What Does a Year of Maintenance Actually Mean?
Episode 711: Show Notes
Anytime we have a big growth year, the year to follow is one to watch. It’s a lot of working on the business and less working in the business. We put systems back in place, bring operations up to date, and tackle all the things we were too busy to attend to the year before. We had to work some of this out while hiring seven employees. We find that identifying and communicating your focus for the year can make all the difference.
One recommendation we have is to figure out whether you’re in a red, yellow, or green year. Do you need to stop and do the bare minimum, maintain what you have, or go big or go home? Whichever method you choose, it feels better to remind yourself that you intentionally chose this as you are making decisions throughout the year. We help our clients think through decisions like this in The Incubator.
We mindfully decided that 2023 was going to be a yellow year for us. A year of maintenance; not to restructure, but to solidify existing structures and to solidify our team. We’re building a really strong foundation and creating a sustainable business. But what does it mean to focus on creating stability and maintaining what we have?
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We’ve Decided that 2023 is a Yellow Year
This year, we’re aiming to shift the percentage that’s new business to recurring business. Any year we’ve done that, the business has grown. This still means growth, it’s just slower, more intentional growth where the focus shifts to long-term clients and ongoing projects. A recent consideration we have become aware of is the need to communicate our approach to our team.
We have all sorts of plans for ourselves, with our partners, with our families, and those goals are made with the next year and the next ten years in mind. It’s so important to address what you need as a person when you’re so focused on how everything else is working. What do you want the next chapter of your life to look like? Are you planning in advance?
Model Behavior You Want to See from Your Team
It’s not necessary for your team members to know what we do with every minute of our time, but we are committed to modeling behavior we want to see our team members replicate in their own lives. Time blocking is one approach on our radar to help us to accomplish tasks; whether they are personal or for business. We need to block out certain things to make sure that we achieve them without other commitments getting in the way. Our calendars are public so we have tried a mix of blocking and deciding what that time means, and leaving it vague and open. Sometimes we even just write ‘no meetings’ to reserve that time for ourselves.
For both of us, our calendars are the one thing that we stay loyal to. We’re excited about this year in particular because, in addition to refinement and growing one new area, everything is so in alignment with our company. We’re committed to financial literacy and helping more women in business to understand their numbers and how they affect every area of life and making sure they are setting themselves up for success at home and the future of their businesses.
The Next Chapter at Boss Project
We foresee that the version of our business that results from the coming year will be the version that you see for the next five, ten, 15 years. We worked really hard to create this thing, and the idea that we will have to let it go in the future just didn’t sit well with us. We want to build a Boss Project legacy that’s going to stand the test of time and be around for a long while. That’s why we’re dedicating this year to testing some ways to take the ideas and concepts we’ve used and learned this year to create something more tangible.
We’re not planning to exit anytime soon, but if you’re focused on building a legacy, part of that is giving the business enough legs that it can run far past you. We’re excited to take you on this journey, like we’ve always done. If you have any questions, if you’re curious about what we’re doing, if you have a topic idea that you want to hear us discuss on the show, please send us a DM on Instagram.
Quote This
If you’re focused on building a legacy, part of that is giving the business enough legs that it can run far past you.
Highlights
Why we’ve decided that 2023 is a yellow year for Boss Project [0:05:56]
What it means to model behavior you want to see from your team [0:18:01]
What the next chapter at Boss Project means to us. [0:22:26]
Today’s Guest:
Abagail & Emylee
The Strategy Hour Podcast
The Strategy Hour Podcast is a twice weekly show hosted by Abagail Pumphrey and Emylee Williams, the founders of Boss Project. Join us for semi-ranty biz conversations for service providers looking to ethically grow their agency businesses. Episodes cover everything from lead generation to leadership mindset to team culture and beyond.
Key Topics:
Business planning, Forecasting, Maintenance, Systems, Operations, Long-term strategy, Growth, Time blocking
