1
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:00,880
Hello, my friends!
2
00:00:00,880 --> 00:00:03,760
So excited for you to watch this episode.
3
00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:08,480
A little parental advisory: there are swear words in this episode.
4
00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:11,440
So if you got little ears, put those headphones in.
5
00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:13,920
Save this for your car ride between jobs.
6
00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:14,960
Let's get into it.
7
00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:24,640
This is Filthy Rich Cleaners presented by ZenMaid, the podcast where real cleaning business owners share what works so you can earn more, stress less, and make your business filthy rich.
8
00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:26,080
Hello, my friends.
9
00:00:26,080 --> 00:00:29,120
Welcome or welcome back to the Filthy Rich Cleaners podcast.
10
00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:41,520
I am your host Stephanie from Serene Clean, and today we are going to be talking about the importance of running practice absences or practice rounds of people being gone.
11
00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:49,280
Whether that be you, whether that be a cleaner, whether that be an administrative person that you have working in your company.
12
00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:54,160
And the reason this came to my attention is we are having this happen.
13
00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:59,840
It's not like it's the first time that any of my office managers have taken a vacation.
14
00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:03,600
Or a trip, but coming up in October.
15
00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:06,800
I believe let's see, October eighth through the twenty-sixth.
16
00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:17,920
One of my office managers, April, is going to be out of the office and will most likely be unavailable or very limited availability while she is out.
17
00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:23,920
And we are seven years into April working for me now, or she's coming up on her seven-year anniversary.
18
00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:32,000
We're coming up on seven and a half years in business, and there are still things that are not documented.
19
00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:35,120
And this is how we realized it.
20
00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:50,000
And this was such a useful realization this past week in our ops meeting that there are still areas of April's job and responsibilities that live in her head, and this is a problem.
21
00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:53,120
And April is incredible; she's amazing.
22
00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:54,480
I love her, April.
23
00:01:54,480 --> 00:02:04,800
If you're watching this, you know how amazing you are, and this is still a problem because this is exactly what is going to happen with every one of your team members.
24
00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:12,640
Eventually, they are going to take a trip; they are going to have to be out for a planned absence, for an unplanned absence.
25
00:02:12,640 --> 00:02:14,880
People get sick—all sorts of things, right?
26
00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:17,920
So we know this is going to happen.
27
00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:22,320
So we need to be proactive instead of reactive.
28
00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:31,520
Of course, when somebody is out in an unplanned circumstance, there is a level of reactivity to it, especially when we're talking about our cleaning tasks, right?
29
00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:34,960
Like there is some things that you have to go do the physical labor, right?
30
00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:39,680
And sometimes clients need to get canceled on; things need to get rearranged, right?
31
00:02:39,920 --> 00:02:48,800
But when it comes to all of the admin-level of things that need to get done in our businesses, this is where proactivity can really be helpful.
32
00:02:49,200 --> 00:03:03,200
And a lot of times, especially when I'm having consult calls with you guys, or I'm getting Email questions from you and you're like, "Hey, I'm having a baby in like a month," like I really want to get one of my cleaners into the office, right?
33
00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:04,480
Or what should I be doing?
34
00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:06,560
And I'm just—I just want to be like.
35
00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:15,600
Well, we should have been thinking about this a couple months prior because the ideal time to start figuring this stuff out is now.
36
00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:21,280
It's not when the person is gone; it's not a week before they're gone because then you start to panic.
37
00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:35,520
So, this is proving to be a really fruitful exercise for us because we have time still—we have just under a month out—and we are putting several things into place to prepare for this.
38
00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:43,200
And so I want to outline what that's looking like practically for us, so that you can take it into your business and run practice rounds.
39
00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:47,920
And it may be that you don't have anybody leaving right now, but what if we pretend?
40
00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:50,560
What if this person was going to be off?
41
00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:51,600
What would happen?
42
00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:54,960
What happens if this client or cleaner calls out?
43
00:03:54,960 --> 00:03:59,840
What happens if all of a sudden somebody limits their availability or gets sick?
44
00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:02,080
Sick or whatever, like what's going to happen?
45
00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:09,760
And of course, at the end of the day, as the owners, we are usually going to be the ones doing the most.
46
00:04:10,752 --> 00:04:12,832
Until you get to a certain level, right?
47
00:04:12,832 --> 00:04:17,792
And so for most of our listeners here at Filthy Rich Cleaners, you guys are still doing the most, right?
48
00:04:17,872 --> 00:04:22,432
And so you may just start bringing people in to the office.
49
00:04:22,432 --> 00:04:25,072
So you could be looking at your responsibilities.
50
00:04:25,232 --> 00:04:30,512
What happens when you want to take a vacation or you are sick or X Y Z?
51
00:04:30,672 --> 00:04:36,752
So the nice thing is it's easier to run a practice round on yourself, I think, than other people.
52
00:04:36,752 --> 00:04:40,009
So we will run through what that looks like.
53
00:04:40,009 --> 00:04:47,971
You guys know I've mentioned if you are a listener, I have mentioned the book *Buy Back your Time* several times throughout.
54
00:04:47,971 --> 00:04:59,552
Many, many episodes because it was such a valuable book to me, and it helped me really introduce a lot of the concepts that we have put into practice at Serene Clean.
55
00:04:59,872 --> 00:05:04,432
But there still is clearly room to implement those lessons.
56
00:05:04,432 --> 00:05:10,272
And so let it be known: we are not perfect; we still have a ton of room to improve.
57
00:05:10,352 --> 00:05:12,512
Serene Clean, and this is a perfect example.
58
00:05:12,752 --> 00:05:26,752
And I'm so grateful that this came up now because it is pushing us to grow as an operational entity, meaning the manager team, the management team is able to grow together because of this planned absence.
59
00:05:26,752 --> 00:05:37,392
And it's like really pushing us to look at every single role of like okay, great, like now that this is happening in this particular aspect of the administrative work, what about the other areas?
60
00:05:37,392 --> 00:05:38,752
What happens if Crystal's off?
61
00:05:38,752 --> 00:05:39,952
What happens if Katie's off?
62
00:05:40,192 --> 00:05:42,432
Is there anything that's not documented?
63
00:05:42,672 --> 00:05:47,952
How are we going to rearrange the workload and literally divvying up the tasks and when are they due?
64
00:05:47,952 --> 00:05:51,312
Like getting really nitty gritty, so let's just get into it.
65
00:05:51,392 --> 00:05:55,792
I want to explain how we worked through it and what made us realize this.
66
00:05:55,792 --> 00:06:02,192
So last week we had our weekly operations meeting which we do every single Monday for two to three hours.
67
00:06:02,192 --> 00:06:05,072
Which I know you may be like, Stephanie, what could you possibly talk about?
