When Business Never Turns Off

SPEAKER_01 0:25

Somehow along the way online business turned into business all the time. I have a theory that it really happened during COVID because we were all just like we were inside, right? And there was this culture shift around business and business availability that really changed the culture of how we operate and how we've operated since then. We just, it's like we're always on that resentment builds up so subtly. It's insidious.

SPEAKER_00 0:59

Welcome back to Plan Like a Boss. Today I'm so excited to be here with Gwen Tenagucci. She is a partner at Peak Advisory and a certified exit planning advisor who specializes in the operational side of business exits, the part most advisors never look at. She works with owner operators in the lower middle market to find out what their business actually looks like without them in the room and what it takes to change that.

Gwen’s Path Into Operations

SPEAKER_00 1:25

If you're an entrepreneur who wants your business to be worth more, run better, and not fall apart the moment you step back, you're going to want to hear this conversation. Gwen, welcome. I'm so happy to have you here. Thank you for having me. I'm really excited to be here and have the conversation. Awesome. Well, I always like to start my interviews by having you tell us your story. How did you get here? Because I think our backstories of how we end up where we are are so fascinating and so important. Gosh.

SPEAKER_01 1:58

Well, it's like, do you want the trauma version or do you want the polished one? Whichever version you want to share.

SPEAKER_00 2:07

It's all about being real over here.

SPEAKER_01 2:10

So all right. I 11 years ago, we my family experienced a very devastating loss. And I was on I was getting groomed to be to take over the VP of the companies I was with positions. So I was really on like a really great track professionally. Um and then I had this tragedy occur, and it was I have I had two small children at the at that point. And it really had me kind of like evaluate what am I going to be doing with my life like now that I'm the only parent. And um so I decided at that point that I'm quitting my job. I have no backup plan. I just know I need to be home with my kids. I need to be more available to them than what I currently was on the track that I was. Um and that was really the start of like my entrepreneurial journey. I decided to start a virtual assistant business that very quickly evolved into what I'm truly good at is like operations consulting implementation. And I ran my own very small but lucrative um fractional COO firm from that point on, basically. And then got asked to come on as a partner at a firm, one of my clients' firm, and I'm COO and equity partner there now. So that's the condensed version.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

Wow. I'm so sorry that happened to you, but I know there are so many women out there who can relate to that. So it it's good to hear that there is a bright side to tragedy.

SPEAKER_01 4:03

For sure. I mean, it it was the it was a traumatic lever, but it really there's been a lot of like beauty and upside on the you know, from that from that. So it's you know, relatable to a lot or to a lot of women, I'm sure, and we do what we need to do.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

Oh yeah, for sure. I I don't have that story, but I I had a cancer diagnosis and I finished treatment. It's not even been a full year yet. So that would have been stall in my business as well. So we all go through things and we we can come out on the other side. Absolutely. Now let's talk about, let's get more into your area of expertise, and thank you for sharing that. So many women that I talk to feel like their business, it looks successful on paper, but behind the scenes, it feels exhausting. What do you think is going on?

SPEAKER_01 4:57

We carry it all, and your audience is primarily like smaller businesses, solopreneurs, right? So the look at how many hats that everybody

Why Success Still Feels Exhausting

SPEAKER_01 5:09

is that you're wearing, one person, or maybe you have like an assistant or like a couple people on your team to help you out, but you're still bearing the emotional burden of every decision. And one of the things that I really I used to primarily work with basically very small teams, solopreneurs, coaches, consultants. And one of the things that I noticed with mostly the women that I worked with is that they had no actual business rules. It was I could do this, and or you'll adjust an engagement to fit whatever the client needs. And there was there's no business rules. And I feel like that leads to so much emotional business chaos for sure, but like emotional kind of internal turmoil because you're constantly having to adapt, let alone all of the decisions that you have to make with a small business and the marketing, which feels so personal, and managing if you do have an assistant, like what do you actually delegate because you feel like nobody else can do it like you. So I that's the that's my like quick takeaways on on that, because there's a lot we could go into on just that one one topic.

SPEAKER_00 6:32

100%. And and I get what you say, because I am a very small team. I have two part-time people on my team that that are contracted. And and as a business owner, you know, I have to keep the business going. And also they rely on that income. Exactly. So that's important to me as well. And I I'll use an example. My video editor ended up with walking pneumonia. And she she there were a couple of mistakes in a video that she never missed makes. And you know, I messaged her and she's like, oh, well, just just to let you know too, I have walking pneumonia and I'm, you know, but I will get this fixed and I'll get it to you tomorrow. And I was like, No, you won't. You will rest. This video does not come out for two and a half weeks. You will rest and you will take care of yourself and you will get to this later because it's it's so important. But she too is a business owner and she what you're talking about, that emotional toll, you want to make your clients happy. Absolutely. But then once you, you know, start bending, you want to make it all happy, but then you start feeling almost a resentment because it's taking away your life.

