You're drowning in your own business because you've never actually looked at HOW you do things. Just that you do them. Every day, same chaos, different wrapper.
Most solo operators treat their work like a magic black box - stuff goes in, stuff comes out, and whatever happens in the middle is just "how we've always done it." Then wonder why they're still working weekends.
Here's the thing: Every single task eating your time is just a process. And every process can be fixed once you stop treating it like some mystical art form.
One Worthy Tactic: The IPO Method (No, Not That Kind)
Forget Six Sigma. Bin the consultants. Here's how to fix any process that's stealing your life, using three questions a 10-year-old could answer.
The Setup
Pick one thing you do repeatedly that makes you want to fake your own death. Client onboarding. Monthly reporting. Invoice chasing. Whatever makes you think "there's got to be a better way."
Got it? Good.
Step 1: INPUTS - What Kicks This Off?
List everything that needs to exist before you can start:
Information (client details, project specs, whatever)
Tools (software, templates, access to systems)
Triggers (what tells you it's time to begin?)
Example: Invoice creation needs:
Completed work details
Client billing info
Your invoice template
The trigger: project marked complete
If you're missing any input, the whole thing grinds to a halt. That's why you're always hunting for that one bloody email at 9pm.
Step 2: PROCESS - What Happens?
Write down every step. Every. Single. Step. Even the stupid ones.
Map out the process steps.
Then when analysing a task within a process, do this:
Open accounting software
Click 'new invoice'
Search for client
Add line items
Apply tax
Save as draft
Review
Send
Track how much time goes into each. That will show you where you’re bleeding time.
Step 3: OUTPUTS - What Gets Produced?
What comes out the other end? Not just the obvious stuff:
The actual deliverable (invoice sent)
Side effects (time tracking updated)
Information created (invoice number for records)
Triggers for other processes (payment follow-up scheduled)
If your outputs are unclear, you don't know when you're done. That's why you keep tweaking things forever.
The Fix
Now the fun part. For each step in your process, ask:
Can I kill it? (Does this step actually matter?)
Can I combine it? (Why am I doing this in three places?)
Can I automate it? (Let the robots suffer instead)
Can I template it? (Stop reinventing the wheel)
Can I delegate it? (Even if you're solo - consider outsourcing)
Real example: That invoice process above?
Kill the spreadsheet calculation - track time where you invoice
Combine steps 3-6 into a template with preset items
Automate the follow-up scheduling
Template the whole thing as a recurring invoice
What took 30 minutes now takes 3.
The Reality Check
This works for EVERYTHING:
How you handle enquiries
How you deliver work
How you manage your week
Even how you procrastinate (yes, that's a process too)
The point isn't perfection. It's identifying where you're bleeding time because you've never actually looked at HOW you work, just WHAT you produce.
Most solo operators are so deep in the doing, they never step back to see the patterns. Then they wonder why every week feels like Groundhog Day with worse coffee.
Pick one process this week. Map it out. Fix the obvious stupid. Move on.
Because the only thing worse than a bad process is a bad process you repeat 50 times a month.
Want me to help you with improving your processes? I’m putting together a community of solo operators to help them free up time so they can have what they started their business for: freedom.
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