68
00:06:05,072 --> 00:06:10,192
Well, you guys know I can talk, that's not a problem, but what could you possibly like have to talk about for?
69
00:06:10,352 --> 00:06:16,512
Hours every week, we oftentimes go way over and we need more time because there's just so much.
70
00:06:16,512 --> 00:06:21,690
There's so much, and I find this to be one of my favorite parts of my week.
71
00:06:21,690 --> 00:06:29,608
It really makes me make sure that progress is continuing on Serene Clean and all of the departments are moving forward and getting their questions answered.
72
00:06:29,608 --> 00:06:33,872
We are uncovering things that are problems that maybe we did not realize before.
73
00:06:33,872 --> 00:06:45,274
So, one thing is really sitting down and having time and going through like every area of the business, of like what is going on in that, and basically doing—we have an agenda for our ops.
74
00:06:45,274 --> 00:06:56,992
Meeting—and so, even if you are a one-man band or one-woman band right now, I think that setting aside time to go through the departments on a weekly basis and be like, "what is the status here?"
75
00:06:56,992 --> 00:06:58,272
What do I feel good about?
76
00:06:58,272 --> 00:06:59,472
What's not going well?"
77
00:06:59,552 --> 00:07:00,672
And going over the numbers.
78
00:07:00,672 --> 00:07:10,192
So, before we even get to this, obviously understand—like, understanding what you should be tracking—is the first and foremost thing, which I know I've done many episodes at.
79
00:07:10,352 --> 00:07:19,549
Tracking all of the time, but that's going to be the ground zero of what you build an operations meeting off of is going to be the numbers, right?
80
00:07:19,549 --> 00:07:23,672
Because we start talking and analyzing the numbers, and that is the basis.
81
00:07:23,672 --> 00:07:28,112
There's a lot of things that also get talked about in the ops meeting.
82
00:07:28,112 --> 00:07:30,432
Of course, things like, well, who's the problem child this week?
83
00:07:30,432 --> 00:07:38,477
I jokingly say that every week at meeting, like which staff member do we need to be watching, like going through all of the staff members, what's going on with them.
84
00:07:38,477 --> 00:07:44,965
Going through the hiring and what the pipeline is looking at, looking at the ads, looking at the marketing, looking at the close rates.
85
00:07:44,965 --> 00:07:47,300
Like, right, like, that's what that's what it is.
86
00:07:47,300 --> 00:07:55,605
Tactically, you're just going through and getting a state of the union, if you will, and figuring out where everything is progressing on our different areas and projects and stuff like that.
87
00:07:55,605 --> 00:08:02,352
So, number one thing I think is it is really valuable to have this time, and so this is when this came up was last Wednesday.
88
00:08:02,352 --> 00:08:05,552
Is we knew April's absence is coming up.
89
00:08:05,632 --> 00:08:10,352
The first thing I want to say is that we need to be treating a planned absence like any other responsibility.
90
00:08:10,352 --> 00:08:14,832
An audit, not an emergency because this isn't an emergency.
91
00:08:14,832 --> 00:08:17,632
We know it's coming; we've known it's coming, which is fantastic.
92
00:08:17,632 --> 00:08:19,552
This is literally the ideal situation.
93
00:08:19,952 --> 00:08:21,872
Not every situation is going to be like this.
94
00:08:21,872 --> 00:08:28,272
Most times when people are gonna be absent, it's not typically planned because something is happening right in their personal life.
95
00:08:28,272 --> 00:08:32,992
So this is a perfect opportunity for us because it is planned.
96
00:08:32,992 --> 00:08:38,672
So this is like the perfect runway for trying out what I'm about to describe.
97
00:08:38,912 --> 00:08:44,112
So for you guys, when I say if nobody has a planned absence, could you pretend?
98
00:08:44,432 --> 00:08:54,912
If you had to pick a date two months from now that your admin person or you are going to be off for a week, for two weeks, right?
99
00:08:55,392 --> 00:08:56,272
What would break?
100
00:08:56,272 --> 00:08:57,632
What would not work?
101
00:08:57,632 --> 00:09:00,189
And then you just start granularly breaking it down.
102
00:09:00,189 --> 00:09:03,599
It may feel like well everything would break because they do everything.
103
00:09:03,599 --> 00:09:03,883
Okay.
104
00:09:03,883 --> 00:09:05,872
Well, let's start with the first thing.
105
00:09:05,952 --> 00:09:07,312
What would be the first thing that breaks?
106
00:09:07,392 --> 00:09:09,276
And then we start to document that.
107
00:09:09,276 --> 00:09:10,352
We start to explain.
108
00:09:10,352 --> 00:09:12,432
And we start to put due dates on it, right?
109
00:09:12,432 --> 00:09:24,112
So what we did then is we worked through the calendar that she is going to be gone and looked at like daily tasks, weekly tasks, sporadic tasks.
110
00:09:24,192 --> 00:09:27,542
Okay, so that would be what I would do for you: I.
111
00:09:27,542 --> 00:09:37,872
Would work through like what needs to get done every day by, this role or person, what needs to be done every week, and what needs to be done sporadically, or maybe it's like a rotating basis.
112
00:09:37,872 --> 00:09:42,912
So, for example, with April's position, she is my payroll and accounts manager.
113
00:09:42,912 --> 00:09:59,312
So she runs all of the payroll; she does all of the invoicing, anything to do with billing or payment—that is her she also ensures that all of our credit cards are paid on time, with all of the transactions if I could speak, holy crap!
114
00:09:59,552 --> 00:10:03,472
All of the transactions are categorized correctly.
115
00:10:03,472 --> 00:10:04,592
She is doing that.
116
00:10:04,752 --> 00:10:08,512
She is going to be paying any manual bills that are coming in.
117
00:10:08,512 --> 00:10:10,272
She is going to be processing checks.
118
00:10:10,432 --> 00:10:15,232
Literally anything to do with accounts receivable or accounts payable that is April's responsibility.
119
00:10:15,392 --> 00:10:29,449
So the final area is going to be then inventory, is her other responsibility as inventory, and there are other things like maintaining vacuums and some miscellaneous stuff, but these are the heavy hitter responsibilities of her we started just going through, okay, what happens?
120
00:10:29,449 --> 00:10:30,992
What do you do every day?
121
00:10:31,072 --> 00:10:35,221
Like what do you need to do every day, and start diving it up.
122
00:10:35,221 --> 00:10:39,667
Cool, invoicing needs to be done every day, well, who is going to do that?
123
00:10:39,667 --> 00:10:44,705
And we kind of like talked about could we divide it up amongst the rest of us.
124
00:10:44,705 --> 00:10:47,668
And then crystal said, awesome, I will take on invoicing.
