IAM1891 – Entrepreneur Creates Systems and Workflows for Business Owners

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Charlotte Parsons Teaser 00:00

I think mine is probably that I'm very intentional in the way I work with clients. I see a lot of people automating for the sake of automating and I've got to be honest, it's one of my pet hates. And I think that people do it because they feel like they really need to save some time, but often it can create this big clunky mess.

Intro 00:18

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long long, long, long interview?

If so you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the IAMCEO podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:45

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the IAMCEO podcast, and I appreciate you listening to this episode. If you've been listening this year, you know that we hit 1600 episodes at the beginning of this year, and we're doing something a little bit different.

Where we're repurposing our favorite episodes around certain categories, topics, or as I like to call them, the business pillars that we think are going to be extremely impactful for CEOs, entrepreneurs, business owners, and what I like to call the CB Nation architects who are looking to level up their organizations.

This month, we are focusing on operations. The systems will set you free. So think about systems, think about flow, sustainability, potentially working out in your morning routine, waking up early e-commerce, and different business models. Think of the operations in the models that basically set up the foundation to allow the creativity within organizations, but also to make sure the trains are running on time and things are going as they should.

Now, this is extremely important because we often can turn to the sexy parts of the business and forget about the operations and how important that is. So I really want to focus this month on this specific topic. So sit back and enjoy this special episode at the IAMCEO podcast.

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the IAMCEO podcast. And I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Charlotte Parsons of The Work In Process. Charlotte, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Charlotte Parsons 02:05

Thanks, Gresh. I'm excited to be here.

Gresham Harkless 02:07

No problem. Super excited to have you on and super excited to have you on the show. And what I wanted to do is read a little bit more about Charlotte so you can hear all the awesome things that she's doing.

And Charlotte runs The Work In Process, a systems and workflow consultancy for business owners who are tired of the hustle and crave more time and freedom in their businesses.

She works with clients all over the globe, providing VIP-level support in creating custom workflows, automations, and client experiences using softwares like Debsado, Acuity, and Asana.

Charlotte, are you ready to speak to the IAMCEO community?

Charlotte Parsons 02:40

Yeah, I'd love to. I'm looking forward to it.

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Gresham Harkless 02:42

Awesome. Let's do it. So they kick everything off. I wanted to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story and what led you to get started with your business.

Charlotte Parsons 02:48

Yeah, absolutely. I think that I have a bit of a brain who's always thinking about how to make things better. And that kind of led me into creative agencies, which was a lot of fun. And I got to flex a lot of those muscles. But as we all do at some point, I was feeling like I needed a little bit more of a change.

I realized that I could put the skills I'd learned streamlining bigger businesses into use with smaller businesses and probably make a bigger difference and help people get time back. And at the same time, I'd be able to do that for myself. Yes. Which is very selfish, but.

Gresham Harkless 03:18

Yeah, we need to do that sometimes though.

Charlotte Parsons 03:21

Yeah, we do. Absolutely. It's important to know why you're starting a business. I think and keep that in mind because it's quite the journey and it's sometimes nail-biting as everybody probably knows that has a business.

Gresham Harkless 03:32

Absolutely. So many tools in different ways that they can, leverage the maximize those 24 hours in the day that we all have and just have to know how to use it as effectively as possible.

Charlotte Parsons 03:42

Yeah, it's true. We all do have 24 hours, but sometimes doesn't feel like it.

Gresham Harkless 03:46

Exactly. Exactly. So I wanted to hear a little bit more about how you're helping serve the clients. Could you drill down a little bit deeper? Tell us what you're doing with The Work in Process.

Charlotte Parsons 03:55

Yeah, for sure. So most of my clients have probably been in business for at least two or three years. And they're starting to feel like they're stuck in the weeds every day. They're feeling overwhelmed and maybe even a little bit stuck or trapped by their business because of where they're at.

So I'm all about helping them set up systems and automation, particularly around client management, because we all have those challenges and it does take a lot of time that kind of gets in the way sometimes. And so it really helps them start to claw back time so that they can focus on growing their business, spending more time with their families, and at the same time having a better client experience.

