Source: https://sozai.app/transcript/youtube-video-transcript-289/ Learn a simple framework to structure and scale business operations focusing on desired outcomes and efficient time allocation. ## Key Takeaways - Operations are crucial for business success but often neglected by entrepreneurs focused on marketing. - Structuring operations by desired outcomes and time-blocking activities improves efficiency. - Scaling requires distributing tasks among team members and monitoring utilization. - A clear operational pipeline from lead generation to resell is essential. - Continuous training and time management drive operational improvements. ## What the video covers - Operations often become a hidden problem in businesses, especially under eight figures in revenue. - Successful operations correlate with business size and profitability, often overlooked by entrepreneurs focused on marketing and sales. - Business operations can be viewed as a pipeline from customer click to sale to resell or ascension. - Structuring operations starts by listing desired outcomes and the activities required to achieve them. - Time allocation for each activity is critical, with examples given for sales calls, onboarding, and ascension conversations. - Scaling operations involves dividing activities among multiple people and blocking time on calendars. - The example of an online fitness business illustrates how to allocate time for front-end sales, nutrition orientation, and ascension. - Utilization rates and time studies help optimize operational efficiency and identify when to hire additional staff. - Operational success depends on repetitive work, training, and continuous improvement of team performance. - The video encourages business owners to adapt and structure their operations strategically for growth. ## Chapters 1. 00:00 Introduction to structuring operations 2. 01:13 Audience and business size context 3. 02:25 Understanding the sales pipeline and resell 4. 03:22 Time allocation and calendar blocking 5. 04:26 Example of operational time management 6. 06:22 Scaling operations and task delegation 7. 07:24 Strategic operational planning 8. 09:24 Utilization and efficiency optimization 9. 11:14 Importance of training and continuous improvement 10. 12:06 Closing remarks and adaptation advice Answers ## Questions about this video What is the first step to structuring business operations according to the video? The first step is to list out the desired outcomes that need to happen in the business, then identify the activities required to achieve those outcomes. How does the video suggest scaling operations as the business grows? Scaling involves dividing operational activities among multiple people and blocking specific times on their calendars to manage workload efficiently. Why do many entrepreneurs struggle with operations despite focusing on marketing and sales? Entrepreneurs often have promotion-type character traits and prioritize marketing and sales, neglecting to study and dedicate time to the operational components that drive business success. ## Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown 00:00 Speaker A I think the easiest way to structure operations is first to list out the desired outcomes that need to happen. I don't get a lot of questions about operations; they just become obvious that they are a problem within a lot of the people that we help serve. 00:14 Speaker A we help serve and so it's interesting because now that we work on the allen side with resellers it's very clear who's good at operations and who is not and that is typically based on the size of the business the people who are 00:26 Speaker A So it's interesting because now that we work on the Allen side with resellers, it's very clear who's good at operations and who is not, and that is typically based on the size of the business. The people who are better at operating are the ones who make more money. 00:39 Speaker A sales and legion and acquisition and although those are very important things and you have to start there it becomes very clear that typically the entrepreneur has that promotion type of character traits and doesn't dedicate the time to study the 00:57 Speaker A This is kind of one of the unspoken secrets of the entrepreneurial world, especially within the internet space that we live in now. It appears to be all about marketing and sales and lead generation and acquisition, and although those are very important things and you have to start there, it becomes very clear that typically the entrepreneur has that promotion type of character traits and doesn't dedicate the time to study the operational components of the business, which typically are the reasons that someone is or is not successful. 01:13 Speaker A vast majority of people listening here um you're probably under eight figures um some are under seven uh but most people are listening this are probably business owners in the multiple uh 100 000 a year to you know several several 01:26 Speaker A So I wanted to give you at least my simple mental framework for how I think about operations in general and scaling operations. For the vast majority of people listening here, you're probably under eight figures, some are under seven, but most people listening are probably business owners in the multiple hundred thousand a year to, you know, several million a year range. 