125
00:10:47,668 --> 00:10:49,447
Crystal is going to handle invoicing.
126
00:10:49,447 --> 00:10:57,152
Done, cool, and all of the invoicing notes are within that client's details in ZenMaid, so we have the details how much they should get charged.
127
00:10:57,152 --> 00:11:03,232
Like everything that crystal needs in order to fully complete invoicing, is there on the residential side?
128
00:11:03,472 --> 00:11:07,114
On the commercial side, though, we had some gaps.
129
00:11:07,114 --> 00:11:10,352
So, for example, I started digging into April.
130
00:11:10,352 --> 00:11:13,392
How do you know when to do the invoices?
131
00:11:13,712 --> 00:11:18,752
Meaning, the commercial invoices—the ones that are not done after every single service.
132
00:11:19,488 --> 00:11:25,008
And this is where we realized that there were some things that were still a little bit spread out.
133
00:11:25,008 --> 00:11:28,528
So, we have as you guys know and you're probably sick of hearing about ClickUp.
134
00:11:28,768 --> 00:11:39,488
We have really moved towards moving everything into ClickUp as much as possible because ClickUp has due dates, it has subtasks, it has recurring tasks, and so that is really what we're moving towards.
135
00:11:39,488 --> 00:11:44,848
But previous to that, my managers had really used Outlook for a lot of their reminders.
136
00:11:44,848 --> 00:11:55,408
So, you know your Gmail, which I know many of you guys are probably using your email or other basic like to do list that type of thing for your what needs to get done and when right?
137
00:11:55,408 --> 00:12:07,008
And so for us, we really want to keep our email tasks set to like meetings, like that's what I keep my email for.
138
00:12:07,088 --> 00:12:16,608
Email all of the things in my calendar are only related to meetings where I am having to communicate with another person that is going to be in my email.
139
00:12:16,688 --> 00:12:19,168
Everything else is in ClickUp because that is a task management tool.
140
00:12:19,168 --> 00:12:23,968
I need to do my meetings, and they are also in ClickUp so that I can see everything I'm doing that day.
141
00:12:24,208 --> 00:12:29,888
But otherwise, what happens is things kind of get spread out, like do I need to do something or do I need to meet with somebody?
142
00:12:29,968 --> 00:12:37,596
For all of the invoicing, you know, a lot of that is automated because it's set up on a regular cadence.
143
00:12:37,596 --> 00:12:41,592
We just have it set on auto-invoice in QuickBooks, easy peasy.
144
00:12:41,592 --> 00:12:51,036
But there still were a couple that the reminder is in April's Outlook on the first and the fifteenth to remind her to send the invoice.
145
00:12:51,036 --> 00:12:51,399
Right.
146
00:12:51,399 --> 00:12:54,669
That's not the right place for it to be.
147
00:12:54,669 --> 00:12:56,848
It needs to be in ClickUp.
148
00:12:56,848 --> 00:13:05,488
It needs to start getting moved over there so once we started asking questions about like, are there any invoices that are unusual or anything like that?
149
00:13:05,488 --> 00:13:12,304
And that nuance is where things can get really messy when somebody's out because it's like, great, you got like ninety percent of the thing.
150
00:13:12,304 --> 00:13:12,577
Right?
151
00:13:12,577 --> 00:13:18,848
Invoicing, ninety percent of that is good, but all of these kind of like edge cases is where things can get really messy.
152
00:13:19,168 --> 00:13:27,808
And so it's a perfect example of where we can make sure that process is in the right place and tagged with the due dates, so that nothing gets missed.
153
00:13:27,808 --> 00:13:29,168
So that was an invoicing task.
154
00:13:29,168 --> 00:13:32,448
There were some other things that were still in our head, right?
155
00:13:32,448 --> 00:13:37,888
So things like reordering for our largest account—like where do we go for that, right?
156
00:13:37,888 --> 00:13:45,408
Because the task was in ClickUp, meaning reorder, like check supplies for that account, right?
157
00:13:45,408 --> 00:13:49,808
Because we do order our like stuff directly to that account; it's kind of an outlier, right?
158
00:13:50,048 --> 00:13:54,208
So it's like cool—you need to reorder—but where do I go for that?
159
00:13:54,208 --> 00:14:00,608
What spreadsheet is the correct one to go to for reordering that stuff?
160
00:14:00,608 --> 00:14:02,976
So it's painful, guys.
161
00:14:02,976 --> 00:14:12,608
When I describe everything about what I'm describing in this episode, it's really fucking boring and nobody wants to do it, but it must be done.
162
00:14:12,608 --> 00:14:18,608
It must be done, and it is just something that you need the discipline to slog through.
163
00:14:18,608 --> 00:14:26,628
And once you do it once, it does get easier and the gaps get smaller and smaller as to what, like, what needs to be done, right?
164
00:14:26,628 --> 00:14:35,878
Because most of April's job is has been documented really thoroughly, but these are the little gaps that would trip us up, of like being able to complete something fully, right?
165
00:14:35,878 --> 00:14:39,758
Like, "cool, I need to check the supplies for this one account, right?"
166
00:14:39,758 --> 00:14:48,113
The big, the big account, great, I see that task I see when I'm supposed to be doing it, but where do I go to do this, right?
167
00:14:49,008 --> 00:14:54,678
So there was a gap there, so literally running through everything from start to finish to completely have that thing done correctly.
168
00:14:54,678 --> 00:14:56,170
What does that look like?
169
00:14:56,170 --> 00:14:59,452
And then any gaps we need to fill those gaps right.
170
00:14:59,452 --> 00:15:00,646
That was one example.
171
00:15:00,646 --> 00:15:02,734
Another one was the credit card payments.
172
00:15:02,734 --> 00:15:04,226
You know, the Amazon card.
173
00:15:04,226 --> 00:15:05,718
We have two credit cards.
174
00:15:05,718 --> 00:15:07,509
The Amazon card is on auto-pay.
175
00:15:07,509 --> 00:15:09,001
The Chase card is not.
176
00:15:09,001 --> 00:15:11,090
So, what do we need to do?
177
00:15:11,090 --> 00:15:18,251
We need to assign it and click up with the due date and the link to the how-to, the login, all of that stuff.
178
00:15:18,251 --> 00:15:20,448
So, like just making sure it's like cool.
179
00:15:20,448 --> 00:15:23,248
We know we need to pay the credit card, like we know we need to do that.
180
00:15:23,248 --> 00:15:27,808
What does it mean to do that in completion fully and that nobody ever forgets it again?
181
00:15:28,208 --> 00:15:29,488
It needs to have a due date.
182
00:15:29,488 --> 00:15:31,408
It needs to have a recurring task, right?
