Episode 113
Empowering Small Businesses: Unleashing Success with Operations Management with Kerrie McGilvray | Biz Bites
In today's Biz Bites episode, we have Kerrie McGilvray of Admin Superheroes, who discusses fractional operations management, where experienced ex-corporate managers take over daily tasks for small businesses, freeing owners to focus on growth.
Kerrie addresses common challenges like team management and hiring, emphasising tailored support and cultural fit, while also highlighting the emotional relief her services provide.
The episode, brought to you by CommTogether and Podcasts Done For You, ultimately promotes creating better workplaces and reducing owner stress.
Don't miss this informative episode of Biz Bites! Listen to the full episode now and access exclusive bonus content. Subscribe to our channel for more valuable insights and business tips.
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Connect with Gina on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/theadminsuperheroes/
Check out her website - https://theadminsuperheroes.com/
Connect with Kerrie to learn more of her special offer to Biz Bites listeners: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerrie-mcgilvray-aa675362/
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#hiring #recruitment #operationalmanagement #humanresource #podcastshow #podcasting
Transcript
Spent 20 years in corporate.
Speaker:I've come across many managers that I have not enjoyed as most of us do.
Speaker:And I really wanted to provide a place where employees actually
Speaker:get treated really well, more that they just can't justify it.
Speaker:You do that team review and who's doing what roles.
Speaker:We can identify who the next hire needs to be.
Speaker:Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of Biz Bites proudly brought to
Speaker:you by CommTogether, the people behind Podcasts Done For You, because we're all
Speaker:about exposing other people's brilliance.
Speaker:Don't forget to subscribe to Biz Bites and check out Podcasts Done
Speaker:For You as well in the show notes.
Speaker:Now, Let's get into it.
Speaker:Hello everyone.
Speaker:And welcome to another episode of Biz Bites.
Speaker:And this guest today has got a whole bunch of tips.
Speaker:I know she's going to give us, and we're going to delve into this whole
Speaker:area of fractional operations to helping people with their business,
Speaker:getting some tips on how to move your small business forward, which
Speaker:is what we like to do on the program.
Speaker:So let's introduce Kerry to the program.
Speaker:Welcome.
Speaker:Hi.
Speaker:Hi, everyone.
Speaker:I am Kerrie McGilvray.
Speaker:I am the owner of the admin superheroes, and we're a business
Speaker:management and team management firm.
Speaker:Now, let's get into that from the top, Kerry, because this idea of a business
Speaker:management firm is a little bit different.
Speaker:I'm not saying there's no there's no one out there doing the same thing, but it's
Speaker:not it's not as widely known as perhaps some other, Areas of help with business.
Speaker:That's correct.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So it is probably relatively new.
Speaker:I like in the fractional space.
Speaker:It's quite new.
Speaker:I think in the last few years, we've seen a lot of VAs come out of the industry
Speaker:in the last probably five or six years.
Speaker:But what we do that is specifically different is we actually come in
Speaker:and take everything off the owner.
Speaker:They're stuck doing.
Speaker:So quite often they grow, they scale their business, they hire
Speaker:all the doers in the business and then they start managing everybody.
Speaker:And managing the day to day and whether that's finance and recruiting and all the
Speaker:operational side of the business that has to be done, you can't get out of that.
Speaker:It needs to be done every day and they get stuck in that kind of trap.
Speaker:I know that feeling that I think there's every business owner out there
Speaker:is nodding their head at this point in time and saying yes to all of these.
Speaker:Before we get into some of the details of some of those things,
Speaker:I'm fascinated as well by this, in this idea of fractional, it's become
Speaker:a new term that people have used.
Speaker:And I was just pondering it before we, we caught up and
Speaker:going, what's the interpretation?
Speaker:Why fractional?
Speaker:What's the, what does that mean to you?
Speaker:So to me, how I usually explain it to most, cause it does stump
Speaker:quite a few people, cause it is relatively new term is basically you
Speaker:get a fraction of a whole person.
Speaker:So instead of getting a full timer, you get a fraction.
Speaker:So that may be a quarter of the full time equivalent.
Speaker:So maybe 10 hours a week, something along those lines, or you might do 20.
Speaker:So you've got half a full time equivalent of a person.
Speaker:So that's what they mean when they say fractional, that they're
Speaker:not a full time replacement.
Speaker:So where are you pulling the people from?
Speaker:Who's working with you?
Speaker:All different industries, but mainly service based industries for us.
Speaker:So it can be anything from it.
Speaker:We've got.
Speaker:We've got e commerce, we've got consultancies, we've got recruiters,
Speaker:all different kind of industries.
Speaker:For us, it doesn't really matter.
Speaker:The foundations are all the same.
Speaker:And the people that are working with you to deliver this service,
Speaker:how, how do you differentiate them from an ordinary VA, for example?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So my entire team are ex corporate operations managers.
Speaker:There's VAs out there who are probably highly skilled and they
Speaker:might call themselves an online business manager, but the difference
Speaker:between us and them is that we have managed teams of over 20 to 30 people.