01:42 Speaker A very much as a pipeline which is from click to close to resell right and um resell within different businesses can be retaining them so that they pay again uh or could be a variation of ascension but when i say click it means how do i 01:56 Speaker A So this is who I'm talking to within that context. I think the easiest way to structure operations is first to list out the desired outcomes that need to happen. All right? I think of business very much as a pipeline, which is from click to close to resell. 02:11 Speaker A sales process that's happening uh there are clear activities that need to happen right and so in the beginning you will have your front-end sales and so you need to list that as one of the activities right because the objective would be to sell 02:25 Speaker A Resell within different businesses can be retaining them so that they pay again, or it could be a variation of ascension. When I say click, it means how do I get someone to click, and that's just within the internet environment: click to opt-in, to schedule, to show, to buy, to then ultimately want to buy again. 02:38 Speaker A it's the nice thing is is that there's a ratio of for every 10 customers we need to do four of these two of these two of these in one of these right and so what you can do is once you realize what the 02:49 Speaker A If you have, like with our gyms, a four-step sales process or three-step sales process that's happening, there are clear activities that need to happen. In the beginning, you will have your front-end sales, so you need to list that as one of the activities because the objective would be to sell them. The activity is to take the call. 03:02 Speaker A like we want to say winner kappa coach at 100 then we know that that coach is going to be able to do that within x amount of time right and so then we book that time on that person's day 03:12 Speaker A Next, you'd have the nutrition orientation, which would be the next time you'd meet with them. Then you need to allocate how many of those you're going to need based on your current inflow. The nice thing is that there's a ratio: for every 10 customers, we need to do four of these, two of these, two of these, and one of these. 03:22 Speaker A day that this person is going to be working and what they're going to be doing with each hour of their day and so you simply take the activities in the allocated time that they need to work and place those on their calendar and 03:36 Speaker A What you can do is once you realize what the outcomes are, you can list out all of the activities that are required. For a typical client, we might know that it takes about two minutes per client per day, and if we know that a coach has three hours, like we want to say one coach at 100, then we know that that coach is going to be able to do that within X amount of time. 03:50 Speaker A four if if demand gen is being taken care of right so if legion is being taken care of and lead nurture is being taken care of and i'm saying that because it'll make the example simpler but also because that's what we do in our company 04:01 Speaker A Then we book that time on that person's day. What happens is when you're creating your company, when you're creating each of the roles that are going to support you, you need to look at a calendar and look at what the times of day this person is going to be working and what they're going to be doing with each hour of their day. 04:15 Speaker A all right that onboardings will be typically a nutrition orientation and also walking through the app and the tech and the things that need to happen um and and that's it right uh the third thing that will need to occur will be 04:26 Speaker A You simply take the activities and the allocated time that they need to work and place those on their calendar. That's honestly all there is to it. All right, so I'm going to give you an example to hopefully flesh this out a little bit. 04:37 Speaker A 10 people a week then you need to if you're going to if you're going to maintain that flow then if you know that your front end sale is 30 minutes your nutrition appointment is 30 minutes and then your ascension is 30 minutes then 04:48 Speaker A Within an online fitness business, which many of you guys are operating right now, there's really four if demand generation is being taken care of. If lead generation is being taken care of and lead nurture is being taken care of—and I'm saying that because it'll make the example simpler but also because that's what we do in our company for gyms—if those two things are taken care of, then there's really not a lot that needs to happen. 04:59 Speaker A person to do all of those activities and then you start blocking entire pieces of that type of activity to the next person right and so i'm going to continue with the example after that the only other activity uh 05:12 Speaker A First, you need to have first sales calls to get new customers talking to prospects. Then you need an onboarding. That onboarding will typically be a nutrition orientation and also walking through the app and the tech and the things that need to happen. And that's it. 05:23 Speaker A right and if somebody has uh uh whatever it is five minutes is a lot let's say say two for math sake so 200 minutes if you had 100 clients per day is what's going to be allocated so that's what it is three 05:38 Speaker A The third thing that will need to occur will be some sort of ascension conversation, which is going to sell them into continuity. That's number three. Now, every customer is going to have one of these things. 