183
00:15:31,408 --> 00:15:33,000
And so, this is why.
184
00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:39,369
Like, I know you guys are sick of me talking about getting a task management software, but it's just I.
185
00:15:39,369 --> 00:15:47,648
Honestly, can't believe we were able to like do anything before we implemented one because it just makes all of the like, it's so overwhelming, right?
186
00:15:47,648 --> 00:15:49,888
Like I know how overwhelmed you guys are.
187
00:15:49,888 --> 00:15:55,248
I know how overwhelmed I was and how sometimes I still get even with a task management software.
188
00:15:55,248 --> 00:16:08,206
So, at the very least, if you don't want to have some type of software for this, be do like religiously using your email like events or todos and making sure you're setting due dates.
189
00:16:08,206 --> 00:16:11,168
And you treat that thing like the Bible.
190
00:16:11,248 --> 00:16:12,688
Like, we are going by this.
191
00:16:12,688 --> 00:16:19,168
This needs to be done, then, because if you don't, if you don't have the discipline to use something like that, things can go wrong.
192
00:16:19,168 --> 00:16:20,928
Are really gonna fall apart?
193
00:16:21,008 --> 00:16:28,048
Like it's going to fall apart because as soon as you do want a vacation, as soon as somebody is off and all of a sudden you're like cool.
194
00:16:28,048 --> 00:16:31,888
This is the list of things that, like I'm sure you know, all the things that you do right.
195
00:16:32,048 --> 00:16:33,728
But when do they need to get done?
196
00:16:33,968 --> 00:16:35,488
Like really start separating.
197
00:16:35,488 --> 00:16:42,528
Like a good exercise may be to like really start separating your tasks by like daily, weekly, monthly, and sporadic.
198
00:16:42,528 --> 00:16:44,768
Like just like create a chart and start brain dumping.
199
00:16:44,768 --> 00:16:45,808
Like what do I do every day?
200
00:16:45,808 --> 00:16:46,928
What needs to be done every day?
201
00:16:47,248 --> 00:16:50,848
And then we start working through each of those and documenting each of those.
202
00:16:50,928 --> 00:16:52,208
And it is a slog.
203
00:16:52,208 --> 00:16:53,408
Quick little break here.
204
00:16:53,488 --> 00:17:03,973
If you have ever been listening to the Filthy Rich Cleaners podcast and thought oh my gosh, Stephanie would die at this story, well guess what guys, I want to hear that story okay.
205
00:17:03,973 --> 00:17:12,608
We are looking for guest applications for the show, and I know many of you have never been on a podcast before but those are my favorite episodes.
206
00:17:12,608 --> 00:17:16,288
To be frank, is the owners who are just here to share their stories?
207
00:17:16,288 --> 00:17:27,888
So, if you are an owner who wants to share your story or Perhaps you would like to have a free consulting call with me and ask me your questions live for everybody else to learn from.
208
00:17:28,208 --> 00:17:38,341
That is also an option, and then finally, if you know somebody in our industry, you have a friend or somebody that you look up to and have learned from, who you think would be a good reference.
209
00:17:38,341 --> 00:17:47,408
Be a great guest option for us, please go to the link down in the bio, and we would love to see you apply or nominate them, and we will take it from there.
210
00:17:47,488 --> 00:17:51,728
And I would love to have a conversation with you and get to know you more closely.
211
00:17:52,048 --> 00:17:56,113
Back to the show: I am going to recommend a lot of you.
212
00:17:56,113 --> 00:18:09,248
Guys, like, really like the idea of an SOP, which I understand, but your version of an SOP is like a booklet with pictures, and all of these things, and I do not recommend you go that route because things change, right?
213
00:18:09,248 --> 00:18:15,168
Things change, and doing instructions like that—it's so much work when you don't need to do it that way.
214
00:18:15,248 --> 00:18:17,648
When software like Loom exists, right?
215
00:18:17,648 --> 00:18:19,088
Like you—I've mentioned Loom before.
216
00:18:19,728 --> 00:18:24,128
Many times, this is a perfect example of the ideal reason we have Loom.
217
00:18:24,368 --> 00:18:26,208
Is so you can just record yourself, right?
218
00:18:26,208 --> 00:18:28,128
Record yourself doing the thing.
219
00:18:28,128 --> 00:18:30,848
You don't need to make a booklet or anything like that.
220
00:18:31,168 --> 00:18:32,688
Quick and dirty.
221
00:18:32,688 --> 00:18:33,858
Attach that Loom.
222
00:18:33,858 --> 00:18:39,648
You know, you could take the transcript, give that to AI, and say, Hey, make a checklist for this.
223
00:18:39,728 --> 00:18:42,128
I love a checklist outside of the field too.
224
00:18:42,368 --> 00:18:45,728
A checklist in the office is amazing because it's like boom, boom, boom.
225
00:18:45,728 --> 00:18:49,088
Just do it this way, and then now you do have written instructions.
226
00:18:49,168 --> 00:18:51,008
You have a video that goes along with it.
227
00:18:51,248 --> 00:18:55,568
You have the due date, and you have all the links that are associated with that task.
228
00:18:55,648 --> 00:18:55,968
Boom!
229
00:18:55,968 --> 00:18:58,128
Now that is fully documented.
230
00:18:58,208 --> 00:18:59,248
It is ready to go.
231
00:18:59,248 --> 00:19:00,368
It's ready to pass off.
232
00:19:00,368 --> 00:19:08,448
And if something changes, it's very easy to just re-record the process or add a little note about what changed, like at minute blah blah blah.
233
00:19:08,448 --> 00:19:09,568
Do this instead, right?
234
00:19:09,808 --> 00:19:14,480
So, all of that to say, that's what documentation truly looks like.
235
00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:20,480
You do not need to make a 30-page SOP for anything; nobody is going to read that, and it's a waste of your time.
236
00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:24,160
So please, please, please start using screen recordings.
237
00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:27,600
And again, Loom is very, very affordable—just highly recommend.
238
00:19:27,600 --> 00:19:37,440
Okay, the next step that has been crucial for us is doing practice runs before her absence.
239
00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:42,320
And so, the practice run specifically that we're talking about is running payroll.
240
00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:42,800
Okay?
241
00:19:43,120 --> 00:19:46,435
So payroll is definitely the most time-consuming and complex.
242
00:19:46,435 --> 00:19:58,960
Part of April's job, and it's not something that you could just give somebody instructions to do something, and we would feel comfortable that they're going to get it right the first time, right?
243
00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:04,880
Because there's so much variance; there are so many random things that come up with payroll—payroll, right?
244
00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:07,760
What if they have something that we need to reimburse them for?
