There are probably a lot of things you highly enjoy about your job (and if not, you should definitely do something about that!). Unfortunately, there are probably also several things you don't like about your job.
Mostly that are the things that are happening more in the sideline of your job. Things like the administration, your visibility, some parts of your reporting and communication. If you're an entrepreneur, it are probably things like your finances, marketing communication, follow-ups and reminders.
Noticeable is that it are all recurring things that happen with a certain pace, and probably don't require a lot of creativity.
So you don't like them, and they are repetitive. That means it are the exact right things to be automated!
Read on to hear about an experiment I put up in my own business, and learn how automation can run your business/job while you are enjoying something else!
Last week I was visiting Corsica. Before my departure, I initiated an experiment for myself: could I be able to let the business run while I was enjoying the beaches and mountains of that beautiful island?
The answer to that question came when I was standing at 2136 meters height on the top of Monte Alcudina. With a rare wave of data connection, my smartphone suddenly gave me the notification that a new potential customer had just booked a Clarity session.
That was the moment when I realised that my experiment was successful.
Back home, I checked the results of the automated processes that I had installed: approximately 15000 social media views, 210 people were brought to a specific landing page on my website, the preparation of my next coaching conversation was nicely waiting in my inbox, and my email routines had continued, even without clicking one button!
My robot did a nice job ;-)
The funny thing is that it's even not that hard to get it all installed and working (or at least it wasn't for me, but I realise that I have an engineering degree in automation).
So after this experiment, I will definitely keep the robot in my business, and enjoy more free time while he takes care of the standard routines running in my business.
Do you want to know how you can also enjoy these advantages?
Well, it all starts by having a clear view on your business processes: what are the things that you do, step by step. It requires a bit of practice to think in process steps, but it can be trained. Just think about taking something out of the fridge. What are the exact steps that you take? Try to name them all.
The same applies to your business. What are the exact steps that you take to get to a certain result?
Once you have defined your process steps, then you can start looking for a tool or application that can do them for you. These days there are so many tools available that there will probably already exist something that does exactly what you're searching for. Many of those tools are small applets that nicely integrate with each other. So you don't need huge and costly software packages to do it. More, most of those tools even have a free variant that is already suitable for most small business, single entrepreneurs, or leaders who just focus on a single aspect of their job.
The third step is about generating trust. Part of this is testing and being sure that everything works. Another part of it is being sure that the process itself works, because is if you automate rubbish, you just end up with automated rubbish, nothing more, nothing less.
So generating more free time while certain things run automatically in the background, all starts with being able to identify your processes. Everything that follows, is the easy part (at least if you're an automation engineer ;-) ).
You can start with that right now! Take one thing that you do on a regular basis, and identify the specific steps that you take. Once you identified those steps, keep doing them manually for a few times without the slightest exception of the process that you clarified.
If you see that it works, then you can start your search for a tool that can do it for you.
Do you want some help in identifying and challenging the process steps, or in finding the right tool that can work for you?
I'm more than willing to share my expertise with you!
Just reach out to me, and let's have a talk.
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