Speaker:We have managed finances and all different kinds of things, businesses earning
Speaker:up to $10 million, we're quite versed in helping you get from that smaller
Speaker:amount to that much larger amount.
Speaker:And we know how to do that and do it well.
Speaker:And it's such a key, in being able to do that.
Speaker:Because it's interesting, whenever you bring team into a business, them
Speaker:being able to understand your business.
Speaker:It's always a challenge and having someone whose idea is first and foremost to that's
Speaker:the primary, premise, isn't it for coming into the business is to understand it.
Speaker:It's not about just their skillset.
Speaker:It's about understanding the business first.
Speaker:Yes, absolutely.
Speaker:So we really do understand business.
Speaker:Like having that corporate background, we've run multiple
Speaker:businesses at such a high level.
Speaker:So the in depth understanding that we have can be quite higher
Speaker:than what a VA might have.
Speaker:Yeah, and that's an interesting thing too, because the people that you're
Speaker:coming into, that you've got coming in and doing it, are used to also being,
Speaker:I imagine, managing things rather than necessarily being the hands on the tools.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:But we do both.
Speaker:So it's not just about, there's always an element to management
Speaker:that requires hands on.
Speaker:You can't just come in and go and dictate to everybody and go, you do all
Speaker:this thing, all these things, right?
Speaker:So it's really about coming in, seeing who's in what role in the team, making
Speaker:sure they're in the right spot, making sure we have all the processes in
Speaker:place, all the systems, make everything super efficient, and then get more out
Speaker:of your team and making sure that The things that have been delegated and
Speaker:trying to implement in the business are actually getting completed so
Speaker:that the business moves forward.
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Speaker:We even offer a service where I'll anchor the program for you.
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Speaker:course, helping you share it.
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Speaker:au details in the show notes below.
Speaker:Now back to BizBytes.
Speaker:The things that have been delegated and trying to implement in the business
Speaker:are actually getting completed so that the business moves forward.
Speaker:Yeah, it's, and that's a big.
Speaker:Issue for a lot of small businesses.
Speaker:Isn't that, that's, is that what was the impetus for starting it?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So that was one avenue of it.
Speaker:Obviously part of it for me was I've always wanted to run my own business,
Speaker:having spent 20 years in corporate, I've come across many managers that
Speaker:I have not enjoyed as most of us do.
Speaker:And I really wanted to provide a place where employees actually
Speaker:get treated really well.
Speaker:But also open up our expertise to small businesses who
Speaker:think that they can't get it.
Speaker:That expertise isn't available to them without a full time employee because
Speaker:they just feel that they're so small that they just can't justify it.
Speaker:So the beauty of us means that we get to give that gift to those small
Speaker:businesses and we help them succeed and in turn, then we get successful.
Speaker:Yeah, it's it really is exactly what you've said because I know, not just
Speaker:myself, but others when they're in the early stages of business that you
Speaker:get to this point where you think I need some help, but actually finding.
Speaker:Part time assistance is a lot harder than you would think, particularly in the VA
Speaker:space, because often the push is there to have them full time, and it's hard to
Speaker:justify both in terms of managing them and as well as the financial side of
Speaker:things, because as well, there is that point, and this is where I'm fascinated
Speaker:with how you work as well, is that point of understanding that the cost
Speaker:that is involved in your services is.
Speaker:The idea is that it's freeing up other people, particularly the
Speaker:business owner, to be able to spend more quality time generating
Speaker:more business so that it should.
Speaker:B that whatever is spent on your services, I imagine ideally you're
Speaker:getting significantly X times that in what you'll be able to do
Speaker:for in generating new business.
Speaker:Yeah, that's right.
Speaker:It's like a lot of business owners get stuck in that trap of working
Speaker:in the business and not on it.
Speaker:So we come in, we do the working.
Speaker:In the business, and they get to work on it.
Speaker:Whether that means for them that they're bringing in new clients, or they might
Speaker:already have someone who does that, because they might not enjoy that part.
Speaker:But it means they get to go back to doing the part that they love.
Speaker:Which is what got them there in the first place.
Speaker:And, quite often, they lose that.
Speaker:Because it just naturally evolves and they have no choice, but they get stuck
Speaker:doing all the things that they really don't enjoy, but they can't not do them
Speaker:because then the business can't survive.
Speaker:And I'm interested as well, because I think there's a lot of people that
Speaker:will be listening to this right now and thinking, okay, that makes sense.
Speaker:I'm out there as me, but how, how many obstacles do you
Speaker:see that get in the way of.
Speaker:The business owner actually letting go because it's, it is a difficult
Speaker:thing, particularly when you're handling, handing over the sort of the
Speaker:operational management side of things.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So look, we totally get that your business is your baby.
Speaker:We really do get it.
Speaker:And.
Speaker:We're very gentle in our approach in getting you to let go that
Speaker:comes with an element of trust and obviously that's backed up by skill.