245
00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:14,320
What if there's a random "whatever" like there's just so there's so much random shit that goes into payroll to make sure it's accurate.
246
00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:18,080
That we are not comfortable with just being like, okay cool.
247
00:20:18,080 --> 00:20:19,520
We don't need you to show us it.
248
00:20:19,520 --> 00:20:21,040
We don't need to run practice runs.
249
00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:24,400
You can just hand off right and really for most things we don't want to do that.
250
00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:26,320
We wanna watch the person.
251
00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:33,120
We want them to practice it and then us check it right or whoever is responsible for that task originally they check it.
252
00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:40,960
It's just like honestly how we do ideal client handoffs in the field when we are switching off a client to a new cleaner right?
253
00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:49,968
Like the ideal situation is the current cleaner has the new cleaner go with them to at least two appointments, and then it is now that other cleaner's client right?
254
00:20:49,968 --> 00:20:55,920
That is the ideal because they can see the home even though we're following our checklist they can run through.
255
00:20:55,920 --> 00:20:58,620
They can make sure everything's perfect at least twice.
256
00:20:58,620 --> 00:21:05,520
And then it is not that handoff that transition is beautiful, and it's very likely that the client is going to be happy.
257
00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:10,320
So we treat that with some of these more complex office tasks in the same manner.
258
00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:11,920
So, for example, payroll.
259
00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:17,229
Veronica, my executive assistant, is going to be doing payroll while April is out.
260
00:21:17,229 --> 00:21:24,000
And there's a couple reasons that we decided to do it that way, because the really main one is.
261
00:21:24,848 --> 00:21:31,168
Instead of Katie or Crystal taking on payroll, we have Veronica available for work.
262
00:21:31,328 --> 00:21:38,848
But the more complicated thing than payroll is client communication and rearranging schedules and all of these other things.
263
00:21:39,088 --> 00:21:47,248
So we would rather Katie and Crystal do anything customer-facing because they have all of the context they need.
264
00:21:47,248 --> 00:21:55,448
They've talked to these people; it's going to be much easier for them to take any of that communication on and stay open for that as opposed.
265
00:21:55,448 --> 00:22:03,648
To doing payroll, which we can train her to not have to talk to anybody or anything like that, because there is a time difference as well.
266
00:22:03,648 --> 00:22:08,928
So it made the most sense for Veronica to take this on instead of the other managers.
267
00:22:09,008 --> 00:22:15,808
Additionally, like there's a decent amount of time to get payroll done because it's due on Thursday evenings every week.
268
00:22:16,048 --> 00:22:23,328
Instead of with like client communications, this may need to be done very timely; like we need to get back to them quickly, we need to answer questions, whatever.
269
00:22:23,328 --> 00:22:24,448
So it just made the most sense.
270
00:22:24,448 --> 00:22:32,368
Of like really looking at the workload and who does it make the most sense to do that thing right, and so it made the most sense for Veronica to do the payroll.
271
00:22:32,608 --> 00:22:41,466
So the first thing that we did was we had April document her payroll with the Loom and have the AI do the instructions, and then we!
272
00:22:41,466 --> 00:22:48,027
Had Veronica do a test payroll a few months ago basically when because we've known about this for a while.
273
00:22:48,027 --> 00:22:50,324
I think we had her do one.
274
00:22:50,324 --> 00:22:58,198
Or two practice rounds, and April watched her do it and saw where the gaps were in the documentation because she was making mistakes.
275
00:22:58,198 --> 00:23:01,478
And it wasn't Veronica's fault; there were gaps in documentation.
276
00:23:01,478 --> 00:23:08,368
And this is why we do this because when we document our stuff, almost always the first time is not perfect.
277
00:23:08,448 --> 00:23:12,181
This is why I'm like, don't slave over a book or anything like that.
278
00:23:12,181 --> 00:23:18,315
Just document it, give it to somebody else, have them do it, and be like, oh shit, like I thought that was obvious.
279
00:23:18,315 --> 00:23:20,448
It's not because it's not their process tone.
280
00:23:20,448 --> 00:23:22,048
They don't know where everything is.
281
00:23:22,048 --> 00:23:24,448
We just have so much stuff that we know.
282
00:23:24,768 --> 00:23:35,328
In our heads, that we don't even consciously think about when we're doing a process, and this is why we need to have somebody else do it so that we can see where those gaps in documentation are.
283
00:23:35,328 --> 00:23:48,688
So now it's been a couple months; April has made those changes, and now Veronica will be running all three remaining payroll cycles as practice while April is still there to check them right.
284
00:23:48,688 --> 00:23:53,968
So there is going to be three more payroll runs that Veronica can basically draft up.
285
00:23:53,968 --> 00:24:00,608
She does not hit the final go-through right, and April can check over, correct, and make those minor adjustments to any documentation.
286
00:24:00,608 --> 00:24:05,088
So we are going to be golden and very confident that payroll is good.
287
00:24:05,088 --> 00:24:14,048
And then while April is gone, I am still going to be doing the final push-through to run payroll instead of having Veronica just so I can have eyes on it.
288
00:24:14,288 --> 00:24:17,337
I may not catch mistakes, but just like okay, this looks normal.
289
00:24:17,337 --> 00:24:18,608
This looks like everything looks.
290
00:24:19,296 --> 00:24:19,936
Correct, right?
291
00:24:19,936 --> 00:24:23,456
And we can always correct something if something goes horribly wrong.
292
00:24:23,456 --> 00:24:26,016
But at this point, it should be practiced enough.
293
00:24:26,016 --> 00:24:33,856
And this is how we like to slowly give independence when you guys are asking me questions about like how do I, you know, like trust my office staff?
294
00:24:33,856 --> 00:24:36,496
Like I want to go on vacation, but I just don't know.
295
00:24:36,816 --> 00:24:38,496
This is how you do it, all right?
296
00:24:38,496 --> 00:24:39,636
You document something.
297
00:24:39,636 --> 00:24:41,296
You have them practice it.
298
00:24:41,296 --> 00:24:42,416
You see where the gaps are.
299
00:24:42,656 --> 00:24:43,616
You make adjustments.
300
00:24:43,616 --> 00:24:46,656
They practice again, like and until we can get it smoothly.
301
00:24:46,976 --> 00:24:49,536
And the beautiful thing is, once you do this once, right?
302
00:24:49,536 --> 00:24:51,216
Like this is painstaking for sure.
303
00:24:51,536 --> 00:24:55,536
But now that we've done this once and it is fully documented, well, guess what?
304
00:24:55,536 --> 00:24:58,496
The next time April is out, we're good to go.
305
00:24:58,496 --> 00:25:04,976
We're ready and everything is documented because remember, guys, we never know what the future is going to hold with any of our staff.