SPEAKER_01 7:41

Well, it's funny, it's somehow along the way online business turned into business all the time. Yes. It's like, when did this I I have a theory that it really happened during COVID because we were all just like we were inside, right? And so it was like there was this culture shift around business and business availability

Resentment, Scope Creep, And COVID

SPEAKER_01 8:07

that really changed the culture of like how we operate and how we've operated since then. We just, it's like we're always on that resentment builds up so subtly. It's so insidious. Every single scope creep. And even, you know, the that sense of that it's maybe not even coming from the client, but that internal sense of urgency that we have to fix it, we have to resolve it. Or maybe it has nothing to do with client, but we've postponed and you know, procrastinated our own business development work that then becomes like burdensome and we resent our own business for all of these to-dos that never seem to end.

SPEAKER_00 8:54

100%. And I think it started before COVID. I think it started with just the ability to text message and then hustle culture coming into that, which we are we're very anti-hustle culture. We are we are all about boundaries. So we start to feel this emotional load. And um is is so we kind of start to go beyond our capacity. So let's talk about capacity from a business context. Obviously, there's the hours in the day, but what else applies to our capacity?

SPEAKER_01 9:34

That is so funny. I was actually writing something about that this morning. Like the way I approach operations isn't like let me optimize this, let me make this more robust. It's what does this business actually have the capacity

Capacity, Energy, And Nonnegotiables

SPEAKER_01 9:49

to do? And slowing down long enough to actually assess that, I think that that varies so much, especially on small teams. And it really takes like some patience and diligence to actually be able to kind of like data collect. Like, we as women, we have ebbs and flows to our energy throughout the month, throughout the day, you know, like in full transparency. Like I know what my peak hours are for working and for taking meetings, I know when I need to rest. So it's like understanding that, but also just from like a purely practical standpoint, like taking the whole energetic hormonal, how like our personal function, like we tend to take on way too much. So I feel like if you want to assess what your capacity is, you need to simplify and like really be like, okay, what are what's like the bare minimum? What are the non-negotiables? And how much time can I truly dedicate to this in a day or a week? And this sounds so cliche because it it's like I know people talk about this all the time, but it's like really setting up like time blocks where it becomes non-negotiable. And this is where I go back to like the rules of the business. That is so freeing emotionally and practically to have like rules to your business. Like at this time on Monday, this is when I dedicate to marketing. And I know that like if it begins to exceed that my capacity in other areas that my business demands me to be in, I can't outsource or delegate it. I know that like that's gonna affect my capacity in other places, and like we take on so much as small business owners. It's really like simplifying, not getting there's so many shiny objects, there's so many like uh courses, there's so much education that we want to consume to be the expert. And it's like really, again, I'm just gonna keep going back to this. Like, you have to have business rules. I only can allow for this much time a week to dedicate to business development, personal development, like skills enrichment, and being diligent with that because you still need to have a personal life. Like, I am so anti-hustle culture. I experienced burnout a few years ago, and the recovery from that is brutal. Saying no is imperative to sustainable success.

SPEAKER_00 12:37

100%. And I I have been at that burnout place, so I feel you completely on that. That's part of why I started this podcast. Because there is another way. Now, you mentioned that that going beyond capacity is really common with solopreneurs and small teams. Are there some early warning signs that start to tell you you're operating beyond your capacity?

SPEAKER_01 13:04

I noticed this specifically with um, you know, when you have like an assistant or some somebody like when you've pushed them past their own capacity. Maybe it's the scope of the engagement, like they're only getting, you know, let's say 40 hours a month or something like that, um, or 20 hours a month. We don't always need that much time, or we think. Irritation,

The Warning Sign: Irritation

SPEAKER_01 13:29

and it again, it kind of sounds so simple, but like irritation is such a I trust irritation in a business from a founder, whether you're a small team or even a large like CEO, I trust the irritation because that is the warning sign of like we have a bigger problem here. Somebody's stretched too thin, you're stretched too thin, you're either stretched too thin and not clear, so you're having to like redo work. Um you're not clear on who you're talking to. So again, it's like a more of like a redo work, but like irritation is such a huge warning sign that like you are past the threshold of your own capacity, what for whatever facet of the business you're functioning in. We tend to have some areas that of the business that just like feel good, and so we have such a huge capacity to be able to do more, spend more time and energy. Um, marketing for me, I have such a low energetic capacity for marketing. Where the moment I become irritated about it, I'm like, okay, I've spent too much time here. And then I begin to like problem solve or step away. And it's gotten to the point where it's like I'm considering, okay, how can I outsource this without totally like getting rid of my voice, you know, those sorts of those sorts of things. But irritation, and again, it that's maybe that's something somebody's somebody's said along the way. I haven't heard it, but that's my first cue that somebody is is stretched too thin.