Speaker:What you'll find is it starts and you let little bits go.
Speaker:What we try and do is become that gatekeeper between the owner and the team.
Speaker:Because they get pulled off in different tangents all the time.
Speaker:There's a million and one questions that only the owner can answer.
Speaker:And the point of bringing us in is that we answer those questions.
Speaker:We solve those problems.
Speaker:And if we can't solve them, we don't go to the owner without
Speaker:three different solutions.
Speaker:I, I love that, that you just alluded to something that I think was one of the best
Speaker:things that I learned a few years ago, is this whole idea of 1, 3, 1, 1 problem,
Speaker:three potential three potential recommend or solutions, and one recommendation.
Speaker:And it's easy to say, it's difficult to sometimes get that across to
Speaker:teams in being able to do that.
Speaker:But it is such a game changer really to give.
Speaker:Enable team to be able to say look, we're trusting you in your position.
Speaker:So give us the recommendation.
Speaker:Ultimately think about the problem and come back with, what you
Speaker:believe to be the best solution.
Speaker:Yeah, and the beauty of it too is it still gives the owner that feeling that
Speaker:they're still involved and they still get to make some decisions and they're
Speaker:not just removed from their business.
Speaker:We don't want to create that either.
Speaker:We want them to feel like they can trust us and that we know what we're doing and
Speaker:that we can really deliver what they need.
Speaker:So how much of, in the area that you're in, is it, do you tend to be long term
Speaker:engagements and how soon before they're bringing in up that it's leading to
Speaker:other resources being brought in?
Speaker:Yeah, so most of our engagements are long term.
Speaker:We tend to stay until the business is big enough that they need a full timer and
Speaker:we will help them recruit and train the full timer and move out of the business.
Speaker:And for that, for us, that's really important because that means that we've
Speaker:actually done our job really well.
Speaker:The other aspect of that is that when we do that team review and who's
Speaker:doing what roles, we can identify who the next hire needs to be and what
Speaker:kind of level do they need to be at.
Speaker:Can you just get a contractor to do that because it's only five hours
Speaker:a week at this stage, or do we need to go part time, full time, whatever
Speaker:it is, we do that assessment.
Speaker:And because it is, that's one of the hardest parts I think about
Speaker:being in business is sometimes the realization of when you need support.
Speaker:It's a difficult one because there's, it's trying to find that right time to bring in
Speaker:an additional resource and realize that.
Speaker:The training part is a huge element to it as well because often that, and
Speaker:I've spoken to many business owners where that's one of the obstacles
Speaker:where they go look, I know I should bring someone in, but in order to train
Speaker:them and bring them up to speed, it's going to take me X amount of time.
Speaker:So I'm just going to keep doing it and, that's a it's not a great attitude
Speaker:to have, but I do understand it.
Speaker:I do understand that the hardness of being able to let go and that it's
Speaker:daunting train the training people to do it and to let go of things and
Speaker:to know that they're not gonna do it the same way that you've done it.
Speaker:And that doesn't necessarily mean always that it's the.
Speaker:The way you did it was the best way.
Speaker:It's just the way that you did it.
Speaker:So that's one of the challenges as well is that people coming in and being
Speaker:allowed to have fresh ideas on how they might approach something and also
Speaker:to some degree accepting that maybe they won't do it as well as you did
Speaker:it, but it does mean that you don't have to do it anymore, whatever it is.
Speaker:That's probably the hardest part I find is that, the owner does
Speaker:it to a particular standard.
Speaker:And when you recruit someone, they never do it to the same standard.
Speaker:You're no longer doing it.
Speaker:So even if they only do 80 percent of it and the owner is still tweaking,
Speaker:how much time does that buy you back?
Speaker:That's massive.
Speaker:That's way outweighs bringing someone on.
Speaker:That's.
Speaker:That mental load is just insane.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:I have to say on that note one of the, one of the, an unsolicited
Speaker:plug here that one of the best books that I've read in recent years is
Speaker:Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell.
Speaker:My favorite.
Speaker:Absolute game changer, isn't it?
Speaker:In the way that you think about these kinds of resources.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:No.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:And that's the whole 80% rule, right?
Speaker:And, but it is a challenge, and I think so so talk to me about what are the, some
Speaker:of the challenges that you've faced in coming into a business and being able
Speaker:to, see that the owners not letting go, and how do you help them let go?
Speaker:Yeah, so one of the biggest challenges that we do face
Speaker:is that there's no processes.
Speaker:So we will come in and extract those outta the owner's head, because quite
Speaker:often the biggest struggle for them is.
Speaker:Getting it on paper.
Speaker:They can do it, but actually having to put it on paper, their mind just goes blank.
Speaker:So we will come in and extract all that information out of them, put them
Speaker:into process documents, into workbooks, playbooks, so that when they do bring that
Speaker:person on, The training's a lot simpler.
Speaker:We can also improve them, make them more efficient.
Speaker:And that really builds that bond and that trust with the owner so that
Speaker:they do feel like they can actually let it go because they've given you
Speaker:the whole process on how they do it and how they want to deliver it.