05:49 Speaker A morning and we're going to do 90 minutes in the afternoon and we're gonna block those times out so just like that we had eight hours a day now i have five hours left what else do i want this person to 05:57 Speaker A If you're selling, here it is, you're selling 10 people a week, then if you're going to maintain that flow, if you know that your front-end sale is 30 minutes, your nutrition appointment is 30 minutes, and then your ascension is 30 minutes, then for every client that you're bringing in, you have an hour and a half per week that's going to be allocated. 06:10 Speaker A that's going to take five hours per week which means i can block one to two hours a day for that and be totally fine right so i might block now this is where availability becomes interesting because if you just do it at 06:22 Speaker A You can divide that up between different people, but the key to scaling is that eventually it becomes too much for one person to do all of those activities, and then you start blocking entire pieces of that type of activity to the next person. 06:33 Speaker A some different times to select from right but again we have our daily activities now that you know for that coach is going to be the fulfillment that's ongoing we might also have them do the nutrition orientation which would be an 06:46 Speaker A I'm going to continue with the example. After that, the only other activity that's going to be there would be either recruiting coaches, obviously the fulfillment. Let's say that the average customer is going to take five minutes today. I said two earlier, but let's just say it's five minutes today. 06:57 Speaker A person so now we have options do we want this person to create content do we want this person to do outreach do we want this person to uh gosh i mean whatever i mean do we want to expand this person's capacity right 07:12 Speaker A If somebody has, whatever it is, five minutes is a lot. Let's say two for math's sake. Two hundred minutes if you had 100 clients per day is what's going to be allocated. So that's what it is: three hours and 20 minutes. 07:24 Speaker A now this is strategic questions not operational questions but i'm saying this is how you structure it operationally it's like okay if we're selling 10 people a week then we need to have uh 10 halfway conversations where we're going to send them into continuity and 07:36 Speaker A You look at someone's schedule. Now, that's obviously in a perfect scenario, but I'd look at one of my coaches' schedules and say, okay, we're going to do 90 minutes in the morning and we're going to do 90 minutes in the afternoon, and we're going to block those times out. 07:46 Speaker A that we get 10 new customers per week then we know that's going to be another hour so 10 hours per week total so that's another two hours per day assuming that they're working five hours a week and so now we're at six 07:56 Speaker A Just like that, we had eight hours a day. Now I have five hours left. What else do I want this person to do? Well, I probably want them to take the onboarding conversations with the new customers who are coming in. 08:08 Speaker A a coach now at that point this coach is handling uh basically everything post the initial sale right they're managing the ongoing fulfillment they're managing the onboarding activities for these new customers and they're managing the back end meetings with them uh to convert them 08:24 Speaker A This is a coach, and I know that if we generate 10 new customers a week on average, then that's going to take five hours per week, which means I can block one to two hours a day for that and be totally fine. 08:39 Speaker A understanding what are the different activities that need to occur in the business to make more money and then once you have the list of the activities then you know how long each of the activities could take and then the only 08:49 Speaker A I might block now. This is where availability becomes interesting because if you just do it at noon every day, the new customers might not be able to make that time. So I might have slots on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at one time, and then Tuesday and Thursday at another time, and that way it gives them some different times to select from. 09:02 Speaker A back into what a an ideal day looks like for each of the roles within your business also the bigger you get the more you will find inefficiencies where you're starting these partial roles they're getting full-time pay for half-time work 09:15 Speaker A Again, we have our daily activities now that you know for that coach is going to be the fulfillment that's ongoing. We might also have them do the nutrition orientation, which would be an hour or two hours per day. 09:23 Speaker A need to hire another coach what else are you doing that is not within these parameters now if someone then says well i'm doing this this and this then it's like oh now either they'll be founded at things like things that are useful and 09:34 Speaker A If we have an hour, let's say an hour per day, so now we've got four of their eight hours that have been taken. Now we've got four more hours that can be used by this person. 09:46 Speaker A hurt your business it's simply because a lot of people just don't even know it's valuable right and so they they're they're trying to work they're trying to provide value but a lot of times they just don't get how 09:55 Speaker A Now we have options. Do we want this person to create content? Do we want this person to do outreach? Do we want this person to, gosh, I mean, whatever. Do we want to expand this person's capacity? 