SPEAKER_00 15:15

I haven't thought about it, but you are so 100% right there. No, let's talk about how do we fix it. So we're we're stretched too thin, we're beyond our capacity, something has to change in our business. What do we do?

SPEAKER_01 15:29

I think that's really like you know, I'm I'm such a nuanced person and I feel like each situation is different. But truly, I feel like taking time to simplify okay, what is, you know, as small businesses, we tend to think we need to be creating more. We need another

Simplify First Then Hire Early

SPEAKER_01 15:54

offer, we need another opt-in. Maybe we should try a funnel because we hear we hear these things and we're always trying to generate new business to to be able to sustain our our lifestyle. All valid, okay. But we tend to add so much complexity when we're trying to let alone taking the client delivery out of the equation, just like all of all of those things. I really feel it goes back to just being like, okay, what again, I've said this, like, what are the bare necessities? Um, what are like the systems that we could put in place? I love AI. I don't think everything can be outsourced to AI. I mean, I truly love AI. I think it's a super valuable tool. Um, but if you're really looking to grow as a small business and bring on another, bring on an assistant to help or bring on somebody to help with just one particular facet of the business, the fix is slowing down and getting clear on what the steps are that are going to satisfy what your expectation, what your level of complete is, and then beginning to hire on Fiverr, you know, or hire a VA and then actually handing it off and trusting and like building the trust with that person as well. Um and then having non-negotiables. It's like I'm gonna I sound like a broken record, but these things are like the true, it's the true basis of like really actually creating something that isn't going to burn you out and isn't going to be like actually stalls out financial growth. It's having it's again going back to those rules, like I don't work past this time. That also helps preserve for the for the next day. That is another way of kind of like solving the problem of capacity. Um yeah, I do think that hiring earlier than you think you need to is also a really good solve for that. We tend to want to hire as a solution after there's a problem. Like when bring on an assistant well before or somebody to help with marketing or somebody to help with outreach or even client deliverables, whatever the whatever it is, hire somebody far far before you think you actually need to, because bringing on somebody else is gonna add another level of complexity and it's gonna feel like a failure if you don't, because not only are you stretched thin with all of the other things, but now you're adding in onboarding, it's so difficult.

SPEAKER_00 18:49

Yes, 100%. I totally agree. Now, you talk about systems. Let's say someone they're they're a one one woman show, they have zero real systems in place, and the thought of doing this is completely overwhelming. And they're like, I don't have time, which let's let's get real here. You don't have time not to. Oh, I agree. Where should they start first? What is what is that one little thing they should start with first?

SPEAKER_01 20:24

I love a good checklist or task management platform. I I personally I use ClickUp. It's scalable, but it also is a platform that like you could literally just go and create a dump of everything that you need to do and set deadlines and reminders. It could be as simple as you want and as complex and automated as you want. That is really like

Start Systems With A Task Hub

SPEAKER_01 20:56

building a system around the operations of the business. What are the like kind of chunking it out? These things need to be done every single day for my business. This is the work that needs to be done for the clients, and having a visual task management platform should be a non-negotiable for every solo printer. Because so many things, and I was guilty of this, even though I was setting these things up in businesses. I was guilty of not having that in my own business for far too long. I relied solely on memory. And it's funny how subtle it is, but I remember the first like two years of my business, it was all of the little things. Oh, I have to do this for this client, I have to do this for this client. It didn't live anywhere. And when they would be like, hey, what about this? I would A, feel like crap because I forgot to do it. But then I was kind of I would get kind of an annoying and I'd get annoyed that they were asking as well because they would ask like after hours or at the end of the day. And it's like, well shit, now I have to do this thing now, you know? And so there was this like it it really just is so helpful, and it needs to be a business non-negotiable to have some sort of task management. That's how you begin to systematize what you do and adding in every exception, right? Like those one-off things, documenting it, because you would be surprised at how many exceptions end up piling up over a quarter and how much time that's costing you as well, depending on, you know, of course, on like the type of work that you're doing, but documenting the exceptions in there as well.