Speaker:So it reduces the risk of it not being delivered to the same standard.
Speaker:So it's a really important, valuable tool.
Speaker:Yeah, so that and how much time does it commonly take to train the new people
Speaker:that are coming in because that is one of the biggest concerns, isn't it?
Speaker:Because all very well giving them, a playbook with some instructions in it,
Speaker:their ability to be able to pick that up and run with it to the right standard is.
Speaker:Yeah, so training is really important and something that we do on behalf of
Speaker:the owner as well, but the difficulty in that is obviously depends on how you,
Speaker:who you recruit, who you hire and what kind of level of expertise they have.
Speaker:So if you hire the right person, that training can be reduced significantly
Speaker:because they've already got experience in some of the systems that you use.
Speaker:And that experience is really valuable when you're bringing someone new on.
Speaker:Some systems are really quick and easy to pick up, but some people aren't techie.
Speaker:You need to really have that balancing act to make sure that you get the
Speaker:right person in the right spot to, and the right experience to be able to.
Speaker:Shorten that training gap.
Speaker:So how involved are you in the, in that recruitment process?
Speaker:Because it is, I think that's one of the toughest things for a business owner.
Speaker:And often business owners have worked for other people in the past.
Speaker:So they may have even been on panels to select new teams and things, but it's
Speaker:such a different ballgame when it's you're the owner, you're the one recruiting,
Speaker:you are the panel, you are the decision maker and being able to get that right.
Speaker:And then, because it's not just getting it right, I think it's then the, how
Speaker:do you manage that process to make sure that over the next period of time, you
Speaker:actually have made the right decision?
Speaker:Yeah, so there's a whole lot of different elements to that, including onboarding
Speaker:and all those different things.
Speaker:But when it comes to we're heavily involved in the recruitment side and we
Speaker:have recruited both locally and offshore.
Speaker:So we have experience in both, but one of the most important things for
Speaker:me, other than the experience and the different types of software that we
Speaker:use in whatever business that we're in, is their actual fit to the business.
Speaker:They need to have the right mindset to be in that business.
Speaker:They need to have the right personality, all those different things.
Speaker:And they're things that you can't train, right?
Speaker:So there it's so much harder.
Speaker:And there I would pick someone who has the right mindset and
Speaker:personality fit for the business over someone with loads of experience.
Speaker:If.
Speaker:They didn't have the right personality mind fit for the business.
Speaker:Yeah, I agree with you.
Speaker:It is so important to be able to do that because sometimes the most
Speaker:skilled person in the world just may not be the right fit for your
Speaker:business for lots of different reasons.
Speaker:And it is important to get that because otherwise you inevitably
Speaker:end up in some kind of a clash.
Speaker:So what are the tips for that you might have for making sure that.
Speaker:You are going to get the right person.
Speaker:How do you actually extract?
Speaker:How do you actually extract that from business owners in the business to be
Speaker:able to say this is what you're about and extract that then from the candidates
Speaker:to make sure there is a good match.
Speaker:So company values are really important because they will actually be the
Speaker:benchmark for what you look for.
Speaker:If they don't have the same values, then you're going to
Speaker:end up with issues long term.
Speaker:So that's a really important part and it'll be things like
Speaker:we ask the questions around.
Speaker:Yes, these are all the technical things that we need.
Speaker:What kind of person do you enjoy working with?
Speaker:Do you prefer to work with someone who's.
Speaker:Or is it someone who has a growth mindset or is it someone who trains,
Speaker:for example, like I know it's a really random experience, but someone who trains
Speaker:consistently can also show you that they've got commitment and determination.
Speaker:So there's different elements that you can look for that you can find that crossover.
Speaker:So we just, we ask them a million and one questions.
Speaker:That's one of the things that we do a lot.
Speaker:And that's because we get to the bottom of everything.
Speaker:When we do that, we find out those juicy gold nuggets that we really do
Speaker:need to look for when we're recruiting.
Speaker:And some of the things that when an owner tries to recruit, there's an
Speaker:element of fear that sits in their gut when they do that recruitment.
Speaker:And it's the whole, Oh crap, now I'm responsible for another mouth.
Speaker:Or the whole chicken and the egg scenario.
Speaker:If I do this, I was going to tank and then not be able to feed them kind of thing.
Speaker:But we don't have that when we do the recruitment.
Speaker:So it can make a really big difference in when you're doing
Speaker:that interview process and reviewing the resumes as to what you pick up.
Speaker:The other thing that we are very strong on is I've always used my gut
Speaker:instinct when it comes to recruitment.
Speaker:There are some.
Speaker:You can just pick up people's vibe.
Speaker:You can pick up, you can read people when you're in an interview and it is so
Speaker:crucial and important to pick up those little nuances because they're the truth.
Speaker:And that's what I find works really well.
Speaker:Everyone that I've recruited that way in the past, even in corporate, 80 percent
Speaker:of my recruits have always stayed.
