How I stopped working 7 days a week.

The first steps I took to getting free from my business.

My last business was a 7-tonne ball and chain around my neck at rising tide.

I felt like I couldn’t take a single week off without returning to an absolute mess.

Why?

Because I’d taken a break in the past and returned to chaos that took months to repair.

Each time that clean-up was so painful that it certainly made me think twice about taking another holiday…

And thinking like that is a slippery slope.

That type of mentality makes you believe that it’s the fault of the team.

That you allowed them to step up during that time and demonstrate they could handle things while you were away, but they didn’t.

You start to blame others which makes you powerless.

The reality in my case was, I didn’t prepare them.

I just dropped them in the shit and hoped they’d figure out how to do all the things I was doing each day without training.

So dumb Jarrod.

Once I got over myself I realised it exposed a huge gap in training on my part.

But it also does something worse.

During those times, it validates that the business needs you to survive.

But you know what?

That’s the biggest load of bullshit I’ve ever fed myself!

And it also means it’s not a real business in my books.

If it ONLY relies on you to operate and sustain itself, you’ll struggle to grow it.

And when you break down the aspirations of every business owner, freedom and growth would probably be up there in the priorities.

So today I wanted to share the first steps I took to unlocking freedom and continuing to grow my business.

Let’s dive in...

The first part of the problem is probably YOU!

So let’s have the hardest conversation first.

(You might want to take a walk for this one)

These are the questions I'd ask you if we were sitting in a coaching session together:

- Are you prepared to hire people who are (or will be) better than you at everything you do today?

- Are you prepared to accept lower standards of results but reward for effort as they grow?

- Are you prepared to help people have an easier pathway than you did in your industry?

- Are you prepared to absorb their failures as your failure to coach them?

- Are you prepared to take responsibility for their training?

If it’s a hard NO to any of these questions, you’re going to struggle to unlock freedom.

(In fact, maybe my weekly emails aren’t for you going forward)

You’ll never get out of the grind of doing shit yourself because your best people:

1. Will be shit scared to fail around you

2. Will feel the lack of trust you have in them

3. Won’t see a pathway to get ahead in their career

4. Won’t feel supported in their role and therefore won't support you

5. Won’t have the tools and insights to solve problems independently

So the starting point i to shift your perspective towards a growth mindset.

Now, without standing in front of you to tell you to get over yourself in a cutting tone you’ll need to settle for this.

GET OVER YOURSELF!

To everyone else who answered Yes to those things, you’re probably already fostering a company culture that others would want to be a part of without even knowing it.

And in that case, there's some good news!

You only need ONE person to transform your results.

So here’s what you’re going to do:

1. Start to talk about your culture more.

Share the cool things people are doing inside your company.

Put it on social media, your website or get it out to the media.

- The learnings
- Their achievements
- The brilliant work you’re doing
- The community you’re building around you

It won't shift things immediately but it’ll start to attract other people who are sitting inside companies that don’t enjoy the benefits of the culture you've built.

Because often, the people you want to recruit aren’t actively looking for the role you’re advertising online.

They’re busy working to build companies for people they probably don’t like.

So your job is to plant the seed in their mind.

To paint a picture of greener pastures

To show the possibilities

So that when the time comes for you to recruit, those people won't hesitate to apply.

It's exactly how we've pulled talented people in from other industries.

2. Find your ONE.

The first person you want to find is the one you’re going to hand things over to so you can do more of what you’re good at.

For me, I knew how to talk to other hospitality business owners.

I’ve walked in their shoes, felt their pains, understood their business and could offer products that helped them deliver a great menu.

The problem was, while I was out chatting with customers I had no one running operations.

I was stuck fielding every single question, problem, enquiry, phone call, customer complaint, sales rep call, delivery issue, and a million other things while in the van doing deliveries and sales calls.

To continue growing and unlock some freedom, I needed an operations manager back at our base or at least someone in admin to handle enquiries.

For you, it might mean finding a sales rep and doing the operations yourself.

Or making the product and getting someone to run the business.

Either way, do more of what you’re good at (or that grows the business) and get others to help with the rest.

The thing I learned was, I wasn’t looking for a team at that point.

I only needed ONE other person to help transform my entire business (and life).

And it did just that.

But the best bit?

It didn’t just double our output, it multiplied it by at least 5.

If I had my time again I would have put more energy into finding that ONE person sooner.

That’s it for today.

I hope it helps!