10:05 Speaker A this uh it takes this long to get the documents back or you know sometimes we have these past password issues then you can see is this something that we can fix operationally within an additional process or is it something that we can 10:16 Speaker A We would know that this person's currently at 50% utilization. Now, if you flip that and then think, well, maybe this person can take some of the exit meetings. Maybe this person can take some of the content. 10:28 Speaker A how i've thought about operations is just in terms of activities and units of time and then expected inflow and so based on those three variables of this is how many people are coming in these are the activities that need to 10:39 Speaker A Now, these are strategic questions, not operational questions, but I'm saying this is how you structure it operationally. 10:49 Speaker A headline that i had operations redundant this will be one of the least listened to podcasts out there but it is the reason that the people who make the most money make the most money and i just cannot tell you like the amount of 11:00 Speaker A people who have access who have tried to copy our stuff at gym lunch and and and and are 1 10th 120th the size of what we are and uh guys just like it's it's the boring work it's the it's the 11:14 Speaker A it's the rolling your sleeves up it's the repetitive work it's the meetings and training your team on improving how good they are doing the things that is ultimately the thing that's going to propel a company and those things are 11:24 Speaker A based on culture and tolerance of the leader and so um i just want to leave you with that so if you feel like you're constantly overwhelmed and you don't feel like you have transparency into what your people are doing you're like 11:33 Speaker A what are they doing all day this is the activity that you can do that will give you immense clarity and transparency to what their actions are so you can also restructure the business to make the most money and also find 11:43 Speaker A inefficiencies or additional tasks that you're not accounting for that they are doing which are either revenue generating or requirements or they're totally worthless activities that they're simply doing because they just don't know any better and so um highly 11:55 Speaker A recommend doing it and if you don't know where to start the easiest thing to do is have your employees take a time study all right so a time study is very simple you have an excel sheet you have every 15 minutes of 12:06 Speaker A the day and you just have them write down what they did for each of those 15 minutes now they're going to think that's going to take a lot of time you are never more efficient than when you do a time study i probably every time i 12:15 Speaker A do one i tell myself i'm going to do it again like forever and then i don't but but you will literally be more efficient in your work than you ever will because you know that you're being held accountable to it all right so um it's 12:26 Speaker A like whenever layla and i need to go and take a close look at apartment the first thing we do like these numbers aren't adding up this feels weird this feels heavier this feels light whatever it is we go we ask them to times today for a 12:36 Speaker A week and then we look at their activities you can also very quickly see where there's [ \_\_ ] right where people are like ah responding to emails i'm like why do you have three hours of emails is there something i don't know about 12:47 Speaker A how long does it take to reply to an email how many emails are you getting every day and so that's how you can start peeling the layers back and seeing if someone's being dishonest which happens right and then they're in it 12:55 Speaker A because they want to keep their job and i get that but that being said it's not useful for the business and so um that is how if you want to get a baseline of like okay well now i know what all the 13:03 Speaker A activities are you can deem whether they're valuable or not and you can deem uh whether you want them to keep doing it or whether they're expanding their time uh sorry expending their activities to meet the amount of time that they're 13:12 Speaker A supposed to be working all right so um that is my my quick uh that's that's kind of my mental framework for how i look at operations and how to uh structure them for different roles within the company is 13:23 Speaker A first look at the the outcomes that you want the activities you need to generate uh that that outcome how long those activities take per customer per unit and then you can extrapolate out based on the volume based on the inflow what 13:34 Speaker A each role needs to do and then at what points you will have breaking points where somebody will become overwhelmed and you need to create a new role all right so um anyways i hope that was valuable for you hope that made sense 13:44 Speaker A otherwise have a happy thursday uh happy corona happy quarantine and i hope you are adapting uh because you have no choice but to do so otherwise all right lots of love catch you guys [Music] you Topics: business operations scaling business time management sales pipeline lead generation customer onboarding business growth entrepreneurship operational efficiency online fitness business --- This is the markdown twin of 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