Speaker:It's amazing.
Speaker:I've had some great recruitment stories and I've had some horror ones.
Speaker:And, but it is, you're right.
Speaker:And look, and sometimes you also have to admit when there's
Speaker:a, when there's a mistake.
Speaker:I think the the classic happened to me when COVID hit.
Speaker:And there were lots of restrictions on things.
Speaker:So even my virtual team were working from home and I needed to recruit a new person.
Speaker:And all the interviews were done pretty much like people are watching here now,
Speaker:but it was pretty much just here up.
Speaker:What we didn't see and what she didn't reveal until she was employed was
Speaker:that she was expecting a child about three weeks after she got the job.
Speaker:And her intention was to take one day off and then come back to work.
Speaker:Now I'm a father and I've worked with plenty of women over the years.
Speaker:I don't know anyone that's coming back to work the next day.
Speaker:And I don't think that's good to even contemplate that but it was really
Speaker:interesting that we, We all learned a valuable lesson going because it's
Speaker:a difficult one because you can't you wouldn't normally say could you stand
Speaker:up and just, like, but the interesting part about it was that on the exercise
Speaker:was the real issue for me came not that about how long she was going to have off.
Speaker:That was a side issue.
Speaker:The issue for me was that she.
Speaker:Hidden the truth and if she'd have, come to the recruitment initially and
Speaker:said, look, I'm expecting a child in, three, four weeks, I can work for a
Speaker:week or two to start to get to know things, but then I need to take a break.
Speaker:I'm going to look probably be.
Speaker:X amount of time off, but I'd still really love the job, et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker:I would have actually given her a fair consideration and I
Speaker:may or may not have hired her.
Speaker:But as soon as the, as soon as the lies and the coverup happened, you
Speaker:went, okay, this does not align with who I am and what I'm about.
Speaker:And as much as you might be a nice person it's not going to happen.
Speaker:But it's, but I'm sure that you've heard lots of horror
Speaker:stories over the years as well.
Speaker:Yes, I actually went through something similar in my previous careers and
Speaker:I'd only just found, I went for a job interview once and they gave me the job.
Speaker:When I went for the job interview, I didn't know, but when they offered me the
Speaker:job, I'd found out that I was pregnant.
Speaker:And I've just gone, I can't do this, because that's just so wrong.
Speaker:They want someone long term, I'm only going to be there eight months,
Speaker:I'm going to have to take time off.
Speaker:It's not fair.
Speaker:They have to go through that whole process and recruit again.
Speaker:So I told them, and they picked someone else.
Speaker:And that's fair game.
Speaker:I took that risk.
Speaker:But I didn't want to be the one that turned up and gone, Oh, three weeks later.
Speaker:Oh, oops.
Speaker:But of course it's hard now.
Speaker:I don't know when that was, but it's hard now.
Speaker:In Australia, certainly legally, there's a there's issues that what
Speaker:you can and can't ask and what you can make decisions on or not is.
Speaker:It's a little bit challenging at times.
Speaker:So it's not as straightforward, but of course, I think, getting back to
Speaker:it, I think, so what's interesting to me as well is when you're bringing,
Speaker:when you're matching your people initially with businesses, how do
Speaker:you go about doing that to make sure?
Speaker:Because that's also important that those values are aligned.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So it's that really is very intuitive for me because when I'm speaking with
Speaker:the I gauge what they're like already.
Speaker:And like I said, I'm really good at reading people.
Speaker:So I gauge what they need and what they're like and their personality type.
Speaker:And I already know in my head who in my team is going to
Speaker:be the best person for them.
Speaker:I just know my team so well, I know their expertise and I know what
Speaker:personalities that they mesh with.
Speaker:So It's just instinctual for me, I don't know how else to
Speaker:explain it, but it's good.
Speaker:And it's funny, isn't it?
Speaker:Because we talk a lot about, particularly on this program, but a lot of people talk
Speaker:about okay, these are the rules of the game and you've got to do this, and this,
Speaker:and that's where you get this outcome.
Speaker:But you're right.
Speaker:Sometimes, particularly as a business owner, and that's what you're doing
Speaker:it as, is that there is a gut instinct because you've got enough experience
Speaker:and expertise and you've got enough stories and you understand who people
Speaker:are, what they're going to be about to, most of the time, get that right.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And, I think people really don't tap into that enough in business.
Speaker:Like, they always talk about, you need to make really quick decisions.
Speaker:Because the faster you move, the quicker you'll get where you are.
Speaker:And regardless of if you fail three times on the way through, it doesn't matter.
Speaker:You'll still get there quicker.
Speaker:And the biggest thing to fall back on in that is instinct.
Speaker:And you'll find it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It's, and it's interesting you say that there is, and I won't go into the whole
Speaker:philosophy of it, but people that know about it, there's a whole idea of the
Speaker:short, long road and the long, short road and, ultimately sometimes the
Speaker:quick decisions are not always the best decisions that you make either, because
Speaker:if you recognize sometimes there is a longer path that ultimately will save
Speaker:you time because you're not making a.