306
00:25:05,056 --> 00:25:11,776
And this is how you grow a company and allow it to be systematic because maybe somebody doesn't even leave.
307
00:25:11,776 --> 00:25:13,456
Maybe their role changes, right?
308
00:25:13,456 --> 00:25:18,656
Maybe we move it so that, for example, like I could very much see us bringing on a salesperson.
309
00:25:18,656 --> 00:25:18,976
You know.
310
00:25:18,976 --> 00:25:20,736
And so that means that things would shift.
311
00:25:20,736 --> 00:25:26,816
I wouldn't be firing anybody; I would be bringing somebody else in, and they need to learn the systems and processes, right?
312
00:25:26,896 --> 00:25:29,376
So again, we can do this with ourselves.
313
00:25:29,376 --> 00:25:34,176
It doesn't have to be; we have somebody else right now, but you could.
314
00:25:34,176 --> 00:25:38,976
Literally start taking all of your admin work that you do and start running.
315
00:25:38,976 --> 00:25:48,576
It through this pipeline of documentation, so that you are ready and also really figuring out where your gaps are because you probably don't have everything documented either.
316
00:25:48,576 --> 00:25:49,696
Most of us don't, right?
317
00:25:49,696 --> 00:25:52,709
There's always something, and so I think that this.
318
00:25:52,709 --> 00:26:07,776
Is just such a useful endeavor for anybody who wants to grow their business or just run it more smoothly, or foresees bringing anybody in to help administratively in the future, and especially if, like, long term, you guys are wanting to sell your business.
319
00:26:08,176 --> 00:26:08,816
Well, guess what?
320
00:26:08,816 --> 00:26:10,176
This makes it more valuable.
321
00:26:10,256 --> 00:26:23,296
The more that you do this, the more valuable your business becomes when it comes to like a selling point because they want to see systems; they want, a business that is not relying on the owner to do everything, right?
322
00:26:23,296 --> 00:26:26,896
That is not a valuable business to most buyers, right?
323
00:26:26,896 --> 00:26:31,616
So every time we do things, we're making Serene Clean more valuable.
324
00:26:31,616 --> 00:26:36,576
The more that we document, so not—that I have any plans of selling, so nobody email me about it.
325
00:26:36,816 --> 00:26:46,112
But the point is, like if I were to make my business as Attractive as possible to buy, it's probably going to be super well run.
326
00:26:46,112 --> 00:26:48,272
It's probably going to be running very smoothly.
327
00:26:48,272 --> 00:26:52,032
So, what would that look like if I had to sell my business?
328
00:26:52,032 --> 00:26:56,752
If I had to hand the whole thing off, could somebody come in and do the thing?
329
00:26:56,752 --> 00:27:03,392
And if not, or they couldn't figure it out, based on our documentation, then there's still room for improvement, right?
330
00:27:03,392 --> 00:27:13,072
And so that is why we made the decision to start moving everything into ClickUp, managing everything there so that it's universal, and really trying to limit where information is.
331
00:27:13,072 --> 00:27:13,232
Right?
332
00:27:13,232 --> 00:27:15,792
We still have Google Drive; we've got ClickUp.
333
00:27:16,192 --> 00:27:28,308
We will hopefully actually be moving away from Trainul, which I know shocks some people, but with Made Path in the works at ZenMaid, which is going to be a training platform that we can move our orientation to.
334
00:27:28,308 --> 00:27:34,832
And in certain things over there, I hope to cancel Trainul, and then that's one less place to go for that.
335
00:27:34,912 --> 00:27:36,512
So that's super duper exciting!
336
00:27:36,512 --> 00:27:41,552
Actually, just had a call with Amar talking about Made Path this morning, so I'm super excited about it.
337
00:27:41,552 --> 00:27:42,032
I don't know.
338
00:27:42,032 --> 00:27:42,992
When it's coming out, guys.
339
00:27:43,072 --> 00:27:46,352
Don't ask me, but it is in the works and that will save me a bunch of money.
340
00:27:46,512 --> 00:27:53,456
But this is a good, good point of like really using the right software, auditing where all of your stuff is.
341
00:27:53,456 --> 00:28:01,392
And that anything that is a sticky note or in your brain is probably not particularly useful when you need to hand something off.
342
00:28:01,392 --> 00:28:13,232
So I know so many of you want to eventually be able to have a business that does not need you every single day on everything because that just you know that's the worst job ever, right?
343
00:28:13,232 --> 00:28:16,512
And I'm not saying it doesn't have to be that way right now, right?
344
00:28:16,512 --> 00:28:21,552
Maybe it does need to be like that, but can we work towards documentation like this?
345
00:28:21,632 --> 00:28:23,552
And again, things are gonna change.
346
00:28:28,217 --> 00:28:34,272
This can be quick and dirty, and that's why I'm just going to keep coming back to Loom because I think that it's such an efficient way for all of us to document something, get it out of our head, and talk through it, right?
347
00:28:34,272 --> 00:28:38,592
Because a lot of times, like click here, click here, it's so difficult to document that in anything.
348
00:28:39,872 --> 00:28:40,912
Inefficient, right?
349
00:28:40,912 --> 00:28:42,192
So I really like this.
350
00:28:42,192 --> 00:28:47,312
I know there are other software options as well that can watch your mouse move and turn that into an SOP or whatever.
351
00:28:47,392 --> 00:28:53,472
But people like to watch a video; they like to hear it get explained, and they can just follow along with the video on how to do something, right?
352
00:28:53,472 --> 00:28:55,232
So I'm just a big fan of that.
353
00:28:55,232 --> 00:29:01,472
That's how my brain works: I want to follow along with a video or have a very straightforward checklist so I can be like, "do this first," "do this."
354
00:29:01,472 --> 00:29:03,792
And so, yes, I'm a big fan of this.
355
00:29:03,792 --> 00:29:08,112
So all of that to be said, I'm really glad that this happened.
356
00:29:08,192 --> 00:29:19,952
And you know, at the end of the day, I really want to plan for the worst version and then if it's better, meaning April can work sooner than we anticipate, great—that's a bonus.
357
00:29:19,952 --> 00:29:24,272
But I want to prepare for the worst: April is going to be completely unavailable.
358
00:29:24,592 --> 00:29:25,712
What would that look like?
359
00:29:25,712 --> 00:29:29,552
How do we make sure that everything gets done and gets done on time?
360
00:29:29,952 --> 00:29:31,232
That's very important, right?
361
00:29:31,232 --> 00:29:36,432
I don't want to be paying credit card fees; I don't want to not invoice somebody correctly or on time—that type of thing.
362
00:29:36,432 --> 00:29:38,352
So we need to run payroll on time.
