Clockwork summary

We experience the world in three dimensions, but in business, there are four. Let’s call them the Four D’s of work: doing, deciding, delegating, and designing.

When you started your business, you were probably in doing mode, meaning you were doing everything on your own. You were CEO, human resources manager, and receptionist all in one! But if you want your business to grow, you need to step away from doing and move into designing.

In every beehive, one bee plays the Queen Bee Role: she lays eggs. Since her role is crucial to the hive’s continued survival, every other bee makes the Queen Bee the number-one priority. They cater to her every need, keeping her fed and comfortable. They only turn to other responsibilities, like gathering pollen, when they are satisfied the Queen Bee’s needs are met.

What does this have to do with your small business? Quite a lot, actually.

How do you peel a banana? Do you start at the stem, like most people? Well, if that’s also your approach, then you’re not peeling your banana optimally. The pressure you apply at the stem when peeling can cause the banana to get bruised and turn mushy. Monkeys, on the other hand, peel bananas by grasping the stem and applying pressure at the opposite end, so the peel slides off easily.

When you head up a small business, you’re a bit like a monkey who knows the best way to peel a banana. After all, monkeys live and breathe bananas. They’ve put a lot of thought into the peeling process. Your staff, on the other hand, probably don’t know the best way to peel a banana. Why not? Because you haven’t told them.

Would you rather make $50 an hour or $5 an hour? It’s a no-brainer – take the $50! Right?

Well, yes and no. If you’re a solopreneur, hiring someone to grow your team means losing a cut of your profits, potentially taking you from $50 an hour to $5 an hour. No wonder so many solopreneurs decide to grit their teeth and keep going it alone.

Sunshine is lovely and gentle. But when it’s focused through a magnifying glass, it can be transformed into something bold and powerfully effective: a laser of light strong enough to burn through paper. When it comes to marketing your services, you want to be less like sunshine and more like a laser beam, training your focus on a well-defined target market.

So, who is your market? It can be tempting to say, “Everyone!” After all, the broader your market is, the more successful you’ll be. Right? Well, not exactly. Spread yourself too thin, or have too wide an offering, and you’re unlikely to do your best work. The quickest path to success is to determine your niche, then outperform your competitors by serving that niche obsessively.

Let’s say you’re now spending more time designing than doing. That’s great!

But your work doesn’t stop here. In fact, you’re about to take on new challenges: How do you oversee a business, exactly? How can you measure your success, track your performance, and identify issues?

Let’s take a look at your checklist. Plan a pathway from doing to designing. Identify your Queen Bee Role. Set up SOPs. Make smart hires. Find your niche market. And implement metrics that show your progress at a glance.

Tick these off, and you’re on your way to a business that runs like clockwork. But be warned: it’s not all plain sailing from here.