Speaker:So many fast decisions that view off course, and then you have to
Speaker:circle back and go, Oh, whoops.
Speaker:Literally dead end because that person didn't work out
Speaker:because I made a quick decision.
Speaker:I need to turn around and move this way.
Speaker:So I think there's definitely some important lessons there for business
Speaker:to always be aware of and having that independent person coming in and helping
Speaker:you make that decision, I think is huge because it seems to me that where you're
Speaker:at is this, you've Nice blend where in some cases and many businesses and
Speaker:myself included, you've got a business coach and a business coach will give
Speaker:you a certain amount at high level strategy, but what they won't do is he's
Speaker:getting in and get their hands dirty and actually You know your team and move
Speaker:things around and actually do stuff.
Speaker:So you're somewhere in that nice, bit in the middle between what the business
Speaker:owner knows they need to do strategically because of the business coach.
Speaker:But now they've got someone that's actually getting their
Speaker:hands dirty and doing that.
Speaker:And I'm interested in terms of that link with the strategy, because I'm
Speaker:going to make an assumption that many people do have a business coach,
Speaker:but even if they don't, that they are thinking about the strategy.
Speaker:Because I imagine that's an important aspect of what you're
Speaker:doing as well as being strategic.
Speaker:And where does that come from?
Speaker:Does that, because that is that your, is that part of the expertise that
Speaker:you're bringing in or is that where no, you need to go and seek that strategy?
Speaker:No.
Speaker:So that is part of the expertise that we bring in.
Speaker:So we're very good at the strategy side of things too.
Speaker:So if the business owner doesn't have that support to get the external
Speaker:strategy, then we can offer that.
Speaker:We can help them with that.
Speaker:And then we're there hands on the ground, we can there help implement and
Speaker:get it all sorted as well and tell them when to tweak and pivot the strategy.
Speaker:If it's not working, we'll use data to drive those decisions.
Speaker:So they're the kind of things that they may not get access to with the business
Speaker:coach or the business coach is only there.
Speaker:They might have one.
Speaker:One session a week or one session a month or whatever it may be.
Speaker:Whereas you know what it's like being a business owner, our emotions do
Speaker:this all day up and down all day.
Speaker:It's like having four seasons in a day.
Speaker:Like you do down in Melbourne.
Speaker:It's just so emotional.
Speaker:It's such an emotional rollercoaster ride that we go on in business that
Speaker:we have freak outs all the time.
Speaker:Every owner does.
Speaker:No one's immune and the beauty of having us there and having access
Speaker:to us there on that regular basis is the fact that you don't talk to your
Speaker:employees about those freak outs.
Speaker:You talk to us and we find out the root cause of where that's coming from.
Speaker:Because usually it's something business related.
Speaker:There's something going on within the business that they're freaking out about.
Speaker:giving them that reaction.
Speaker:And then we find it and fix it.
Speaker:So they get that immediate action that they need to get them out of that space of
Speaker:freak out and overwhelm and anxiousness.
Speaker:And, one of my clients called me the unofficial business therapist because
Speaker:of those moments, like he'll call me on a freakout and I'll just go, okay, now
Speaker:calm down, let's just jump off the cliff.
Speaker:Let's just see where this is really coming from, right?
Speaker:And it's really valuable to have that because business owners are lonely.
Speaker:It's really lonely being at the top.
Speaker:It absolutely is.
Speaker:It's a difficult one.
Speaker:And you're right.
Speaker:I think that there's not enough recognized in support because a
Speaker:coach provides you a certain amount of support, but it's not the same.
Speaker:And often you want to mix with other business owners.
Speaker:In a way of sharing that, but that's also very rarely fostered.
Speaker:I think that's, many people will be members of whether they're groups
Speaker:that are on, in some kind of virtual environment or whether they're
Speaker:attending physical networking, but very rarely are those groups.
Speaker:nurturing.
Speaker:Very rarely do you have that ability to say, Hey, this stuff
Speaker:is going on in my business.
Speaker:And you might occasionally have a friend that you can throw a few things
Speaker:at, but then they don't actually necessarily have the time to fully
Speaker:understand and appreciate your business.
Speaker:They potentially are in some completely unrelated.
Speaker:field.
Speaker:And I think we probably all have those sorts of people in our lives.
Speaker:So having someone that is actually has the time to understand your
Speaker:business is a huge advantage to have.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:And like you said, like you're going to networking groups, but you're
Speaker:supposed to be an expert, right?
Speaker:You're not supposed to sit there and go, Oh my God, everything's
Speaker:falling down and breaking.
Speaker:Who?
Speaker:No one does that.
Speaker:No one goes to networking groups and going my whole life.
Speaker:My whole business is falling apart.
Speaker:I don't know what to do.
Speaker:Because you want to go there to try and find more clients and build your network.
Speaker:So you don't do that.
Speaker:So you don't even have that space to do it.
Speaker:Correct.
