The Fix · Operations systems and processes · from £4,200 · usually six weeks
You've built something that works. It only works when you're there.
Usually a six-week project, working on the things that will make the biggest difference to your business right now. It's built around your goals, with you and your team, so the business doesn't need you 24/7, rather than another list for you to get through at eleven o'clock at night.
Does this sound like your week?
You'll know at least one of these.
Out on site
You're on site and the phone goes
It's someone wanting an update on a project, or a price. You'll ring them back later, but by the time you do it's gone out of your head. The project stalls, or they go and find someone else.
After the quote
You quoted eleven jobs last month
Ask yourself which ones said yes, which said maybe and which never heard from you again. If you can't say, that's money sitting in your phone.
Behind the scenes
The materials were never logged
So they get ordered twice, or not at all, and either way you're the one paying for it.
In a clinic
The slot was booked for half an hour and the treatment takes an hour
Nobody spots it until the client is in the chair. The rest of the day runs late and you're the one apologising.
In a salon
Three stylists, and everybody asks for you
Your regulars won't book anyone else, so you're fully booked while the other two have gaps. It's hard to grow when it all comes back to you.
With a team or contractors
You've answered the same question four times this week
Each one only takes a minute, but you end up solving everyone else's problems and your own work waits.
What's going on
This isn't you being bad at business.
You built this from the ground up and you're busy and stretched, but you're still the one doing it all.
People wait on you, and you've capped yourself because you're making every decision. Customers slip through the gaps. You can't take a day off, and the thought of a holiday sounds exhausting, because you know exactly what you'd come back to.
That isn't a people problem or an effort problem, the business is outgrowing the way it's run.
What you've already tried
More leads won't fix a leaky bucket.
When it gets busy and messy, the natural thing is to throw something at it.
More ads, so there's more work coming in. A new bit of software that promises to sort it all out. Somebody to help, brought in during a mad fortnight and handed the mess as it is. Each one makes sense on its own, and each one quietly adds to the pile, because the way a job moves through the business hasn't changed underneath it.
The Fix goes the other way round. We sort the foundations first, and once those are sorted, everything starts working, the leads, the software and the people included.
What the Fix is
The things that make the biggest difference.
It's not advice, and it's not a report.
For around six weeks, I work on the things that will make the biggest difference to your business, built around your goals. I build them, put them in place with you and your team, and make sure they stick.
It might be that nobody follows up the enquiries. It might be that nobody owns a job once it's booked. It might be that you've got a team and nobody is quite sure who answers to who. We find out early, and we don't guess.
How it works, week by week
Six weeks, one step at a time.
Pull back the curtain
I get into your systems, your CRM and your numbers and look at how jobs really move, not how they're meant to. I compare this year with last, map the whole thing end to end and mark every leak, so we're fixing facts and not guesses.
Clear the decks
We clean up what's already there. Old enquiries sorted by how warm they are, duplicates gone, the jobs you were never going to do moved out of the way, so you can finally see what's real.
Sign it off and switch it on
You sign off the new way of doing things, the messages and the follow-ups. Then I run it myself first, so we know it works in your business before anyone else has to pick it up.
The bit after the yes
From the customer saying yes to the money in the bank and the review on your page. Deposits, dates, job day, the final invoice and the aftercare, so nothing drops between you and your team.
Get it out of your head
Everything gets written down as we go, in plain steps, so it doesn't live in your head or mine. Your team comes in and takes the parts that are theirs.
Hand it over
It's handed to you, your team or the person you're bringing in, with check-ins while it beds in and a clear plan for what we'd tackle next.
Every Thursday you get half a page from me with what's done, what's next and anything I need from you. If it needs longer than six weeks, we agree that before we start.
The short version
The shape of the Fix.
- We start from what we know
Whether it came out of your sit-down or our first call, we already know what will make the biggest difference.
- I build it with you
Who owns what, the way things get done and how you'll see what's happening, all designed around your goals.
- Your team comes in
If you've got one, I walk them through it plainly and hand over their parts. If it's just you, we set it up so the business doesn't need you 24/7.
- It beds in
Check-ins while it runs, a short written update every week, and I fix whatever isn't working.
What changes
An ordinary Monday, before and after.
- The phone goes and it's you, because someone always needs you specifically.
- You're answering questions you've answered ten times before.
- Something's been dropped and you're chasing your tail to fix it.
- You do the admin at nine at night.
- Your team deals with it, because they know what's theirs.
- You only hear about the things that really need you.
- Enquiries get followed up whether you're on site or not.
- You finish on time on a Friday and nothing falls over.
Not every problem disappears. The ones that were costing you the most do.
What it feels like after
The business starts carrying itself.
Mid-week
You're on the job and that's all
An enquiry comes in while you're up a ladder or with a client. It gets picked up, answered and booked in, and you find out when you check your diary.
End of the month
The numbers make sense
You know how many enquiries came in, how many turned into work and what you made on them. No guessing, no shoebox of invoices.
Monday morning
Nobody's waiting on you
The team knows what this week looks like, because it's written down and it's theirs. You start on the thing that grows the business, not the thing that broke over the weekend.
In practice
Three weeks in, a client messaged me to say he was starting to get booked in advance, and he'd made a social media video for the first time in months.
Nothing about his work changed. What changed was that customers stopped slipping through the gaps, and he got the time and headspace back to do the work he's brilliant at.
What you walk away with
Things you can point to.
01
The headspace
To work on what makes you money, because things aren't falling through the net any more.
02
A clear picture
Of how things move through your business now that it's grown, so you can see where the time and money go.
03
Who owns what
Agreed and written down, so nothing falls between people and you stop being the one who has to ask.
04
Built and in use
Not just recommended, but running and used by you and your team.
05
Time to think ahead
To plan where the business goes next, instead of reacting to whatever broke today.
06
Your evenings back
No admin at nine at night, and no phone on the beach.
Is it for you?
Honest answer either way.
It's right for you if
- You've got a team, or you want to hire one.
- You're the person involved in absolutely everything.
- The business is busy and it still feels harder than it should be.
- You're ready to let go of control and start growing.
It's not for you if
- You're happy staying as you are.
- You want someone to do a few tasks for you, which is a different job.
- You'd like advice and not a build. I can give you advice, but in my experience you won't have the time to build it yourself.
The investment
From £4,200.
It's a project we agree up front, focused on the things that will make the biggest difference to your business, so there are no surprises halfway through.
Most people begin with the £400 sit-down, and what comes out of it is yours to keep whether or not we carry on, so it costs you very little to find out. For most of you reading this, you already know what the stuff sitting on your list has cost you, and the expensive option is being in the same place three months from now.
Questions
Before you ask.
Not sure yet? Most owners start with the 90-minute sit-down for £400, and what comes out of it is yours to keep, whether or not we carry on.
How long does the Fix take?
Usually six weeks from the day we start. If it needs longer, we agree that before anything begins.
What if my team doesn't like it?
That's why I bring them in early and explain it plainly. They'll take ownership of some of the work too, so it doesn't all land on you. People tend to be relieved when they know exactly what's theirs.
What if I'm too busy for weeks of this?
You're busy because of the thing we're fixing. I do the building, and what I need from you is time to answer questions and make decisions.
What happens after the Fix?
Everything we've built is yours. If you'd like ongoing support, we can agree a retainer, or there's the Partnership, where I sit beside you in the business as it grows.