Optimizing and Innovating Systems with Kyle Racki – E20

In today’s podcast, Kyle Racki, founder of Proposify.com shares how he spends his time optimizing and innovating systems while his team runs the business. Listen in as Kyle shares about the Four Hour Work Week, creating repeatable systems, Gary V. and Free Trials (and Tribulations).

It’s Not about the Four Hour Work Week

It’s not that my business runs without me –  it’s that it CAN. 

If you’re not running your business day-to-day, then you’re probably not maximizing your opportunities. Design your business in such a way that it CAN operate without you. But at the same time, constantly work on the machine to keep optimizing.

It’s not about the four hour workweek, but instead, it’s having that freedom, that time and space to be able to be gone for weeks if you want to. But it’s also about having the opportunity to continue to innovate and optimize so you’re not leaving money on the table. 

If I Had It To Do Over Again:  Creating a Repeatable System

I’d ask myself: “why am I able to get results from my clients? What is it that I do – put that into a process or a system – that is actually repeatable?” Then, I’d hire people that are even more talented than me to work within that process.

That way, I know our clients will get results and be well cared for. Then I’d put 80% or more of my efforts purely into sales and operations, innovating the systems.

One Client, One Problem, One Outcome

Offering one outcome, that solves one problem for one client is the simplest way to create a clear roadmap for marketing and service delivery. How painful the problem is, how valuable the outcome both determine how much you can charge for your service. 

The simplicity of this approach makes it that much easier to train your team to deliver.

Proposify Client Takes on Gary V.

Proposify simplifies and streamlines the proposal process, offering a better and interactive experience for you, your prospects and eventually your customers.  

Often CEO’s are so overwhelmed with work that they can’t actually get a proposal out fast enough. And then they’re losing business to their competitors because of it.

One of our Proposify customers found themselves bidding against Gary V.’s agency – a kind of David and Goliath situation. But our client was able to send a proposal in about 20 minutes and Gary’s team asked for 2 weeks or something. Our client got the project.

Moving From Doing to Managing

Usually, new managers have to stumble and fail first – they have to overwork themselves. As CEO’s we have to give them the tools, systems, processes to create their own tools, systems, processes and hire their own people. Then lead them effectively. One of the biggest hurdles that for new managers is getting them to understand how to execute through others. 

Free Trials (and Tribulations)

My new book – Free Trials (and Tribulations) – came out in January, and there’s a personal story in there that’s a little bit unique –  about my upbringing and being raised in a cult and then leaving it. There was a lot of personal trauma that happened while trying to get Proposify off the ground. 

I guess I tried to write it as a form of therapy for myself. And also maybe for others to just realize, okay, you’re not alone. Everybody looks to others. And everybody acts like they’re killing it. But really, most people are dying on the inside. And so this is a “you’re not alone,” cathartic read for most people – not all doom and gloom.

Final thoughts

We can only be as successful as we believe we can. Entrepreneurs I talk to tend to limit their vision according to what they think as possible, as opposed to what may feel impossible (but they’re committed to do it anyway).

It’s important to understand what drives you and constantly push yourself forward, not from a place of grind – but from a commitment to maximizing your potential.

About Kyle

Kyle Racki is the co-founder and CEO of Proposify, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, which currently serves more than six thousand customers worldwide. He started his first business, a web design company, at age twenty-four and sold it after five years. Kyle has blogged extensively about his journey through the ups and downs of entrepreneurship and is the author of Free Trials (and Tribulations): How To Build A Business While Getting Punched In The Mouth.

He lives in Halifax and loves spending time with his wife, Christina, and his two sons, Micah and Ty.

Resources

Proposify.com

Free Trials (and Tribulations) on Amazon 

[email protected]

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