Speaker:It's That's why we like to call ourselves your business partner.
Speaker:We don't have equity in your business, but we really want to see you succeed
Speaker:and that means being able to support you on every level that we can.
Speaker:And you can't talk to employees about those things.
Speaker:It brings scarcity and insecurity in their roles, so you really can't
Speaker:have those discussions with them.
Speaker:You can have them with us because chances are we'll probably find a way to fix it.
Speaker:So it's not Anything new for us.
Speaker:We've had all of those meltdowns.
Speaker:There's nothing that we haven't had, so it's normal and we
Speaker:just don't talk about it.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:I hear you.
Speaker:So tell me, how many people have you got working in your team?
Speaker:How many of these fractional, what do you call them?
Speaker:Are they fractional operations managers?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So we do call them fractional operations managers.
Speaker:There are three of us in the team and we've got another two that we're looking
Speaker:at bringing on by the end of the year.
Speaker:And yeah, we're all, we're nationwide.
Speaker:So most of us are on the East coast because we're fully remote.
Speaker:We're a fully remote company and all the businesses that
Speaker:we work with are set up to.
Speaker:accommodate that because they already got teams doing that anyway.
Speaker:So we can work with anyone anywhere.
Speaker:It's such a, it's such a game changer, isn't it?
Speaker:I know personally that we were talking before the show
Speaker:about my move out of Sydney.
Speaker:And the interesting thing for me is when I sat back and reflected on how many
Speaker:visits to clients, physical visits to clients I've had, If I look back on last
Speaker:year, I think it was two and I think those two were to the same client and
Speaker:interestingly enough, where I've moved to, even though distance wise is a hell
Speaker:of a lot further than where I was in Sydney, it actually takes me the same
Speaker:amount of time to get there because I don't have to navigate Sydney traffic.
Speaker:So for me but that's the beauty of it.
Speaker:I know that, it's one of the interesting things about, networking commonly is done.
Speaker:On based on physical location, most of it is okay.
Speaker:You live in this area, therefore you must do business with people in this area.
Speaker:And that's okay if you're a, if you're a hairdresser or a chiropractor or something
Speaker:like that, because you need to have people physically attend your your location,
Speaker:but certainly, my business, your business I've got clients all over the world and
Speaker:it doesn't matter where they're located.
Speaker:Because you can offer that service.
Speaker:And I think that's a wonderful thing to be able to do because it's
Speaker:going where the best expertise is.
Speaker:And that allows you, of course, to bring in.
Speaker:Lots of people who you know, all over the place and wanting to give it.
Speaker:And I think, I imagine that the value that you've got as well as the people that
Speaker:you've got, because they're fractional, they're not stuck in one business.
Speaker:So they've got multiple clients.
Speaker:They're spending time in multiple businesses.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:And that's part of the joy for us because we're not just helping one.
Speaker:We get, we might help four different businesses each a week, and that, that
Speaker:brings us such satisfaction because.
Speaker:For me, small business owners really do have it tough.
Speaker:They really just struggle for so long, like to get past the two year
Speaker:marks, almost impossible to make it to 10 is the next biggest hurdle.
Speaker:So to really help them get through that, struggle straight for the 10 years and
Speaker:get them there is just, it's an amazing accomplishment for the business that
Speaker:we're working with and for us, cause we really love seeing them succeed.
Speaker:You get really excited about it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And as you should, because you're having a, you're having a role
Speaker:to play in the success of those businesses and that's huge.
Speaker:And particularly in a, in a current difficult financial economic climate
Speaker:being able to navigate those things and being able to bounce ideas off of.
Speaker:To get the right decisions made is huge.
Speaker:And I, so I'm interested in what you're seeing at the
Speaker:moment in terms of the market.
Speaker:What are the difficulties that people are commonly facing?
Speaker:And are they shifting because lots of things have happened in the, in, if you
Speaker:look back in the past sort of 18 months, two years, aside from obvious things
Speaker:like elections, there are things like wars, there are economic downturns, and
Speaker:then there's technology with the, major.
Speaker:Major boost of AI coming into businesses.
Speaker:Where is it are the pain points that you're seeing?
Speaker:Oh, there's so many.
Speaker:There's a lot of financial pain points to be honest.
Speaker:And that obviously comes with all the things that are going
Speaker:on in the world at the moment.
Speaker:The clients that they're working with means that they're trying to
Speaker:Not necessarily reduce spending, but they're just not willing to spend more.
Speaker:So they stay with what they're currently doing because that's
Speaker:what's been budgeted for because the budgets have gotten tighter.
Speaker:The other side of things is that they're not getting as many new clients in.
Speaker:So that's a little bit of a struggle for a lot of small businesses at the moment.
Speaker:They've only really got their existing client base.
Speaker:So the only way to grow that then is obviously to go deeper.
Speaker:So that's another aspect that we look at how we can grow that margin
Speaker:and that profit base for them.
Speaker:And time.
Speaker:So many of them just don't have time.