SPEAKER_00 22:44

I I can totally relate to that. And I like you, um, I took way too long to incorporate systems into my business. And uh I it's I got really hardcore with systems after chemotherapy because if anybody is listening who's had cancer, you can relate. Chemo brain is a real thing and you forget everything. So I I and I'm gonna look into ClickUp because everybody keeps talking about it, and I've not used it. It's amazing. It doesn't even have to be something called something complicated, like something as simple as a Google Sheet, like documenting what you do. That's what I have for the podcast because I have a lot of guests on here and I is it recorded, is it edited, exactly? It's scheduled. And it's super easy to just go through once a week and check that off. Um, so yeah, I can totally relate to that. And that also makes you feel successful.

SPEAKER_01 23:39

There's something about that like checking off of the task that you've done where you're like, oh, look, like, and you have a visual cue too of all of the work that you accomplished, which helps you, which helps kind of like energize you when you're doing a little bit of like, what did I actually accomplish this week? Because sometimes we feel like we're spinning our wheels, and what did I actually do? You could see what you've actually done, and that feels good.

SPEAKER_00 24:07

Well, yes, I love a good checklist because there are some days that I am it's the end of the day and I've worked all day, but I don't even know what I did. But when I look at that checklist and I'm like, oh, okay, that's why I'm tired right now. That's why my brain needs a break. Yep. So 100% I totally agree with you. Now, when you know, like you mentioned, you have everything in your head and you you've got to start systemizing and or delegating. How do you know which to do first? How do you know what to delegate? And especially if you're a solo printer, your business is your baby, and you're terrified of somebody messing that up. How do you delegate? How do you make that first hire of maybe a VA and and be able to trust them?

SPEAKER_01 25:01

You know, I feel like that's like some sort of golden ticket answer. You know, like, what's the golden

Delegation, Trust, And Clear “Complete”

SPEAKER_01 25:10

ticket here? I you know, I said hire early, like the things that you can delegate are the things that really truly, and it becomes it really takes getting like ruthless, right? On am I doing this thing because only I can actually do it truly? Like I know that there's certain aspects of my business that solely just require my brain. I will never be able to outsource it because it requires my pattern recognition, it requires my discernment when I'm looking at an operational structure or just my ability to ask questions with a founder. I can never outsource that. But I can outsource marketing, I can outsource certain client emails, inbox management. Like, what are those tasks that are just kind of like no-brainers that are time sucks? And that looks different for everybody, but it's typically those types of maybe it's not writing the content, maybe it's just posting the content. You know, that becomes the the mental gymnastics that would happen with me with posting on social media for the first probably eight years of my business, like way too long. I just hitting post was so difficult. I didn't have a problem writing the content, I didn't have a problem recording the videos, but then just like being like, here's the stuff, do with it whatever you want. I actually don't care, but it becomes uh some sort of block for me to actually post it. I begin to second guess myself. And so really being like ruthless with what truly requires me and what doesn't, and doing that early on. I will also say that like before you hire, being clear on what the expectations is, is an act of dignity and respect for the person that you're bringing in. Like this is the expectation. It does not need to be a detailed SOP. I feel like most SOPs, and we hear this word and we think, oh, I need this. This is gonna, this is gonna lead to the success of whoever I hire. Yes and no, because SOPs tend to get created and put someplace, but like documenting the steps, even if that's like, like you said, on a Google Sheet, maybe it's just a Google Doc. But this is these are the steps that need to be done. This is what complete looks like and examples of that. And it could, it doesn't have to take long. We don't need to overcomplicate it, but having that clarity, because then you could pass it off and trust that it's going to be done the way that you do it. And that's the biggest thing for solopreneurs. We want somebody to do it like we do it.

SPEAKER_00 28:17

100%. And I I love a good Loom video for that. Yes, also Loom. I love just walking people through it. And then that way, if you know, you're not if you're lucky enough to have the scene same VA for years, that's amazing. But, you know, things come and go, and having that set up once that all you have to do is send it to them and they can watch it, you know, on their own time. I'm pretty clear with with the people I hire. It's like, this is what I want you to get done. I don't care if you're doing it with a baby in your lap, that's totally fine as long as it gets done. And and that that works really well because there are some single mothers out there who are working with a baby in their lap. Yep, how you do the work doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_01 29:06

Right. Just that it's quality. Exactly. Exactly. I love Loom. I don't know why I didn't think about it. We have a at the company I'm at, we have a whole Loom vault with that's categorized by folder. Like if you need to, if you need to find something, you can go into our Loom account and you could see it categorized. And I mean it's amazing. So yes, 100% Loom. Loom Loom Loom.

