Yvonne Heimann [00:00:00]
Your phone buzzes during dinner yet again. Someone on your team needs the password only you seem to be having access to. You get up from the table yet again. You built this business to be free. Now, you are the only key that fits in every lock to open the doors. Nobody planned it this way, it just happened one login at a time.
That tightness in your chest when your phone buzzes on your day off, it's not paranoia. It happens. It's life. We all know it, and it's proof. It is proof you built something real, something that works, something that's bringing in revenue and profit, and proof that right now it can't run without you. If this is your first time here, welcome to She Is A Leader, the show for women building businesses that don't need them to disappear to run.
I'm Yvi, and as you know, we have solo episodes here, as well as guest episodes, and today it is a solo episode that is somewhat of a case study because I'm in the middle of firing myself from my own company, while using the frameworks and everything I teach. So let's get into it
Yvonne Heiman [00:01:26]
When you look at somebody like me that teaches processes, that has a process to create processes, that works with clients to build self-sustainable businesses, you might think looking publicly that all of it is hunky-dory, right? I, I teach this thing. I have lost and rebuilt my business twice, and yet here we are needing to fire myself again from my business.
Because why did I have to rebuild myself and my business twice? Because I didn't make it to the point in my business where the business did not rely on me or one single person. And to tell you to say those words of, "I'm firing myself"- That's an emotional rollercoaster. Logically, logically, I know it's what I need to do.
Logically, I know it is the process that has to happen for my team to be able to count on their income, for the sales processes to work, for this business to be a business and not just something stroking my ego. 'Cause let's be honest, when... Not that I'm always honest. I really need to change that phrasing because it makes me feel like I'm never honest to you.
I am. And to duck deep, the idea of, quote, "firing myself" is strugglesome, and it is right in here because what does firing somebody or yourself mean? It means I'm not needed anymore. We all want to be needed. So on the emotional side, it is quite the rollercoaster. And as excited as I am about firing myself, it's also like, "Holy shit, I'm firing myself."
Yvonne Heiman [00:03:32]
Yes, at this point, we are a team of five, uh, I think five, um, amazing people. It took a while for us to get here, to, to hire the right people, especially with our high-level developer. It took a while. We have the structure. We have the backbone. I have the right people to do this, and yet here I am going through the same struggles that my clients go through, the same growing pains as a business owner, as a human, and as somebody that hates typing.
And now suddenly, yeah, we, we can't count on me remembering everything, and following the frameworks that I've been teaching, following the systems that I've been teaching, finally getting all of these ideas and standard operating procedures and the business out of my head. So what's happening, and why I'm hopping on here telling you that I'm firing myself, is I- I'm inviting you to come along for the journey Um, as you know, I see systems where other people see chaos.
I live in systems. Yet, here we are in a business that's got quite a few years on their back, I haven't implemented my own systems. In certain areas, yes. Not throughout the whole business. So I invite you to come along in our journey of firing myself, of implementing, fully implementing the S.O.A.R.R. framework in our business.
Yvonne Heiman [00:05:15]
If you haven't heard about the S.O.A.R.R. framework yet, the S.O.A.R.R. framework is the process of how we create processes, and S.O.A.R.R. stands for systemize, meaning we need to find the system. Not everybody sees system where I see them. However, when you start looking closer, you will find your system. The habit of you doing things a certain way is a system.
So finding that system, then we optimize that system. So when you start writing down the system and you start figuring out the system, you're already gonna see how you do something, and there's a good chance when you start writing those down, and you can literally start with pen and paper, you will start already seeing steps where it's like, "Oh, it actually makes more sense if we do that then rather than there," because this way we are just cutting double work, or it just makes more sense.
So the s- the O is for optimize. Systemize, optimize. Once we got that data, we start automating things. D- again- There is a reason I love Whale SOP, because it helps me automate those SOPs. I can talk to a camera and Whale SOP generates the SOPs for me, right? We automate things, especially the stuff we really don't wanna do.
Then we need to review things. That's your R. That's the first R. Because emotions, emotions lie. Emotions tell us how things are right now and what's new. If there's something new, you're gonna experience fear, you're gonna experience negative emotions potentially. You might actually mistake a excitement for a fear or anxiety.
Yvonne Heiman [00:07:09]
They show up physically the same, but we give it meaning. So now we have systemized it. We have optimized it. We have automated it. We have reviewed the data, what is working, what is not working, and now we rinse and repeat from the beginning, and that's what we do in different areas of our business. That's what we do in different workflows.
I often use my piece for that. We do that with people, meaning we make sure people are in the right position. They are happy. They know what they are doing. They have a clear job description, all of those things, making it easier for them to be productive, and not just productive, but efficient and delivering result. We also do that with programs. How many subscriptions do you have? Hmm? You need to systemize them and optimize them. We also do that with our, again, the processes. We talked about that, the different processes that are happening in your business, and there's a couple other piece where we take the S.O.A.R.R. framework and we look at things, and we go through them, and that's exactly what we are going to be doing in Ask Yvi.
That's what we are gonna be doing right from the start as we slow-launch FemAuthority and give all of the offers and all of the things that are in my head and that I wanna do as a multi-passionate entrepreneur Sense and a home. I'll invite you along for that ride, and especially if you are a small business owner, if you have a small team.
Pop into the comment section. What are you struggling with? What do you want to know how we are managing certain things in this process? Do you wanna hear more about the people side of things? How have we hired? How have we finally found the right people? Maybe you wanna hear if this fear of letting go shows up just with certain employees or all of them.
Yvonne Heiman [00:09:07]
Is it choosing the programs we use? This is, this is, number one, a series to hold myself accountable, but also to answer your questions, for you to get involved, for you to get the information and part of this journey that you want to hear about. It's, it's gonna be an interesting journey. It already is, again, realizing the letting go of not having to be needed and doing the work, especially swimming against the stream, right?
So many peoples tell you one product, one offer, one marketing, one, one. Al- it's always one. Oh, God, I would have already burnt down my business if I only get to do one thing. Fortunately, I have Luby, who is on the operational side of things already, that picks up, that keeps me accountable, that keeps me in line when I start going down rabbit holes, and makes sure that the rabbit's hole are at least productive and in need for the business.
I think the big thing I wanna tell you is you are not alone. We get this perfect picture painted on social media that tells us, "Oh my God, this person is perfect and they have all of the answers, and that's the way to do it." As you can tell, I'm the systems queen. I'm the OG of ClickUp. Right now, our ClickUp is a fucking shitshow.
We are completely restructuring, cleaning up things, um, because we're approaching our own business differently than we have in the past. We are treating ourself as a client, one of the big changes that's coming. And none of us is perfect, and everything is changing. We know that the only consistent there is is there is no consistency.
Yvonne Heiman [00:11:00]
I still own the business. It's still mine. And- I just don't want to hold the passwords anymore. I don't want to be the one that has to unlock every door. That's gonna be the shift. That's gonna be the mental shift, that's gonna be the process shift. And I'm not stepping away, it is more of a stepping back on, on purpose, one piece and key at a time.
Giving my team the freedom and the strength to do, to do what they are good at, to do what they love doing. And remember, if you are the only key that fits every lock in your business right now, you don't need a bigger plan. You need one thing off your plate this week. And if this hit home for you, send this to one woman, one woman you know who hasn't put their phone down in months.
She's probably gonna need to hear that today. And I'll see you in the next episode.