Speaker:That's they don't understand figures.
Speaker:Like it blows my mind.
Speaker:My brain loves numbers and looking at a budget variance report, it just
Speaker:loves it because it can see in a pattern, what's going on in the business
Speaker:and what we should be looking at.
Speaker:I'm laughing by the way, because I am completely the opposite.
Speaker:Being a creative personality type the eyes roll over when I look at the spreadsheets.
Speaker:It's just too many numbers, too hard.
Speaker:It's just, and it's a, but it is, it's, that's the thing, right?
Speaker:Is that.
Speaker:Some people, just wired differently and that's the point, isn't it?
Speaker:When you've got someone that you can bring into the business that can
Speaker:understand that and genuinely loves that.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And, side note, spreadsheets are the best coloring book because
Speaker:you're always in the lines.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:I will I'll let you, I'll let you have that one.
Speaker:If I'm looking at putting colors into spreadsheets, it's just too
Speaker:much time and energy going into it.
Speaker:That's for sure.
Speaker:It's it's, and it's funny too, because I'm and I was talking to a few people
Speaker:about this recently that, Being a creative type as well, I still like to
Speaker:get pen in hand and writing things down.
Speaker:And even though sometimes I go, Oh, that means I didn't have to
Speaker:transcribe it across the other thing.
Speaker:It's, I'm actually looking at, buying something, and there are a few devices
Speaker:out there now, including iPads and things where no, and various notebooks where
Speaker:you can, you still have that ability to scribble it down and it'll transfer it
Speaker:into something and save you a little bit of time in that, which is always good.
Speaker:But it's interesting to me when I, for me putting things into a spreadsheet,
Speaker:it's a necessary evil sometimes, but it doesn't do anything for me.
Speaker:Whereas writing it down, all the difference.
Speaker:Oh, don't get me wrong.
Speaker:My to do list is written.
Speaker:Because nothing gives you a better dopamine hit than getting that highlighter
Speaker:out and crossing it off that list.
Speaker:It doesn't do the same thing in any of the online software when you
Speaker:press the button that says complete.
Speaker:No matter what little animation thing that they have going
Speaker:on, it's just not the same.
Speaker:It is so not the same.
Speaker:Of course, the key is making sure the list is not too long.
Speaker:I had my list yesterday and I just, I got to the end of the day and I
Speaker:went, yeah, that was disappointing.
Speaker:I didn't crash up enough.
Speaker:And that was because the list was unreasonable and way too long.
Speaker:It was probably two weeks worth of work and the expectation of trying to get it
Speaker:in one day was never going to happen.
Speaker:But again, that's part of part of the process.
Speaker:Look, there's so many more things that we could talk about in this,
Speaker:and I think there's been some amazing insights for people on how to do that.
Speaker:And of course we will, as always include all the details in the show
Speaker:notes of how to get in touch with you.
Speaker:But I always like to ask my guests one final question, which is what
Speaker:is the heart moment that people have when they start working with you
Speaker:that you wish more people were going to know in advance they would have?
Speaker:Oh it's the relief.
Speaker:That's the biggest thing.
Speaker:Like they look back, from when we start to three or six months in and they look back
Speaker:and they just go I never realized I was so stressed and I don't have that anymore.
Speaker:Like it's just such a relief of having someone do all the things that we
Speaker:do and take that off their plate.
Speaker:Their decision fatigue goes away.
Speaker:They actually spend more time with their family.
Speaker:They get to do more things that they enjoy.
Speaker:Their happiness level goes up and their stress levels go down.
Speaker:So For us, that's the real big thing that they really notice.
Speaker:Of course there's all the other, things that we actually do.
Speaker:There's a lot of value in that, but the biggest Take away for them.
Speaker:Is that the relief?
Speaker:I love that.
Speaker:It's, and that is the biggest dopamine hit that you can get.
Speaker:It's when you realize that you don't have to do it.
Speaker:And I think one of the biggest realizations I know when I first employed
Speaker:someone was when they went on holidays and I went, oh, okay I've did it before.
Speaker:I can do it again.
Speaker:And suddenly you realized how much.
Speaker:busier your day got doing their job as well.
Speaker:And the relief that I got again, when they came back from holidays, I went,
Speaker:thank God I can give that back to you.
Speaker:I don't want to do it again.
Speaker:It's actually a, it's only at those points where you realize
Speaker:that the value of bringing other people in, I love what you do.
Speaker:It's just such a, it's such a great idea of.
Speaker:Adding value, but hands on and with a very clear purpose and very much
Speaker:in a very specific niche that I think small businesses everywhere
Speaker:could well and should well enjoy.
Speaker:So again, we'll make sure all the details on how to get in
Speaker:touch will be in the show notes.
Speaker:Kerry, thank you so much for being a part of BizBites.
Speaker:Thanks so much for having me.
Speaker:I've enjoyed it.
Speaker:And a reminder to everyone, of course, to hit subscribe and never miss an episode.
Speaker:And we look forward to your company next time on BizBites.
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