We don’t have to tell you there’s a lot that goes into starting a business …

Between marketing, operations, tech, legal, finance, accounting, branding, hiring, training … It can be difficult to know where to focus.

But what if we told you starting a business can be as easy as 1, 2, 3?

Okay, okay … We’ll admit that’s the understatement of the year (after the Fed’s attempt to downplay inflation).

But there is a proven 3-step process you can follow to help ensure you’re making strides in the right direction … And avoid getting stuck in overwhelm or whac-a-mole.

Sounds great right? Let’s dive in!

Step 1: ARCHITECT

The architect phase is just what it sounds like … mapping out the blueprint for your business. And similar to when building a physical structure, it’s an essential piece to properly executing on your vision.

At Organize to Scale™, we tackle this phase together with visionaries in a 3-DAY Strategic Planning Session. If you’ve done one, you know how intense it can be … But it’s worth it! 😉

After building and scaling many businesses, we’ve found dedicating 3 days is the BEST way to capture an entrepreneur’s vision and turn it into a clearly-defined business blueprint.

Here are some of the things to address during the architect phase …

• • Nail down the your vision, mission and values
  • Define the your main goals and objectives for yourself, and your business
  • Identify your target market
  • Establish the customer journey
  • Process map the core functions of your business
  • Pinpoint short and long term initiatives
  • Forecast financial goals
  • Map out the organizational structure

Clarifying these key components provides the framework necessary to establish the company’s infrastructure, which brings us to the next step …

Step 2: BUILD

The foundation is secured through the vision, mission, and values. Now we’re getting to the fun part … Raising the pillars for a solid business structure.

In our blog about the 4 pillars of a successful syndication business, we outline what we believe is most important to focus on during the build phase …

• • Raising Capital: Focusing on building your brand and building your network is the launchpad for raising capital.
  • Doing Deals: Focusing on finding and vetting deals and partners that align with your Personal Syndication Philosophy and ideal investor is where the match-making begins.
  • Managing Processes: Setting up processes and procedures creates the infrastructure needed to generate repeatable results and predictable profits.
  • Leading People: Getting the right people in the right seats and leading, managing and holding them accountable creates the confidence and leverage needed to scale.

And once the framework is built for raising capital, doing deals, managing processes and leading people … It’s time to operate.

Step 3: OPERATE 

At this stage, the team’s main responsibility is pulling the levers to generate production and make things happen. 

As long as the foundations and pillars are solid, the team should have most everything they need to advance an objective and handle day-to-day operations.

There you have it … Easy as 1, 2, 3, right? 😉

Maybe in theory, but if you’ve built a business before you know there will be plenty of hiccups, mistakes and missteps along the way.

We know this firsthand … We’ve made plenty of them. But they’ve all helped us learn, grow, and discover some of the common pitfalls with the Architect, Build, Operate process …

We’ve hired operation-based teams to architect. We’ve hired architects to operate. To no surprise, both failed.

It takes a unique skillset to successfully achieve each step in the process. 

Through trial, error, and a lot of experience, now we better understand the skills and traits to look for when filling a specific role at each phase.

We’ve also established advanced practices for identifying those qualities when recruiting potential candidates.

Another common misstep is putting too much focus on personally filling ALL the roles ALL the time rather than empowering the team … Which causes a palpable decline in morale and stray from culture.

Then there’s the struggle to maintain the careful balance between perfection vs. progress. 

Perfection is an illusion, and when you have a whole team chasing an invisible target, chaos ensues and productivity plummets.

But through it all, as the resilient entrepreneurs we (and you) are, we make adjustments and march on … Trusting the process, celebrating our wins, and keeping the momentum going along the way.