So I do a lot of Dubstado setups you mentioned Dubstado before, and also broader systems overhauls and strategy sessions for people who are DIYing their systems, but feel like they need an objective set of eyes to help them out.

Gresham Harkless 04:37

Absolutely. That makes perfect sense. Yeah. And I know we talked a little bit offline about that because I had not heard about it until you introduced that to me. So.

Charlotte Parsons 04:45

You should have a chance to have a look at it?

Gresham Harkless 04:47

Exactly. Yes. I'm definitely going to look a little bit deeper, but let me ask you this. I know you touched on, you said that, sometimes the business owners that you worked with were, had been in business like two or three years at the minimum at wall.

Do you find that there's a reason why, you know, you I guess fit best with those people that have been in business those two or three years instead of maybe just at the jump or I know probably it's depending, but as a general practice.

Charlotte Parsons 05:11

I do work with clients who are coming they're freshly starting and if people want to start setting up a really good structures for themselves and start a business, I think it's so important.

Obviously, I would preach that, but I think that people who've been in business for two or three years, they're really aware of the processes that they've been doing. They already have a good idea of what works for them and how they like to walk their clients through their experience.

And so they've got all this information, but they're just working really hard to do it themselves. And so it's a, it's not an easy place to start, but it's. I think that there's a lot more to work with there. Does that make sense at all?

Gresham Harkless 05:44

No, it definitely does. Because, you have that kind of tried and true experience that their business owner has. Whereas, sometimes if you are just getting started, you may not necessarily have the experience depending, of course, on the person's experience, of course.

But you may not necessarily have that. But after you've, went through all the Red Bulls and all that energy over the first two or three years, you realize that you are hitting that wall. You need to figure out. How to maximize those 24 hours.

Charlotte Parsons 06:09

Yeah, it's true. And I think it's also, part of their circumstance, they've just been working so hard to build their business and get clients and, I guess they're at the point where they're not going to grow much further if they keep spending all this time, pouring it into following up invoices and making sure they're paid on time.

And did they get a contract signed and oops, did they even remember to send the contract? It's very hard to grow if you're constantly in that headspace.

Gresham Harkless 06:33

Absolutely. Absolutely. So it's great to tick those things off of our plate so that we can be better at those things that we do best in our zones of geniuses so that we can be the best entrepreneurs and business owners as possible.

Charlotte Parsons 06:45

Absolutely. I couldn't have said it better.

Gresham Harkless 06:47

There we go. So I wanted to hear a little bit more about what I call your secret sauce. And then you might have already touched on this, but this could be for you or your organization. But what do you feel sets you apart?

Charlotte Parsons 06:57

I love the term secret sauce. I think it's a lot of fun. I think mine is probably that I'm very intentional in the way I work with clients. I see a lot of people automating for the sake of automating and I've got to be honest, it's one of my pet hates and I think that people do it because they feel like they really need to save some time, but often it can create this big clunky mess which obviously is not what we want.

So I'm really conscious about that. And I try to make sure that every time I start working with a new client, I take the time to get to know them and their business and why they started their business and what they want their business to look like and what they want their life to look like.

Because I think that if we approach things through that lens, then we're always going to end up with a better outcome than if we just said, okay, this is the system you need. Let's run with it.

Gresham Harkless 07:41

Nice. I definitely appreciate that perspective because I think a lot of times, like you touched on, this new app or this software can save you 0.5 seconds of your life and you're like, okay, I got to get this because you see like a Facebook ad or something like that.

But in reality, going through that lens of, what are my goals? What do I, why did I start my business? Things like that, that she was those foundational questions that you touched on seem to, if you can answer them and be in alignment with that, you can be, more successful than getting that 0. 5 savings of seconds.

Charlotte Parsons 08:09

I think it's more than 0.5, but we can touch on that later. But no, absolutely. I think that it's about saving the right 0.5 seconds as well to we all have things we're amazing at and sometimes it doesn't make sense to automate. But if we can save time and the right things that we can focus on what we enjoy doing and what we do really well, then it's going to make a huge difference.

