Organizing Chaos

Today I get to share my most recent interview with Jennifer Kerr - founder and owner of Windmill Bakery and Deli 31 here in Columbia, TN. Jennifer started not one, but two businesses from scratch within 2 YEARS of each other and both are thriving. Jennifer shares a ton of value in this short episode on topics like struggling with delegation, working with family, thoughtful business planning, and the importance of having a business coach. And on the note of business coach, I'm currently offering free consultations to anyone who sees this post. Click this link to schedule a free consultation with me and I'll go over my 12-Point Business Inspection List with you so that if nothing else, at the end of the call you know where your business stands. https://calendly.com/idannycoleman/30minconsult

Today I sit down with Caleb Mathis, owner of Columbia, TN's Chik-Fil-A to discuss culture, mission, and the value of mentoring employees. If you've been struggling to learn how to empower employees and develop leadership within your team, you'll enjoy this episode full of advice and experiences that you can use to improve the quality of your team.

What is "overwhelm addiction"? Who would we be if we weren't defined by how busy we are or what we do at work? How do you change as a person so that you can change your organization? How do we recognize our work colleagues in a meaningful and impactful way? In this interview with former E-Myth coach Josef Shapiro, we discuss answers to these questions about how we can change the way we lead and influence others.

Today's interview is with Dr. Allison Duke, Associate Dean and Professor of Management at Lipscomb University and in this episode we ask and answer the question: how can a manager handle the complex nature of individuals with various personalities and create a positive, productive, team culture?

As small business owners, it's important for us to be identifying who pays our bills. The customer relationship has to be treated exactly as such - a relationship. In this episode, Platform University Dean - John Meese - sits down with me to talk about practical ways small businesses can get clearer on who their target customers are and how to build a relationship with them.

You already have your vision for your business - so what about the systems and people that make it up? In today's episode, I interview real estate software CEO Dan Schwartz about what it takes to build a business that can scale without your constant need to spoon-feed employees.

In this episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing world-class DJ, Mr. Amani Roberts (DJ AmRo) about his mission: bringing creativity into the workplace and the way it can improve team culture. The word "culture" gets thrown around a lot these days and most small businesses are ignoring it - at their peril. Creating strong bonds and perpetuating an environment of self improvement will have a more dramatic effect on your business than you can fathom. I've experienced first hand the impact of bosses and managers caring about me enough to understand me as a human, my fears, and my goals. 

In today's episode I speak with Liz Goddard and Nicole Grinnell of Cc: My Admin. With Cc: My Admin you only pay for the tasks you need completed by hours worked. Hiring an administrative assistant to help you optimize your time is the single greatest thing you can do to start moving towards a better relationship with your business. I thoroughly enjoyed this educational interview and I think you will too.

In today's episode, I conclude my 8 step "Organizing the Chaos Process." Click here if you want to check out the previous episodes where I covered steps 1-7. Setting up a regular meeting structure is the last thing I do when consulting with a client. Meetings seem to have a bad rap and as such, I've found that a surprising number of teams aren't having them consistently or even at all.

In step #7 of my process, I talk about how I help small business owners realize the difference between working on your business vs just working in your business. If the "in" work is keeping you from the "on" work - this episode is for you. Learn about what an "Integrator" is and how they can save you from the day to day operations of your business.

In this episode, I cover how your team can effectively document the processes your business needs to ensure that things run smoothly and consistently.

Now that we've gotten clear on what you want from you business, what you need to delegate, and then subsequently delegated those things, it's time to share what you've found with your team. In this episode, I teach how you can roll out these changes to your team. Getting their feedback and input is 100% required if you want to be successful moving forward.

This week, I'm picking back up on explaining my 8-step "Organizing Chaos Process". Step 3 is where the rubber starts to meet the road. During this step, we begin to delegate the activities you'd put on your "Stop Doing" list that we created during Step 2. We create "Position Agreements" which are similar to job descriptions. These are the "hats" people will be wearing - and if you're like most small businesses, you'll have people wearing multiple hats. These agreements are how you hand off those items on your "Stop Doing" list to various members of your team.

In today's interview, I sit down to talk with Chris Weninegar. Chris is a classic visionary - a series of jobs that just didn't seem to take, an idea, and taking massive action to make that idea a reality. In this episode, you'll learn about how Muletown Roasted Coffee came to be, how it inspired a community to rediscover its heritage, and how a business owner can create a business without staying its employee forever.

I'm a huge Simon Sinek fan and the concept he preaches about, which is finding your "Why." No one cares about what you do; they care about why you do it. Tyler Steigelman is the owner and operator of WorthWhile Brands - a custom clothing brand with a message. I love the positive message of Tyler's brand and I want to see everywhere. His story is inspiring and I highly recommend you check out this interview and find a way to make your business' message worthwhile.

Every small business has a unique story. Today, I got to hear Pete Provost of Briarworks tell his. There is an amazing theme I've been uncovering as I interview small businesses about their stories: authenticity is the biggest advantage a small business can leverage. Get inspired by today's interview and work towards becoming your authentic self.

In the last step of my Organizing Chaos process, we talked about getting clear on what you want out of life and where your business should be taking you. During step 2, we'll figure out how to spend your time in order to get there. In this next step, we figure out what all needs done in your business. We then lay out everything that needs done and determine who should be responsible for it. (Your time is valuable and the only way to grow your business in a way that allows you to retain your sanity, is to understand exactly where you should be spending that time.)

Over the last several years, I've developed an 8 step process that allows me to step into any business and instantly understand why the business isn't working like it should. Check out Step 1 of my process, which I just released today - and stay tuned for the rest!

In this episode, I interview Nick Ercolano who taught me that anyone can monetize their passion. You'll not only learn about how he did that, but you'll get some great tips on developing yourself as an entrepreneur, learning how to deal with competition, and getting insight into how you can create an exceptional experience that your customers will pay for over, and over, and over.

Many times when a business is started or a new product/service is being developed, we feel like everything must be perfect and complete before we release it to the world. speak with Joshua Merrill of Legacy Coffee Company who started his beloved Spring Hill, TN coffee company even after a failed Kickstarter campaign and numerous other setbacks. Check out Joshua's interview packed full of inspiration, hope, and raw entrepreneurial spirit.