Cloning Yourself in Business

I firmly belief that in any business a solo entrepreneur can learn to clone his or herself on 80% of the tasks that are currently being done. But I also believe that most people think it’s too hard, takes too much time or is impossible to clone themselves and fail to try.

It’s hard for young entrepreneurs to learn because we’ve been told so often that we’re “unique snowflakes” that cannot be copied and thus everything we do becomes special and unique in our own estimation. And more grounded and mature entrepreneurs have often tried working with a team or an assistant and most of the time things don’t go very smoothly.   “It’s easier to do it all myself” they convince themselves, struggling through all the tasks that need to be done until they’re exhausted and slightly disgruntled with the work.

Cloning yourself in business can be done with integrity, without enormous cost or time investments and still enable you to be uniquely you.

I’m sure you’re aware of the 80/20 principle and its applications in marketing and clients.  If you haven’t read the book, the theory is that 80% of your profits will come from the top 20% of your clients. You’ll get 80% of your marketing results from 20% of your efforts.

And, if you’re wise, you’ll continue to focus on the 20% that produces the best results to grow your business and make the most of your investments.

Your time spent in the business is no different. You are unique in what you teach and how you serve your clients, that’s the 20% and the special sauce you should be focused on. Instead of giving 20% of your time to clients and 80% of your time managing the business, clone yourself!

What do you mean “managing the business”, Kelly?

Well, if you’re working on your website, creating your own graphics and logos, formatting ezines or blog posts, and doing all of your own scheduling, emails, billing and marketing then you’re probably spending 80% of your time managing aspects of the business that do not directly relate to developing content or serving clients.

That’s fine if you’re just getting started and you need to lean in some of those areas because you’ve got more time than capital to invest. But if you’re full up on clients and either turn new business away or simply stop marketing, the truth is, no matter how complex your business,  you can absolutely recreate those results with the right set of instructions.  Think about an image detailing the process of making paper snowflakes.  They look complex and certainly there are several steps involved, but what someone has done is taken the time to write out instructions, provide photos showing the process and take a paper snowflake novice from no knowledge to expert.

If I concede it’s feasible, the question remains how do I get started today?

Well, that’s what I’m here to do – show entrepreneurs how it’s possible and guide you along the way. First, if you haven’t downloaded my free book you’ll need that first. It gives you the solid foundation for why this is so important and resources and action steps to get the software you’ll need to begin.

Get the Play a Bigger Game Business Playbook now!

The second way to get started is to take very small steps toward creating the systems you need in your business. Just like making paper snowflakes, it seems silly at first to say “collect a sheet of white 20 lb paper and a pair of sharp scissors” but that’s how good tutorials work – they take all of the questions out of the process!