Systemize Your Success

🎙 Steve explains how relying on people can sometimes become a pitfall that slows down your business. By recounting his own early experiences with delegating and the failures of doing so, Steve illustrates how systems can be much more efficient and freeing when used efficiently. KEY TAKEAWAYS💡 Steve did not ask his first assistant to document everything she did while she was working. So when she l...

In this episode, Steve will explain how to share access with your team as affordably and safely as possible, how to avoid the risks of using software like LastPass, and how to ensure you stay within the General Data Protection Regulation as you do so.   KEY TAKEAWAYS  LastPass is software that allows you to share access with multiple people without sharing a password over the internet, and they al...

Steve explains how to automate your systems creation. He will expand on the points you need to focus on to achieve this and how you can make systems improvement a habitual and automatic task in your organisation. This will involve a mindset shift on your part and the development of culture within your team of continuous development and improvement.   KEY TAKEAWAYS  Identify which systems require y...

Steve details the 21 benefits of having an Operations Manual in your business. Standard Operating Procedures are key to systemisation and are your method to more freedom and flexibility. Even if you have an Operations Manual already, check out this episode to see if there is any way you can improve it to gain all the benefits Steve outlines.    KEY TAKEAWAYS  With SOPs in place, you will retain st...

Get the inside story on Steve’s debrief with his team after his seven-day absence from his company. He details what worked and what didn’t, what’s changed as a result of his being away, and what changes will be made in the future. You can use the lessons from this meeting to apply to your business, avoid some of the pitfalls, and learn some of the lessons his team discovered during his absence.  ...

Steve interviews Andy Gaught, a property investor, mentor and coach who has been running his own property investment business, Asset Living, for the past seven years.   Andy has been interested in technology from an early age, from upgrading computers in his teenage years to studying mechanical engineering at Southampton University. In 2014, after a couple of years working for TV post-production c...

Steve talks to David Kyle, the FitPro Lead Generation Specialist. Through his experience as a fitness instructor and gym owner David has set up FitPro Lead Generation to help other fitness instructors and fitness based businesses stream line and expand their marketing to reach more clients. Steve and David chat about Marketing, business growth, generating leads and the fitness industry.   KEY TAKE...

Steve has worked with hundreds of businesses of different sizes and types over the years and has concluded that NOW is the right time to hire a Virtual Assistant no matter what stage you are currently at. In this episode he explains how the first step into investing into a Virtual Assistant can set any business on the path to increased productivity and profit.   KEY TAKEAWAYS   There is an incredi...

At Steve’s quarterly meeting he tried a little something new with his staff which was such a resounding success he has vowed to include it in every meeting from now on. He set out his values in a clear and understandable way and asked his team to be either in or out.    KEY TAKEAWAYS  Values are a complex consideration in business but in his first discussion with his team he concentrated on Person...

Steve interviews Scott Cundill, published author, international kung fu medalist and owner of My Most Trusted plug-in for LinkedIn. Through his chrome plug-in My Most Trusted, you can form a trusted business referral and introduction network around you, see other people’s trusted connections and ask for a referral, speed up LinkedIn by 300%, use My Most Trusted Circles to replace WhatsApp groups,...

Steve loves a good flow chart! In fact, he’s pretty psyched about process mapping, brainstorming and digital whiteboards too! In this episode, he explains why mapping your ideas visually can increase efficiency and why it’s an essential skill to master to get the most out of your time and energy.   KEY TAKEAWAYS  When you have a multimodal approach to your sharing of information and your learning...

Steve has tried four different business banking apps in the last few years trying to find the best for all the requirements of the small business. In this episode he explains which one comes out in front and why.    KEY TAKEAWAYS    The business banking world for small businesses can often be archaic, clunky and backward in its approach and operation. HSBC are difficult to get an account with, it...

