Issue #42 A Cautionary Tale (Solved)

It started fine.

With an idea and a product and a dedication to delivering exceptional results.

I had an innovation process and clients clamoring for it. So I found a partner; let’s work on this together, I said. He agreed. It was great; he worked, I worked, and I ended up working a bit more, but that was okay.

At first.

Until it wasn’t.

First some updates:

🎩 The Management Roles Your Company Requires, also known as your organizational hat chart – check it out here.

⏳ Time for a hat chart? If you are wondering whether or not it is time to design your organization, well, we’ve got a post for that as well; read it here.

✍️Need help writing a job description? You won’t believe this but are you sitting down? We have a template for that read more.

We were growing, so we hired someone.

And then, my partner took half the money and went on vacation. Our “employee” burnt out and found a job doing anything else.  

I tried to hire someone else with the most detailed job description I could come up with:

“Wanted, smart people, to do work.”

I received 326 applications from India, none related to what I wanted. 

I will spare you the details

And jump right to the punchline: the opportunity snuffed out shortly after igniting. Our nascent reputation suffered a fatal blow, and I learned a huge lesson: people need roles.

See, it is easy to get to work when you start a business by doing work. Hierarchy, roles, positions, and org charts are for large corporations.

I hear this all the time: we work together as a team; we don’t need job descriptions or a hierarchy. And then, in the same breath: we need people to do their work.

But if they don’t know what their work is, how can they do it?

When I brought on a partner, he thought his role was to go on a few sales calls, nurture a few relationships and spend time on the beach.

When I hired a junior consultant, he didn’t know what to do, and I didn’t know what to tell him to do. It worked fine until he found something easier with more definition, with more opportunity.

The answer: they can’t.

If you are a one-person shop and plan to stay that way forever, you don’t need to design your organization, think about roles or positions, or decide who does what reporting to whom.

But as soon as you think about scaling your business, you must design your organization. As soon as you hire somebody, even a VA, you must know their role. Even if two people wear all the organizational hats, you have to define what those hats are and agree to them.

Without a hat chart, you are just a bunch of people doing work; you can’t scale, and you’ll always be hustling. An essential MSP ownership function is defining and assigning hats.

We’ve done most of the work for you, start with this “hat chart,” write your job descriptions, and save yourself my fate.  

How do you combat MSP ownership loneliness?

It is lonely at the top. Especially if you are also in middle management and worker as well. So, why not join a team?  

Here is the deal: try everything that Thrivers has to offer for 14 days and two team meetings. Completely and utterly free. We don’t charge your credit card until after the 14 days are up. And you only join if you see a ridiculous amount of value.

Click here, to stop hustling and start thriving.  

Irresistible Sales and Marketing

Due to demand, we have created an amazing 6-week course called the Irresistible Sales and Marketing Masterclass (ISM for short).

What we cover:

• How to identify your prospect’s core desires – so they can’t help but listen to you.
• Create an offer that they can’t resist (and the content to open the door).
• Craft a sales conversation that fills you with confidence.
• Learn how to follow up the right way.
• Implement automation that will change your life. 

Sound interesting? Why not give it a try?

Other great stuff from around the web

• 🎹 Want to practice coding skills on a Music video? I just read your mind. Right? This is a pretty cool music video/coding procrastination tool (and you get to ask your kids who Dojacat is).
• 🌈 Colors, I need colors, give me colors, (that work well together), now, you too can impress your friends and colleagues with well-balanced color combinations with Coolors.co.
• 🗿Need a Mannequin? This woman “re-homes” lost mannequins. She has many. Please, somebody, write the horror movie that goes with this trailer.  

We are excited to hear about all the amazing things you do in 2022!

Jeff