363
00:29:38,352 --> 00:29:49,872
Like these things need, happened so this is a really useful lesson, and I'm really glad that it happened so that we can continue to hone and improve the documentation within Serene Clean.
364
00:29:49,872 --> 00:29:54,175
So, I guess my homework for you guys, after listening to this, is that.
365
00:29:54,175 --> 00:30:07,392
I really want you to think about starting with one area, one area of task that you do, or maybe if you do have an office person that they do, that if you had to be gone, what would somebody need to know?
366
00:30:07,872 --> 00:30:11,232
And where would they be documented for them to be successful, right?
367
00:30:11,232 --> 00:30:12,672
And start working through that.
368
00:30:12,672 --> 00:30:15,331
And it does not need to be perfect documentation.
369
00:30:15,331 --> 00:30:21,240
Again, go listen to the book "Buy Back your Time," he really talks about like doing three versions of something.
370
00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:31,877
And what I mean by that is, like, if you're going to run payroll, for example, run through it three times and just record three different times because that will help capture some of those oddities.
371
00:30:31,877 --> 00:30:38,672
And, well, you know, because as you guys know, not every single thing is done the same exact way every single time, right?
372
00:30:38,672 --> 00:30:48,832
And then the other Thing I wanted to mention is, I really am trying to be better about knowing when my other managers are off to understand the flow of the office better.
373
00:30:48,912 --> 00:30:57,472
So for example, when April's going to be off for these several weeks, I'm like cool Katie Crystal, do you have any days that you guys are going to be off during this time as well?
374
00:30:57,712 --> 00:30:59,712
And what needs to get done in your guys' end?
375
00:30:59,712 --> 00:31:05,872
What do we need to rearrange there and looking at the office as a whole entity with Crystal taking on the invoicing.
376
00:31:05,872 --> 00:31:11,872
Another thing that she's doing is she is going to limit interviews because she is responsible for the interviews.
377
00:31:12,112 --> 00:31:16,432
We're also not going to be starting anybody unless it's an absolute emergency.
378
00:31:16,672 --> 00:31:23,472
The first week that April's gone because managing a new staff member is a lot of administrative work and communication.
379
00:31:23,472 --> 00:31:28,592
So if we could just cut that possibility off, the goal is just to keep it nice and steady, right?
380
00:31:28,592 --> 00:31:30,752
So as you guys do take vacations, right?
381
00:31:30,752 --> 00:31:33,872
Maybe don't start somebody the week before, right?
382
00:31:33,872 --> 00:31:39,392
Maybe don't start you know a new client if possible that week like we just try to keep it nice and steady during this time.
383
00:31:39,392 --> 00:31:45,312
These types of times, and really look at okay cool like what could we limit because we're going to be down one woman.
384
00:31:45,552 --> 00:31:49,952
What could we limit as a whole entity of work for the business?
385
00:31:50,272 --> 00:31:53,232
Well, we can do less interviews during those those days.
386
00:31:53,232 --> 00:31:56,050
We can not bring somebody on X Y Z.
387
00:31:56,050 --> 00:32:00,746
Right, there's certain things that could be just paused just to help with that workload.
388
00:32:00,746 --> 00:32:07,633
So, that would be another thing, is like what really really needs to get done versus what can wait until the break.
389
00:32:07,633 --> 00:32:07,946
Right?
390
00:32:07,946 --> 00:32:15,460
So, all of that said, I would love to hear if you guys can leave in the comments what task or is your task.
391
00:32:15,460 --> 00:32:17,652
I want to hold you to it.
392
00:32:17,652 --> 00:32:20,156
Okay, leave me something down in the comments.
393
00:32:20,156 --> 00:32:23,600
What is the task that you want to get documented fully?
394
00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:26,418
With the due date, with how to do it.
395
00:32:26,418 --> 00:32:32,992
The links to whatever things they need and websites or Google Drive spreadsheet that they need to get the thing done.
396
00:32:33,632 --> 00:32:35,472
I want you guys to put it down below.
397
00:32:35,472 --> 00:32:39,232
I want to hear what you need to document and I would love to hear.
398
00:32:39,392 --> 00:32:40,832
Your thoughts in general.
399
00:32:41,072 --> 00:32:45,392
As always, any ideas for podcast episodes are always welcome, guys.
400
00:32:45,792 --> 00:32:50,112
I'd love to see you subscribe to the ZenMaid newsletter, and it is completely free.
401
00:32:50,112 --> 00:32:52,592
You do not need to be a ZenMaid customer.
402
00:32:52,832 --> 00:33:00,512
And every single week they're putting out really great content, educational content, and super valuable stuff so that you can learn and grow.
403
00:33:00,832 --> 00:33:08,992
And if you respond to that newsletter email with a question you have for me, we'll add it to our list for future podcast episodes.
404
00:33:08,992 --> 00:33:11,712
So please hit that like, hit that subscribe, guys!
405
00:33:11,712 --> 00:33:14,112
And we will see you in the next episode of Filthy Rich Cleaners.
406
00:33:14,272 --> 00:33:14,512
Bye bye.
407
00:33:14,752 --> 00:33:21,472
If you enjoyed this episode of the Filthy Rich Cleaners Podcast, please be sure to leave us a five-star review so we can reach more cleaners like you.
408
00:33:21,792 --> 00:33:25,072
Until next time, keep your work clean and your business filthy rich.
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:00,880
Hello, my friends!
2
00:00:00,880 --> 00:00:03,760
So excited for you to watch this episode.
3
00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:08,480
A little parental advisory: there are swear words in this episode.
4
00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:11,440
So if you got little ears, put those headphones in.
5
00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:13,920
Save this for your car ride between jobs.
6
00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:14,960
Let's get into it.
7
00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:24,640
This is Filthy Rich Cleaners presented by ZenMaid, the podcast where real cleaning business owners share what works so you can earn more, stress less, and make your business filthy rich.
8
00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:26,080
Hello, my friends.
9
00:00:26,080 --> 00:00:29,120
Welcome or welcome back to the Filthy Rich Cleaners podcast.
10
00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:41,520
I am your host Stephanie from Serene Clean, and today we are going to be talking about the importance of running practice absences or practice rounds of people being gone.
11
00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:49,280
Whether that be you, whether that be a cleaner, whether that be an administrative person that you have working in your company.
12
00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:54,160
And the reason this came to my attention is we are having this happen.
13
00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:59,840
It's not like it's the first time that any of my office managers have taken a vacation.
14
00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:03,600
Or a trip, but coming up in October.
15
00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:06,800
I believe let's see, October eighth through the twenty-sixth.
16
00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:17,920
One of my office managers, April, is going to be out of the office and will most likely be unavailable or very limited availability while she is out.