Steve holds a daily meeting with his staff called ‘the daily stand up’. This takes only 3 minutes a person and the resulting benefits are substantial. Having refined and streamlined it to its most efficient functions, Steve shares how this how it can benefit upper business or organization.    KEY TAKEAWAYS    Cycle round each person and ask them a very specific set of questions which will give you...

Key Performance Indicators are measurables within a business that can be used to assess the current position of an organization. Steve chats to Georges Verdis about the essential nature and collation of KPI’s, which to use and how to interpret them.    KEY TAKEAWAYS    Georges is a busy London estate agent who has managed to systemize his work with the help of Steve. For Georges KPIs are completed...

Steve interviews John Jonas, founder of onlinejobs.ph, which is a Philippines based job board providing virtual assistants to businesses internationally. It is a simple recruitment process that enables the user to source suitable and skilled workers and for job seekers from the Philippines to find the right online employment. He also teaches how to hire Virtual Assistants and how to make the syste...

Why do some business owners make such a success of systemization, while others fail to grasp the opportunity to free themselves and create the life that they dream of? What are the differences between these two types of people?     KEY TAKEAWAYS  A reason for failure is when a single leader of a business is loathe to take that first step and hire an assistant. They may also fail to hire the right...

Steve interviews Stephen Somers who is cofounder, with his business partner Robert Rickey, of  a business consultancy called Marketplace Superheroes. Alongside his team he helps people sell branded products on Amazon effectively and profitably. Stephen began his company after selling products in Amazon for several years, and after meeting Robert and working together they created Marketplace Superh...

If you have a focused and productive meeting at regular intervals you can ensure that throughout the intervening period your necessary contact with your team will be kept to an efficient minimum. However, meetings can be complete time drains with never ending debating and arguing that can suck the energy and enthusiasm out of everybody present if they are executed badly. Steve’s here to tell you h...

In this episode Steve talks to fitness expert Joe McNee about how he helps other people with client based small businesses like personal trainers, coaches and driving schools to automate their on boarding and client progress processes. He is a schoolteacher and fitness coach and has three children, and this left him without enough hours in the day so he has utilised systems, apps and software to r...

When employing a Virtual Assistant how much should you pay them and do you have any other responsibilities towards them? What is the best way to structure reward and praise? Sometimes in the world of VA’s the rules and regulations can be a little unclear so Steve is here to summarise what you should be putting in place to pay and support your team and fulfil your obligations as an employer.    KEY...

Did you know you don’t own any of your Virtual Assistants intellectual property that they create for you? Steve gives you the method for transferring ownership to you when receiving your team members work.    KEY TAKEAWAYS  If you are a creative, whether that be graphical design, technical design, speech, music, art or prose of any kind, you own the copyright, by default, of any of your work. If y...

In this episode Steve details how you can improve or get started on your outsourcing while avoiding common pitfalls, myths and mistakes that can plague your efforts. What should you outsource, why does it need outsourcing and how can you go about doing it? He uses the example of social media to clarify what is required when outsourcing your everyday tasks.   KEY TAKEAWAYS  You don’t have to comple...

Steve reveals a quick trick for you to save one working week a year for the rest of your working life! Utilise this simple advice to free yourself up for more fruitful or fun tasks.    KEY TAKEAWAYS  Next time you come to a task and think “it will only take a few minutes, I should do it myself” consider this. It may appear that the time taken delegating that task seems like a waste of time, but ov...

A ‘Task Board Review’ is a monthly meeting Steve has with his staff which allows everybody to get on target and make sure they are focusing on the right task at the right time. Listen to how Steve holds his meetings to see how this could benefit your organization.   KEY TAKEAWAYS  Steve has a regular one to one with each of his staff he manages. In this meeting the tasks undertaken are discussed t...

Organizing your files and folders for easy access is essential for time saving and ease of operation. Steve has some advice on how to not disappear into a cloud of data chaos and increase your productivity by rethinking and modernizing the way you store your files.   KEY TAKEAWAYS    Grouping can be cumbersome due to the ambiguity of classing files by specific criteria. Labelling things to make th...