SPEAKER_00 29:36

Now, I I like to make sure my audience can walk away with something tangible that they can do right now. So let's say someone out there listening has a free afternoon and they want to use that afternoon to make their business feel lighter. What is the the number one or number two thing that you think that they should do? And I know it varies from business to business, but just in general.

SPEAKER_01 30:02

Take time to write down what your business rules are. My business does this, it doesn't do this. And it's again, it's one of those things where it sounds so simple. After X amount of days of a invoice

Free Afternoon Reset: Rules And Brain Dump

SPEAKER_01 30:17

not being paid, I don't touch the work. Um shutoff time is is at this time. I don't do client calls on this day. I don't respond to client communication after this time. Right? Putting even in client communication or like making sure that clients know how many days to well, like with communication, I have a 24-hour response time. Making those sorts of rules for your business and sitting down and really like establishing what those are lifts such an emotional burden from you because you know that like this is just how the business operates. This isn't how I operate. We're removing the personal from it. This is how the business operates. The second thing would be on a Google Doc brain dumping in detail and then classifying it as like this is marketing, this is business development, this is client delivery. And even the subtles, like the subtleties of after an engagement is sent, it gets filed into this, like it goes into this folder. And just kind of beginning a documentation process. If you do this early and you have a free afternoon to take care of those things, it gives you the freedom to help be able to bring somebody on and/or make your no's easier, especially when it comes to like new client work and learning how to say no to that. Like those two things are critical at any stage of a business, but especially with solopreneurs.

SPEAKER_00 31:58

Yes, I think that's so important. And I think a lot of solopreneurs are out there going, oh, but they're they're gonna get mad and they're not gonna want to work with no, that's not the case. I think it it lightens the emotional load for both because the client then knows exactly what to expect. I work with a media company and they are very clear that they are there, you know, answering questions Monday through Thursday. Fridays are for their teamwork and then weekends off. And I also know up front that they take every major holiday off for their team. Absolutely. And I respect that. I love working with a company who gives their employees the, you know, the 4th of July off or Christmas off or Juneteenth off. I I appreciate that. And it lets me know what to expect so that I don't stress out trying to check my email all the time. If I submit a question or email to them on a Friday, I know I'm not gonna hear back until Monday. And if Monday's a holiday, I'm not gonna hear back till Tuesday, and that's okay.

SPEAKER_01 32:59

It creates trust on both sides, right? Like those business rules and being transparent about what they are, it really creates a sense of trust. And also if you have a team, it creates trust that you also have their back because you've taken the time to list out what we do and what we don't do, and that's been commuted to the communicated to the client. So expectations are clear out of the gate. And that's the biggest. I feel like that is such um a service that we do to the people around us as a solopreneur, small business, is like setting expectations. Whatever that looks like, it just creates safety in the experience. Like you said, like I trust that like if I send something on Friday, I'm not gonna hear till Monday, and if Monday's a holiday, I'm not gonna hear till Tuesday. Well, like if I communicate that, hey, I don't take any sort of meetings on Wednesdays, like you it's it's like a chunked-out time, middle of the week, it's client work only. Everything will be then returned by Thursday. Or or it's I know that I sent this at 5 30. I know that Gwen's off at five. She'll I'll hear from her tomorrow morning, or at some point tomorrow. That creates such a trust in and um I would also say like it makes the relationship and their level of satisfaction with the service so much higher as well. And they want to tell people be like she does what she says she's gonna do, and that means so much in this space.

SPEAKER_00 34:50

100%. I totally agree. Now, if people want to find you and maybe want to work with you, how do they find you?

SPEAKER_01 35:02

LinkedIn. I'm on LinkedIn, Guantanaguchi. There's only one of me. It's a very you only one Guantanaguchi. Um, or they can go to Peak Advisory and that's P-E-E-K advisory.com. Um we do bookkeeping for small businesses, valuations, and operational advisory. So

Where To Find Gwen

SPEAKER_01 35:27

we're really looking at like the full value of a company.

SPEAKER_00 35:33

Fabulous, fabulous. And I'll make sure to put all of those in the show notes. It has been so much fun chatting with you today, and you've given so much wisdom to my listeners out there who can then go ahead and implement. So if you're out there listening, I want you to do what Gwen said. I want you to take a moment to start documenting exactly what it is you do in your business and start setting those rules and documenting them as well so that you can share them with clients. And until next time, keep planning like a boss.