196: The Structure That Supports Freedom: Why Your Business Needs an Operating System

Do you ever feel like managing your creative business sometimes feels like you're running a circus. Maybe you're the ringmaster trying to keep it all together. As elephants charge one way and monkeys swing from the rafters and bear pedals through in circles. It's all happening all at once. And while the world kind of spins around you, you're doing the best to hold on to your top hat and keep smiling. Or is that just me? Maybe it's just me. What if a simple system could bring you clarity and alignment and freedom to your workflow? This is something that I have found and I want to tell you about it. In this episode, I'm sharing the magic of operating systems and how to choose the best system for you and your business. No matter your business, industry or size, an operating system can help you and if you have a team, really flourish. So if you're ready to begin, let's dive in.

I'm Bonnie Christine, and this is where all things creativity, design, business and marketing unite. I'm a mama living in a tiny town tucked right inside the Smoky Mountains, running a multi seven figure business, doing the most creative and impactful work of my life.

But when I first set out to

become an entrepreneur, I was struggling to make ends meet and wrestling with how to accomplish my biggest dream of becoming a fabric designer. Fast forward to today. I'm not only licensing my artwork all over the world, but also teaching others how to design their creative life and experience the same success. I'm here to help you spend your life doing something that lights you up. I'll help you build a creative business that also creates an impact, changes people's lives, gives you all of the freedom you want, and is wildly profitable. Welcome to the Professional Creative Podcast.

I know that as you own your business, your plate is so very full. You know, sometimes David will ask me if I'm done and I just like, done with work and I always kind of giggle. I'm like, well done is not really a, a luxury for an entrepreneur. But I'm at a good stopping place.

How's that?

We are planning in my business for the year ahead and establishing our kind of team goals and vision behind the scenes. We're juggling tiny details every day, from marketing and product development to sales and customer service. We're answering questions and reviewing and overseeing to make sure every detail is correct. I mean, I've been in eight meetings alone this week on all these details and we find it so easy to just slip into a rhythm that is much, much faster than we ever anticipated. And, you know, as achievers, we can easily think, I've got this. Then we'll hire talented, capable team members and assume we're good. This is all we need. But here's where so many of us get stuck. Because without a solid structure, even the most passionate and talented teams can get overwhelmed and the fast pace starts to wear on them. And so you may have noticed these signs. Miscommunication sneaking in or projects getting delayed, or meetings feeling inefficient or an ever growing to do list. If any of that sounds familiar, you might be exhausted. Your team might feel exhausted. Your business feels harder to run than it should. Don't worry, we're going to talk about it today, and I also have a free guide to help you, and I'll give it to you at the end of this episode. But for now, let's take a moment to imagine how it would feel if your business ran with ease. Each team member knows what to do and how to do it. Communication is clear and direct. Team meetings are brief and enjoyable and even fun. You accomplish your goals on schedule, and your business starts growing and picking up momentum week after week. And you wake up every morning excited for the day ahead. Before you say, no way. Sounds too good to be true, it is absolutely possible. This can be your reality, and it isn't going to happen overnight. Because breaking old habits and moving from solopreneur to CEO and creating new rhythms, well, it's hard, and it takes intention and it takes new thinking. But with the right operating system, you can build a business that runs smoothly, where your team feels aligned and communication flows intentionally, and clarity replaces care. Chaos. So good. It wasn't that long ago that I was a solopreneur. And then I started building a team and I had to figure all of this out, and it took me a long time. And we're, you know, we're going to be perpetually figuring it out for the, you know, for the foreseeable future. But I remember that it wasn't that long ago that our team meetings were running long. Like, really long. Our conversations flowed seamlessly, with more than 10 creatives each contributing incredible talents and big ideas and unique perspectives. But without a structure, we struggled with our productivity and our progress was slow. We all felt that impact, and that's when we decided to implement our current operating system, the Entrepreneurial Operating System, also known as eos. So I mentioned this a little bit in the last episode. Lisa Jacobs, my coo, runs the EOS system for us, and this decision changed everything. Instead of kind of chaotic check ins. We started running weekly Level 10 or L10 meetings that have kept us really focused and super productive. We've also established an accountability chart to clarify roles and responsibilities. And so with better organization and ownership, we started completing projects more easily. You can listen to all of that in the last episode. It didn't happen overnight, but the shift has been really significant. So having a clear operating system has allowed me and my team to truly enjoy our work and I want the same for your business. Here are four steps that you can take to streamline your business. The first step is to choose an operating system for your business. And honestly, which system you choose isn't quite as important as simply following one consistently. Your operating system will set the vision, the rhythm, the accountability that your team needs. It will help you stay on track when challenges arise and really provide the tools and resources necessary for your ongoing growth. So when selecting the right operating system for your business, you can consider these things. Size and Growth Some operating systems are designed for small to mid sized businesses, while others are better suited for larger companies. Then ask yourself, what is the current size of my team and how do I see my business changing in the next two years? The area of focus you should think about where your business needs the most support. Then you can ask yourself where am I currently struggling or where is the team currently struggling and where are we excelling? Which projects have fallen through the cracks and which have we completed successfully? You can look at your team's dynamics and workflow to see which system will feel most natural to you and really apply to your company culture. You can ask yourself what does an ideal workflow look like and how would my team work at its absolute best? Which operating system aligns with that vision? Once you really understand the type of operating system that you need, here are a few that you might want to consider. EOS is the one that we use that stands for Entrepreneurial Operating System. My team and I love it. It has been an absolute game changer for us. EOS helps creative entrepreneurs and teams align around one clear vision. It thoroughly defines strengths and challenges while providing this kind of shared language for clear communication. So everyone on the team has read this book called what the Heck is eos? As part of the onboarding process to eos. EOS can be a great fit if you run a small to mid sized business. Scaling up is another one. This operating system is really similar to EOS and it serves as an excellent tool for streamlining your business. It focuses on four key decisions that every business owner must make to grow people, strategy, execution and cash. So as the name suggests, scaling up is especially valuable for businesses experiencing rapid growth or trying to scale. The next one is 40x. This stands for the four disciplines of execution. This is another operating system that you may want to look into. It emphasizes setting strategic goals and prioritizing high impact activities. So if execution is the area where your team needs the most support, 40x could be the perfect choice for your business. So once you take a look at those and you choose the best operating system for your business, you'll be well on your way to improving your workflow.

