Last week on Creating Your Encore Career, I talked with Chelsea Brinkley. I have known and admired Chelsea for several years now and she is a very smart and amazing person. Every day, she helps entrepreneurs and freelancers create efficient businesses so they can create the life they desire on their own terms.

In 2016, Chelsea and her husband decided to leave their corporate jobs and become full-time remote workers. They wanted the freedom to be able to travel often, work from wherever they were, and live where they wanted. They ultimately wanted to enjoy life and not have to wait for retirement to do all those things. Chelsea’s desire to create life on her own terms inspired what she does for other entrepreneurs now. 

If you’re an entrepreneur who needs to get some systems and processes in place, has questions about how to work best with remote team members, or needs to delegate some work to a virtual executive assistant, Chelsea’s insights will be of great help to you. 

What systems and processes should I create?

The systems and processes that Chelsea personally recommends having in place vary based on what your business is. Business owners may create masterminds, create podcasts, provide coaching or consulting services, or do something entirely different. The systems and processes businesses need, then, depend on what the individual is doing. 

However, there are some basic ones that Chelsea recommends. The first is a client intake workflow. This ensures that there's a seamless process in place of exactly what needs to happen when a new client says they want to work with you. This is huge because when people come to you and say, “I want to work with you” and, “I want to pay you,” you need to have something in place to guide them through the next steps. Otherwise, it will feel clunky and not leave a great impression. 

Another system Chelsea recommends having in place for yourself is project management. Being a solopreneur, you have a lot of moving parts going on. You have many different clients and need to be able to keep up with them. A project management system helps you do so. 

Another big one is file and documentation organization. You don't want some things living in your Dropbox, other things living in Google Drive, and other things living on your computer. Every file should be put into one cloud software. Then those files need to be organized into folders. 

The next general system and process Chelsea recommends getting in place is customer support. Have a process in place for who will respond when a client reaches out to you or what to do when someone can't access a product that they purchased. 

Finally, you should be creating email templates. There's no reason to reinvent the wheel and type the same email over and over. Just create an email template, copy and paste it, and put in the recipient’s name.

When should I outsource something in my business?

Automate as much as possible. Whatever you can’t automate, delegate. 

To help people do this, Chelsea first decides with them what systems are needed in their business. To do this, she asks key questions like, “What are the areas that feel the most unorganized? What drains you? What feels like a mess when you're doing it?” 

Another way to figure out what systems are needed in your business is to write down everything that's taking up your time and how much time it's taking up. Then you can calculate that and figure out how much time you’ll get back every week by delegating it. From there, look at the opportunity cost. If the cost of hiring an individual to take over a task is worth having the number of hours it will give you back, then outsource it. 

What kind of people should I hire?

Typically, the first hire will be a virtual assistant that is good with administrative tasks. You might also outsource your social media to a social media manager or bring in an integrator who handles the operations and acts as the “CEO” of your business. 

Chelsea is a systems and processes genius. So make sure to listen to my full interview with her and apply the amazing lessons she teaches.