Gresham Harkless 08:27

Absolutely. I couldn't have said that better myself either. So I appreciate you for saying that. And I wanted to switch gears a little bit and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. And this could be an app, a book or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient.

Charlotte Parsons 08:41

Yeah, so I wasn't going to say this until we talked last week, and now I'm going to, it's Dubsado. And if you're listening, it's really not going to surprise you because I've already mentioned it a couple of times. But if I think about the one thing that I couldn't run my business without, it is Dubsado.

If you don't know Dubsado, it's a client management system where you can really streamline and automate all of your client processes. So. I said before, there are things that we all have to do in business dealing with the inquiries that come through our website and getting your proposals and contracts and invoices out and, asking for feedback.

And sometimes we drop the ball on any one of those things because we're juggling a whole heap of clients. And the cool thing about Dubstado is that it can really do most of it for you. And it obviously saves you a ton of time as an obvious benefit, but it often makes things easier and better for your clients too.

So I am a big fan. You may have noticed.

Gresham Harkless 09:30

Yes, absolutely. I know we talked offline about us. I was really hoping that's what you were going to, how you're going to answer. And so can, I guess you basically help people set up Dubstado. Is that correct?

Charlotte Parsons 09:39

Yeah, that is one of the things that I do. Dubstado is probably the tool I am not working on the most. There are lots of them out there. I don't know whether you're familiar with any of the other ones, Gresh, but Dubstado is the one that I think works really well for people across the board. And it's really robust for a system that's designed for small businesses.

Gresham Harkless 09:57

Yeah, absolutely. Because there are so many things that we're juggling. So many things that we have our hands in and trying to do. Like you said, you're trying to get a payment for an invoice. You never sent out. Sometimes it's difficult. So it's, it helps to have something that can back you up and keep you accountable for certain things like that.

Charlotte Parsons 10:13

Yeah, for sure. I love that payment for an invoice. We never sent out. We've all been there. It's happened.

Gresham Harkless 10:18

Exactly. It happens to the best of us, but thank you for telling us about that hack that we could definitely use and leverage so that we can do what we do best in our businesses, so.

Charlotte Parsons 10:26

Yeah, for sure.

Gresham Harkless 10:27

Absolutely. And so now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget, and this is a word of wisdom or a piece of advice, or if you can happen to a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Charlotte Parsons 10:39

I'd love the time machine. If I can't have that, and I only get to tell myself something, I think I would probably tell myself that you don't have to do it all. And I'm still trying to remind myself of this one every day, and I mean it in a couple of ways.

There's the really obvious one that you obviously don't have to do it all yourself, but there are people and systems out there that can do a lot of things better than you can yourself. So it's okay to get help that way, but I also mean it in the way that it's okay not to do it right now.

And that's probably the one I'm still working on in my business at the moment. I think that, you probably. Maybe you don't, but I often feel that people are, there's a lot of shoulds out there. You should do this in your business and we add them all to our to-do list and have this pressure that we need to get it all done.

But I'm really trying to remind myself that it's okay to park things even if it's just for right now.

Gresham Harkless 11:23

Yeah, to answer your question, yes, I do have that same struggle. And one of the things that helped me out and I love that nugget, by the way, because I've had to work on this a lot. And I think that. I don't know just what I think I had a coach or something that actually talked with me and told me something that kind of changed my entire perspective where he was like, if you look at things quarterly you have a certain amount of things that you can do.

So you might have a project that you're working on and you can do that in a quarter and then the next quarter that can come off your plate and you can add something else on because I get a lot of energy around starting stuff.

So that perspective helped me to realize that yes, you might want to do 100,000 things this year. But maybe you can spend that out over 10 years or spend that out over a longer period of time, and you don't have to do everything.

And maybe everything is not what you should be doing as well. So also doing that kind of inner work to understand exactly why you're doing what you're doing and how to basically fulfill that.

Charlotte Parsons 12:17

Yeah, I think we all knowing I got what we should be doing, but sometimes it's really hard to completely, to listen to what we're really good at ignoring our guts.