Are you tired of spending hours crafting the perfect email and only to be met with crickets in your inbox? Or worse, having your emails land in your subscribers spam folders? I've been there, which is why I switched to Kit as my email service provider years ago. Kit is the email marketing platform built by Creators for Creators. With Kit, you can easily create and send beautiful personalized emails that your subscribers

are not only going to open, but actually love.

Their drag and drop email editor makes it super easy to design emails that look professional without needing any coding skills. And the powerful automation tools make sure that you're sending the right message to the right person at just the right time.

But that's not all.

Kit's tagging and segmenting tools let you send targeted messages based on your subscribers interests and behaviors. So for example, on my email list I've got people who are interested in

buying my fabric for their projects and

others who want to learn how to design their own fabric. Thanks to Kit's tagging system, I can send relevant content to both groups without worrying about bugging the other with something that they're not interested in. Kit also helps you grow your email list easily.

You can build out landing pages and

forms to turn subscribers into customers. And you know we're always talking about growing that email list. With Kit, you can start adding subscribers within a day of focused effort.

It's that easy to set up, create a landing page, add an opt in,

and start growing your list. In fact, your first 10,000 subscribers on kit are 100% free. Kit offers some fantastic features beyond email marketing as well. They have an extensive creator platform that allows you to easily recommend other creators that you love, fostering collaboration and community. And if you're looking to monetize your content, Kit makes it simple to turn your newsletters into a source of income as well. You can offer premium content to your subscribers, helping you build a sustainable business while sharing your passion with others.

So if you're ready to take your

email marketing to the next level. Head on over to bonniecristine.comresources and sign

up for that free trial of Kit today.

Their support is incredible and and you'll see firsthand how the platform can grow with you from one subscriber to, I don't know, 500,000. Again, that's bonniecristine.com resources to check out Kit. Today

you've chosen an operating system. Now it's time to align your team around one vision. So you may already have a vision for your company, or you've maybe set goals in the past, but now it's time to refine that vision.

