7 Types of Freedom I Get from Having Systems in My Small Business
Systems bring freedom to my small business this year and every year.
I’m all about how systems allow me to have time savings, client relationships, flexibility, peace of mind, handling life's curveballs, mid-day flexibility, and the freedom to do nothing.
Because who couldn’t use a little more room for the enjoyable and unexpected in life? I know that even as organized as I am, I’m always looking for a bit more!
Transcript below!
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0:00 Hey, welcome back to the Calibrated Contents YouTube channel, I'm Ellie, and as usual I'm by talking about my favorite ways that systems affect my business.
0:29 so I can talk all about the technicalities all the time, and the tools I use, and I do, but I think today I really want to talk about what benefits I get out of all that, how it affects me practically, outside of what I put into, how the, technical side of it all, really, how, what technical tools I
0:49 use, versus, let's, let's just get started. You'll see what I mean. Okay, so the first one is really obvious, it's time savings.
0:59 By having systems, processes, software set up in my business, that automate, that, simplify, that template things that I do in my business, I am able to spend the saved time however I want. That could be reinvested in the business, it could be on personal goals, like therapy, or wellness goals, like
1:18 getting out for a walk, it could be spending more time with my family, so I get to spend that time however I want.
1:23 And, realistically, that is one of the biggest freedoms there is, is being able to choose how when you. spend your time.
1:30 It is also the blight of the, self-employed person, so finding that balance in those boundaries so you can really choose to spend your time is so important.
1:39 the second way that it creates freedom in my business is it creates stronger and more consistent client relationships. by having these systems in place, I know I'm never dropping of the pot.
1:49 I know that every client is receiving the same exact information in the same exact way, and so I don't worry about them missing anything.
1:59 I know they're receiving it at the right time, at the right way, and that I have the systems and the team to back that up.
2:06 it means that when people work with me, they feel really held, and really safe, and really, you know, really like they know what's expected of them, but that I also will go that little bit of extra to make sure that they know everything at the right time.
2:21 What that means is when people work with me, not only do they have a really good end result of a really good system, a really good website, but it means that they also really enjoy that process of working with me, and make it so easy for them.
2:34 And they tend to refer me, because I've made that, that, that working environment feel so safe. number three is having the flexibility to pivot or grow.
2:44 You can, when you have these systems in place, it allows you to step back, and being able to step back, take in the big picture, and rewrite the rules is so important in business sometimes.
2:56 I'm in the process of doing that right now, in my business, and I want to take on more systems work, and I want to pivot from doing solely project-based work to doing a bit more retainer work, and having, and being able to step back and look at those models, because, and, and decide how that fits my
3:11 business, and not just be like, oh, I'm stuck where I am, because I just need to keep cranking the dial and working with the same people.
3:19 It makes a massive, massive difference, so having that flexibility to step back, grow, and knowing that I can outsource a little bit extra to my team for the next while while I figure this out, because we've been doing this, and we have the systems to support it, is really fantastic.
3:35 Among, kind of along those lines, number four is about peace of mind. knowing that I can be there put on my out-of-office for this whole past Christmas period has been invaluable, knowing that, the systems help me be fully booked for this quarter, and that I'm still bringing in new leads for this quarter
3:54 , I have two more client, potential new client calls this week, I had one today, so three total, and that's not like a huge number, but they're all very warm leads, and it will mean that, I can still manage all those things, all those little bits, because they, again, just like my clients, are getting
4:11 all the information they need at the right time, and I get to, and I have templates, so that I make sure those, consultation calls go really smoothly, and I can just breathe, running my business, it's not that it's always stress-free, but I think that when I have things, that are being managed for me
4:28 , I, I can, I can just breathe. I remember the days when I had, it took me like a solid hour to onboard a client, and I remember how laborious that felt, and they didn't know that it was that, it was nicer on their end than it was on mine, but it just, it makes a world of difference, when I can just
4:42 step back, and know everything's ticking, ticking on. Along those lines, now, number five is about the ability to handle life's curveballs, I've talked about this a couple times this year, or last year I guess, now that we're into 2025, but, there's been a couple of big things, we moved to, we moved
4:59 countries this year, and my business supported that, I was able to take a step back, be a little more flexible, and that was so, so key to making our move feel possible, it also allowed my husband to really focus his energies on finding a job here, which was key, the other big thing that happened this
5:16 year is my dad got, he had a heart attack, and needed really massive surgery, he's doing really well now, but it's meant that there was a lot more responsibility on me, as far as helping him get to appointments, and even just dropping everything for the couple weeks that we were in the hospital, it,
5:32 so being able to do that, and know that my business was still taking over, also having my business designed in a way that, while everything needs to get done, most things don't need to get done at a specific time, so, things that, I could be recording this video tomorrow, and it would be no big deal,
5:47 I could, my assistant, she has these tasks that she needs to do, like right now, she, you know, it's the start of the month, and she, you know, she, needs to go in and put in all of our expenses, and she needs to do our monthly metrics, but like, it's the 6th, and I, it doesn't bother me, it'll, it'll
6:02 happen tomorrow because she's in on Tuesdays, and so most of our stuff doesn't need done on a very specific day, and so allowing that flexibility allows us to handle life curve balls and be able to drop things when, things come up.
6:15 And again, keep talking about flexibility, talking about, the stretchiness that having a really well systematized, boundaried, automated, small business gives me, is midday flexibility.
6:29 I love nothing more than going to the grocery store when everyone's at work. I love nothing more than downing tools for an hour and reading a book in the middle of the day.
6:37 Or going to coffee with a friend who, you know, is a stay-at-home mom or something, so that I, and that's the best time for her.
6:45 it really, it's just one of those things that is such a blissful thing. I can either have, if things are really, really busy in my business, I can pick up that hour at another time.
6:54 I can work an hour early, work an hour late, work an hour on the weekend. Or, I, you know, usually don't need to bother about it because I have the systems and team to support me to allow those things.
7:04 And number seven is probably the most important of all, and to be so blunt, it is something I really struggle with, but it's something I'm working to embrace more, is, seven is the freedom to do nothing.
7:18 I am so bad at this, but I'm really working on it. The ability to just be like, alright, I'm going to watch a little TV, or I'm going to go take a 30 minute nap, or I'm going to go and enjoy my, apartment complex's hot tub, and like, having no guilt about that, and not feeling like I need to work to
7:34 just be working, when it's not something that's going to move the needle forward for my business, not feeling like I need to keep up with that busy work that, or that nagging in my head of like, you need to work to make money, you need to work to make money, and sometimes you do, but a lot of the time
7:47 , you're just working to feel like you're working, to feel like you're being productive, and so, something I'm still unpacking, still learning, but I have made massive strides over the years, and those are my seven things.
7:59 So, just to recap really quick, it's saving time and spending it how you want, having stronger client relationships, the flexibility, the ability to pivot, or grow your business, be able to step back, the peace of mind or less stress, the ability to handle life's curveballs, that's number five, mid-day
8:16 flexibility, and of course, the big one, number seven, the freedom to do nothing. So, I hope you found this video useful, if there's one of these that you're really working towards, I have a really great free quiz.
8:28 It helps you to diagnose the biggest time suck or biggest, energy drain or biggest clunky system in your business and help you get practical advice and tools on how to fix that problem in your business and save loads of time and energy.
8:43 It'll be in the show notes. Have a good day.
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