difference in that moment. But then go back to hey, let's say it was a social media post or it was an advertisement. How much business did I lose off of that? How much visibility did I not receive because I forgot that particular step? You never know who is, who is where and when they may see you. So it's important to follow those steps regularly, really from a measurement perspective. Again, if we hit that operations perspective, it really is necessary for us to make sure that when we do things, we do them as close to the same as possible, so that we understand what is and isn't working for our businesses.

Casey Farmer: 38:41

So it's a great opportunity to lean down a procedure too.

Ryan Halloran: 38:44

Absolutely.

Casey Farmer: 38:45

Because you might be doing 20 steps when we can get it done in 10. And those extra 10 steps really aren't needed for whatever reason.

Ryan Halloran: 38:52

And think about the things that you could be doing with the time.

Casey Farmer: 38:54

Other way. So it's like I'm going to do an extra 10 steps and it's amazing.

Ryan Halloran: 38:58

And again, one of the things that my organization works on is process improvement, Part as part of operations. But process improvement If I hear one more person say to me well, this is the way we've always done it, Okay, I appreciate that. However, doesn't mean that we always go to do it that way.

Casey Farmer: 39:17

Well, since 2020, there should I'll be. I'm just going to say it, I'm going to lay it out. Nobody should be saying this is the way we've always done it, because nothing is the same as it really was before. Yes, it's not. Nothing is exactly the same. There are so many changes that came out of that and I think that there were so many opportunities for even for BBB, for us to learn and grow and figure out how to do things better and differently.

Ryan Halloran: 39:39

The pivots? Yes, but but the pivots that we had as organizations. I've seen two patterns and they're very obvious, but it's two patterns. We've pivoted for COVID and then we pivoted right back, or we pivoted and now we're embracing those changes and we see that out in the marketplace, in the models that we see hybrid working, the businesses that are getting leaner in what they do. Now, I grant you that there are positives and negatives to leading those things out. However, there still is a point where we go.

Ryan Halloran: 40:13

Well, if I lean out over here on this particular aspect, do I have the ability to get stronger on this other side? Because there's more value in this portion of our operation or this portion of our sales or this portion of our technology? And those are the things that, as business owners, especially as we grow and scale, those are the things that we need to be thinking about. Just because dollars don't make sense in your business in portion A today doesn't mean that reinvesting those dollars in portion B doesn't make sense for tomorrow. It doesn't necessarily mean that cutting is always the right thing to do. Sometimes you have to look and pivot to where the marketplace is dictating. You should be moving.

Casey Farmer: 40:58

And going back to our point on goals, that's an opportunity for you to shift your focus and focus on those goals Exactly, in developing new departments or whatever it is, new programs, exactly.

Ryan Halloran: 41:10

There's always opportunities that sit there. It's more a question of how quickly do you want to try to reach into those things and pull them forward to today? I will tell organizations on a regular basis that just because there's something that's out there that you can see as a goal doesn't mean you should be trying to pull it into today. Sometimes things are meant to be six months, a year or two years out, because they give you sort of that northern, that northern star, that sort of guiding light to where you're trying to go. It's important to have those things, and sometimes you just have to wait for those things to arrive. So if you've got the secret sauce, don't mess with it, just let it be.

Casey Farmer: 41:49

I love that. Yeah, all right, so let's wrap it up in a bow. We've talked all about tools. What would be your kind of three takeaways for a small business that are listening to this podcast today or watching it on YouTube or listening wherever?

Ryan Halloran: 42:01

Three. You really want this in three.

Casey Farmer: 42:02

Three, let's do three, let's do three or five.

Ryan Halloran: 42:05

Let's do shorter.

Casey Farmer: 42:07

Let's try to hit the three. Okay, let's try to hit the three, let's three.

Ryan Halloran: 42:12

Number one understand your operation and your process. Before you go looking for tools, Always make sure that you understand that opportunity.

Casey Farmer: 42:21

Don't buy 15 tools.

Ryan Halloran: 42:23

Day one yes, listen to KC.

Casey Farmer: 42:25

No, that's you. You said that I teed you, I cued you up.

Ryan Halloran: 42:30

I was trying to make it so that you said it, not me. So that's number one, know your operation. When you choose to purchase a tool, make sure you are clear with the goals and objectives that you want that tool to be able to accomplish for you. Lastly, make sure that you are always going back and looking, auditing, validating that the solutions that you've chosen are the right ones for your business and that they continue to align to the goals and objectives you have for your business.

Casey Farmer: 43:05

So for anybody listening today who wants to connect with you, wants to see maybe if you are a good fit. What kind of businesses do you typically work with?

Ryan Halloran: 43:13

I run the gamut, as we had talked about.

Casey Farmer: 43:16

Sure.

Ryan Halloran: 43:17

I have organizations that I work with from the western Europe all the way out to the west coast of the United States Literally everything from a Pilates studio to a bakery, to a large scale manufacturing firm, to a we'll call it a waste management organization. So we run the gamut and it's a wonderful thing because it gives us an opportunity to learn and understand how so many different types of businesses operate. And it's fun for us. We love what we do because we get to help so many different types of people that are in a variety of different situations and it's sort of like the Rubik's Cube of business. We get to go in and start to look at how it's laid out and sort of try to reset it as best as possible for those business owners. So we love what we do. By all means, if you have a question, we're not a nickel and dime firm. We want what's best, not only here for our local community here in Oklahoma City, but obviously across our country. Whatever we can do to help others is where we want to be.

Casey Farmer: 44:27

So where's the best place people can connect with you?

Ryan Halloran: 44:30

Sure, redstarconsultingllccom will be the best place to find us, or, as always, you can reach out to me personally, ryan Halloran, at RedStarConsultingLLCcom or on my phone number, 405-625-3559. I would be happy to talk to anyone that would like to speak about this topic.

Casey Farmer: 44:52

And for anyone listening today, linked down in the show notes, I will have all that information so you don't have to like hurry up and write that down. You can also find Ryan on BBBorg Long time BBB accredited business. We met probably in 2019 on the phone.

Ryan Halloran: 45:07

This is our first time actually meeting. Well, COVID had a little.

Casey Farmer: 45:10

We had a phone call at some point I just remember, yes, yeah, a long time ago. So we're so excited that in that time you've stayed accredited and been a great champion for BBB and what great businesses do. So thank you for joining us today.

Ryan Halloran: 45:22

We're very proud to be a member of the BBB. It's one of the things that we, when we started our business you know five years ago that we were very pointed in making sure that we did. I can't tell you how many of our clients go and look at that accreditation as they engage us, start to engage us. So we are very appreciative of what you and your organization do for our community here in Oklahoma City and at large. So keep up the great work and we're super, super thrilled to be here today. Thank you so much for having us.

Casey Farmer: 45:49

Yeah, also, link down below is an awesome checklist that you put together. Yes, so do you want to talk a little bit about that?

Ryan Halloran: 45:56

Sure, just really quickly. So the first few points that we talked about today little more summarized that help you sort of go through those phases of trying to make good decisions, audit your systems and make sure that you're moving in the right direction with those tools and systems that you're looking for. Have a look, use it, print it out, make sure that you refer to on a regular basis. By all means, please feel free to use it. You know it's one of those things that we hold close to our heart in the work that we do. So please, you know, use it, and we hope that it is a value to your organization.

Casey Farmer: 46:26

Super helpful and you're getting some awesome tips from seasoned business owners, so I appreciate that, ryan, thank you for listening today, everyone, to the build with BBB podcast. You can connect, share, like all the things. Make sure to connect with Ryan and BBB at BBB Central. Okay, we will see you in the next episode. Bye, friends.