Growing as a Solopreneur with the Entrepreneurial Operating System

 TRUTH: Setting up effective systems for your business takes time, resources, and creativity. That’s why, many entrepreneurs, especially “solopreneurs” who are operating on their own, ease themselves into systems creation.

What matters most is that you’re putting in the work because getting started will help you and your team handle growth as you scale your businesses.

When I needed help with this area of my business, I called on Murray Smith, a talented business consultant, who introduced us to the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) and has used it many times to help small- and medium-sized businesses.

The Entrepreneurial Operating System, or EOS for short, helps entrepreneurs transform their vision into executable actions that get results. Ultimately, the goal is to have solid processes – backed with actions – that take small businesses to the next level.

It’s brilliant so I wanted to share it with you. In this blog, you’ll learn from the insights he’s gained while helping entrepreneurs use this system to their advantage.

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Understanding the role of micro and small businesses

Micro and small businesses serve two specific functions. First, they contribute to economic growth – many small companies turn a profit and partially or fully support the business owner.

Second, these businesses serve as a training ground for larger organisations. Many small business founders either grow their current companies or start new companies that become much larger than their first ones. That’s because the skills that small business owners use to gain success are applicable at all levels of growth.

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Resources for getting to the next level

Entrepreneurs commonly turn to courses or classes to enhance their learning. However, there are many other ways to gain experience and insight. For example, reaching out to your network is an excellent first step. You’ll be surprised to learn that people are willing to mentor and educate you, especially when you have a personal connection.

Free resources, like YouTube, articles, and podcasts, are also packed with valuable information. You may have to wade through surface-level content to get to the specifics you need, but an endless archive of great information is at your fingertips thanks to the internet.

Finally, local resources like chambers of commerce and paid events are good for making connections and accessing local experts. Entrepreneurs should access all the resources they can to maximise their learning and supercharge their success.

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Creating a vision that sticks

Establishing a vision for your company isn’t as simple as it seems. Vague statements can leave you with little to no direction in your business, while highly specific ones may hem you in and prevent out-of-the-box thinking.

Vision creation can be divided into two parts. First, you have to answer the basic question, “why do you do what you do?” The answer should be specific, but succinct — Murray says this part of the statement should be no more than eight words long.

Next is a supporting sentence that helps explain the “how” behind your “why”. Again, a short answer is best for both parts of the statement.

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Delegate to elevate

There’s one more thing … delegation. It’s important to recognise when it’s time to delegate tasks to others. This is an important part of the Entrepreneurial Operating System that allows business owners to grow and frees up their time.

The process involves dividing tasks into quadrants: what you’re good at and love to do, what you’re good at and like to do, what you’re not good at but have to do, and what you’re not good at and don’t want to do.

From there, you can identify tasks that would be best to delegate to others — primarily the items that you’re not good at. Eventually, you can start outsourcing items that you’re good at as well to free up additional time and create new opportunities for yourself.

Outsourcing doesn’t have to be expensive. Contractors or part-time workers can handle many tasks, and there are plenty of people who are happy to work a handful of hours each week for extra income.

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Learn more on the Online Business Liftoff (OBL) podcast

You can get the full story from Murray Smith by tuning into episode 43   of the Online Business Liftoff podcast, and don’t forget to join us each week for expert advice from our knowledgeable guests! Listen to podcast episode 43.