Gresham Harkless 12:25

Yeah. I feel like there's so much noise out there as well that sometimes people will tell you what you should, what that inner voice is telling you when it's not, they have no idea what exactly that's telling you.

Charlotte Parsons 12:35

Oh, for sure. It's marketing, isn't it? People have gotten really good at these webinars that are supposedly live in 10 minutes. There's lots of noise out there.

Gresham Harkless 12:43

Exactly. Exactly. But it's great to hear that. And I think that's a great reminder because, you don't have to do everything yesterday. You don't have to do everything today. We have more time sometimes than we give ourselves credit for.

So. I appreciate that, that nugget. and now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on this show.

So Charlotte, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Charlotte Parsons 13:06

This I guess follows on from the last one. And it's, I would say being a CEO to me means stepping out of busy work and working on the things that matter. And I guess that's because I think no matter how big you are, there's always going to be distractions.

And as business owners, we're really good at sweating the small stuff. And sometimes we feel like we need to reinvent the wheel over and over again. And when you're a smaller business, it's even harder not to do that mean you're literally wearing every single hat in your business. And so for me, I think what it means right now is giving more focus to the things that matter.

Gresham Harkless 13:37

Absolutely. I love that. And I think that the part that I love most about that definition of that perspective is that sometimes we feel like when all these things are happening that we don't have the ability to I don't want to say control, but we're a victim sometimes to what everything that's happening.

But you have the ability to realize that those things may not necessarily matter. They're small details. Yes, they might be important, but it won't. It's not something that's gonna keep you up. A year from now.

Charlotte Parsons 14:03

Yeah, for sure. It's definitely a perspective thing. I think that's I know you said you'd been working on coach on similar kind of stuff. And I think sometimes it's really hard to be objective in your own business and you do need other people to help you learn to listen to your gut. If that makes sense. I'm contradicting myself here, but sometimes talking it out with someone can help you realize what's important to you and what's not.

Gresham Harkless 14:23

Yes, I think that's a great point because I think that sometimes we're so close to it that even if we're talking about, processes and systems that or even, anything about our business from that matter, because we're juggling so many things, we have so many things going on that sometimes we're too close to it that we do need that other perspective, not necessarily just to say we need to do X, Y and Z, but just as a balancing board, just to think through it.

Because like you said, a lot of times we already know what the answer is.

Charlotte Parsons 14:49

Yeah, absolutely. Even if it's just having a friend that asks you why you're doing something that always makes a huge difference to me. And it's a good little reality check because I'm a bit the same as you, Gresh. I get carried away. I get an idea in my head and I'm like, Oh my gosh, I'm going to run with this. I'm going to do it. This is going to be fantastic.

All of a sudden you've lost the year. So having people in your life that will give you a bit of a reality check on that and ask you some hard questions sometimes can make a world of difference.

Gresham Harkless 15:15

Exactly. Exactly. That makes perfect sense. And I'm happy to know I am not alone. So, Charlotte, thank you so much for your time and all the awesome things that you're doing. I wanted to pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know.

And then, of course, how best they can get ahold of you and find out about all the awesome things you're doing.

Charlotte Parsons 15:34

I don't think I have anything additional. If anyone has any questions, absolutely. Welcome to send them my way and how to get in touch with me. I guess my website is a really good place to start.

That's probably a pretty common answer. Mine is mine's theworkinprocess.com. And if you came to know more about what I do or what systems and tools are out there to support you as a business owner there's a lot of resources on there and on social media. I'm at The Work in Process across the board, but Instagram is probably where I spend most of my time. If you want to chat, that's a good place to go.

Gresham Harkless 16:02

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. And we'll make sure to have all those links in the show notes as well. So Charlotte, I thank you so much again, for your time and for all the awesome things that you're doing. And I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Charlotte Parsons 16:12

Thanks, Gresh. You too.

Outro 16:14

Thank you for listening to the IAMCEO podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. IAMCEO is not just a phrase, it's a community.

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