Make sure that it fully aligns with

your dreams and purpose, and communicate that clearly to your team. Bringing everyone together around a shared vision is one of the most important steps in creating a business that runs really smoothly and efficiently. Your team needs to understand the long term goals to complete this short term goals excellently. The operating system that you've chosen, it's likely going to provide you tools to help kind of clarify your vision. In eos, we use their Vision Traction Organizer. Whatever system that you're using, just don't skip this step. The clearer you can define your vision and consistently communicate it from top down, the sooner you will experience the freedom that an operating system provides. So that is typically on you to start with the vision, set the goals and clearly communicate them on the way down. Next, you're going to want to implement the key tools. Implementation is where the magic really happens. So inside the operating system that you've chosen, you're going to find tools designed to help you stay organized. I know how tempting it can be to kind of cherry pick the tools you want to use and skip the ones that feel unnecessary or overwhelming. I get it, we've made this mistake before. But I want to encourage you not to do this. Because each tool within a an operating system, well, it plays a really key role in helping you gain traction and your team gain momentum. So if you stay diligent and take it just one step at a time, you're really going to see the benefits. It's okay to take some time to onboard into a new operating system. We took about nine months to fully become integrated with this new system. So when my team implemented eos, we started by introducing scorecards, rocks, and an issues list. At first, these tools felt new and unfamiliar and it would have been easy to kind of brush them to the side like, do we really need this? But if we had, we would have missed out on some of the most powerful tools that have been there for our growth. Scorecards. These provide a snapshot of our goals and clarify what each team member is responsible for. So scorecards keep us super focused and moving forward. Together we review our scorecards in our weekly L10 meetings that help us maintain accountability and super stay on track. Now ROCs, these are our 90 day priorities that help us move towards one year goals. They help us answer this question what is most important right now? ROCs keep our goals specific and measurable and attainable, realistic and timely. They also simplify accountability which ensures progress isn't lost in kind of that day to day shuffle. Then we have something called the Issues list. This is when at our L10 meeting we review our issues list and work together to find root causes so we can provide real solutions. This is where we name the challenges within our business that need improvement or fixing or changing or adapting. And we talk about it all together, all at once. These are just a few of the tools that my team has implemented and we now love. Truly, it's been one of the things that my team has adopted and loved the most over the years. Implementing these tools within the EOS system. You know it takes some time. It takes a little humility and discipline and self awareness as a business owner, but it is so incredibly worth it. Okay, remember how I mentioned that our meetings before EOS felt disorganized and unproductive? Now they're one of our favorite favorite parts of the week. Not just me, but the entire team. This fourth step is all about streamlining your business to establish regular and intentional meetings. The format and timing of these meetings will depend on which operating system that you choose. But the very best meetings share these four things. Consistency. They happen on the same day of the week and at the same time every week. So having a set schedule ensures that communication stays clear and focused and actionable. There's also a structured agenda. They follow the same agenda or flow which makes it easier to stay on track and on time during discussions. Time Management. They start and end on time to maximize efficiency and respect everyone's schedule. This one is a huge one. And then facilitation and documentation. They are facilitated by one person and then also documented so that there's clear leadership and follow through. So as you implement these steps, you are going to gather new insights about your team workflow and goals. So pay attention to trends, areas where roles may need more clarity, projects that consistently lag behind and adjustments that could make your business run even smoother. Follow this process outlined in your operating system. And you'll work through challenges that arise more quickly and more easily than ever. And don't worry, it's normal to hit a few bumps in the road when implementing something new like this. This we certainly did. But the best leaders keep the long term vision in mind. They take small steps and remember the freedom ahead. Less stress, more alignment, and sustained growth. Adding a new system to your business can feel intimidating and you might be wondering, won't these systems stifle creativity? And I understand that fear. I had the same thought, but. But here's what I've learned. Structure actually supports more creativity. When your business's foundational pieces are streamlined, you can focus on innovation and creativity and growth. I can think back to my early years of working towards becoming a fabric designer. And the excitement of the dream fueled my motivation for a while. But then came stretches where it felt like nothing was happening and my motivation had dipped and I found it increasingly harder to stay focused. What I realized is that motivation wasn't something that I could always count on. I needed to build systems and processes in my life as a creative to keep me on track even when my creativity felt out of reach. So as I developed my skills, built my business and grew my team, I kind of faced new roadblocks to my creativity. Like piles of emails and scattered projects and an ever growing to do list and people management. The time and space to create sometimes just feels really far away. So I implemented EOS because I wanted to have time to create again and be the visionary and think. And I wanted my talented team to have the freedom to do the same. So now with clear rhythms for collaboration and for workflow, we can focus on creativity and growth. And this structure and having structure has really helped us just consistently show up and keep moving forward. An operating system is the foundation for freedom and growth within a business. So set aside some time this week to look into these operating systems for you. And once you've chosen one, you can refine and clearly communicate that vision. The clearer your vision, the more impactful your results are going to be. Your operating system will provide you with so many incredible tools. At first these tools might seem overwhelming, but you've heard me say it before. Focus on doing one at a time. This is going to help you establish a rhythm and it's going to help you and your team stay on track and communicate well. Implementing an operating system, it is going to align your team, streamline your communication, and provide you so much clarity. In other words, it's going to be worth it. Running this creative business of yours. It doesn't have to feel like you're constantly juggling tasks. So implement an operating system and accomplish bigger goals more quickly. If you think EOS might be the right fit for your business, I have created a super simple guide called Getting Started with eos. This resource is going to help you discover the tools that could transform your business. Head on over to the professionalcreative.com and grab your download. Getting started with EOS and today's resources thank you for spending this time with me. In the next episode, we're going to conclude this series as we explore how to build a team culture where everyone takes ownership. Until then, create the beauty that you want to see come alive in the world. And remember, there's room for you.