17
00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:23,920
And we are seven years into April working for me now, or she's coming up on her seven-year anniversary.
18
00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:32,000
We're coming up on seven and a half years in business, and there are still things that are not documented.
19
00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:35,120
And this is how we realized it.
20
00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:50,000
And this was such a useful realization this past week in our ops meeting that there are still areas of April's job and responsibilities that live in her head, and this is a problem.
21
00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:53,120
And April is incredible; she's amazing.
22
00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:54,480
I love her, April.
23
00:01:54,480 --> 00:02:04,800
If you're watching this, you know how amazing you are, and this is still a problem because this is exactly what is going to happen with every one of your team members.
24
00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:12,640
Eventually, they are going to take a trip; they are going to have to be out for a planned absence, for an unplanned absence.
25
00:02:12,640 --> 00:02:14,880
People get sick—all sorts of things, right?
26
00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:17,920
So we know this is going to happen.
27
00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:22,320
So we need to be proactive instead of reactive.
28
00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:31,520
Of course, when somebody is out in an unplanned circumstance, there is a level of reactivity to it, especially when we're talking about our cleaning tasks, right?
29
00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:34,960
Like there is some things that you have to go do the physical labor, right?
30
00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:39,680
And sometimes clients need to get canceled on; things need to get rearranged, right?
31
00:02:39,920 --> 00:02:48,800
But when it comes to all of the admin-level of things that need to get done in our businesses, this is where proactivity can really be helpful.
32
00:02:49,200 --> 00:03:03,200
And a lot of times, especially when I'm having consult calls with you guys, or I'm getting Email questions from you and you're like, "Hey, I'm having a baby in like a month," like I really want to get one of my cleaners into the office, right?
33
00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:04,480
Or what should I be doing?
34
00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:06,560
And I'm just—I just want to be like.
35
00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:15,600
Well, we should have been thinking about this a couple months prior because the ideal time to start figuring this stuff out is now.
36
00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:21,280
It's not when the person is gone; it's not a week before they're gone because then you start to panic.
37
00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:35,520
So, this is proving to be a really fruitful exercise for us because we have time still—we have just under a month out—and we are putting several things into place to prepare for this.
38
00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:43,200
And so I want to outline what that's looking like practically for us, so that you can take it into your business and run practice rounds.
39
00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:47,920
And it may be that you don't have anybody leaving right now, but what if we pretend?
40
00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:50,560
What if this person was going to be off?
41
00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:51,600
What would happen?
42
00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:54,960
What happens if this client or cleaner calls out?
43
00:03:54,960 --> 00:03:59,840
What happens if all of a sudden somebody limits their availability or gets sick?
44
00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:02,080
Sick or whatever, like what's going to happen?
45
00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:09,760
And of course, at the end of the day, as the owners, we are usually going to be the ones doing the most.
46
00:04:10,752 --> 00:04:12,832
Until you get to a certain level, right?
47
00:04:12,832 --> 00:04:17,792
And so for most of our listeners here at Filthy Rich Cleaners, you guys are still doing the most, right?
48
00:04:17,872 --> 00:04:22,432
And so you may just start bringing people in to the office.
49
00:04:22,432 --> 00:04:25,072
So you could be looking at your responsibilities.
50
00:04:25,232 --> 00:04:30,512
What happens when you want to take a vacation or you are sick or X Y Z?
51
00:04:30,672 --> 00:04:36,752
So the nice thing is it's easier to run a practice round on yourself, I think, than other people.
52
00:04:36,752 --> 00:04:40,009
So we will run through what that looks like.
53
00:04:40,009 --> 00:04:47,971
You guys know I've mentioned if you are a listener, I have mentioned the book *Buy Back your Time* several times throughout.
54
00:04:47,971 --> 00:04:59,552
Many, many episodes because it was such a valuable book to me, and it helped me really introduce a lot of the concepts that we have put into practice at Serene Clean.
55
00:04:59,872 --> 00:05:04,432
But there still is clearly room to implement those lessons.
56
00:05:04,432 --> 00:05:10,272
And so let it be known: we are not perfect; we still have a ton of room to improve.
57
00:05:10,352 --> 00:05:12,512
Serene Clean, and this is a perfect example.
58
00:05:12,752 --> 00:05:26,752
And I'm so grateful that this came up now because it is pushing us to grow as an operational entity, meaning the manager team, the management team is able to grow together because of this planned absence.
59
00:05:26,752 --> 00:05:37,392
And it's like really pushing us to look at every single role of like okay, great, like now that this is happening in this particular aspect of the administrative work, what about the other areas?
60
00:05:37,392 --> 00:05:38,752
What happens if Crystal's off?
61
00:05:38,752 --> 00:05:39,952
What happens if Katie's off?
62
00:05:40,192 --> 00:05:42,432
Is there anything that's not documented?
63
00:05:42,672 --> 00:05:47,952
How are we going to rearrange the workload and literally divvying up the tasks and when are they due?
64
00:05:47,952 --> 00:05:51,312
Like getting really nitty gritty, so let's just get into it.
65
00:05:51,392 --> 00:05:55,792
I want to explain how we worked through it and what made us realize this.
66
00:05:55,792 --> 00:06:02,192
So last week we had our weekly operations meeting which we do every single Monday for two to three hours.
67
00:06:02,192 --> 00:06:05,072
Which I know you may be like, Stephanie, what could you possibly talk about?
68
00:06:05,072 --> 00:06:10,192
Well, you guys know I can talk, that's not a problem, but what could you possibly like have to talk about for?
69
00:06:10,352 --> 00:06:16,512
Hours every week, we oftentimes go way over and we need more time because there's just so much.
70
00:06:16,512 --> 00:06:21,690
There's so much, and I find this to be one of my favorite parts of my week.
71
00:06:21,690 --> 00:06:29,608
It really makes me make sure that progress is continuing on Serene Clean and all of the departments are moving forward and getting their questions answered.
72
00:06:29,608 --> 00:06:33,872
We are uncovering things that are problems that maybe we did not realize before.
73
00:06:33,872 --> 00:06:45,274
So, one thing is really sitting down and having time and going through like every area of the business, of like what is going on in that, and basically doing—we have an agenda for our ops.
74
00:06:45,274 --> 00:06:56,992
Meeting—and so, even if you are a one-man band or one-woman band right now, I think that setting aside time to go through the departments on a weekly basis and be like, "what is the status here?"
75
00:06:56,992 --> 00:06:58,272
What do I feel good about?
76
00:06:58,272 --> 00:06:59,472
What's not going well?"
77
00:06:59,552 --> 00:07:00,672
And going over the numbers.
78
00:07:00,672 --> 00:07:10,192
So, before we even get to this, obviously understand—like, understanding what you should be tracking—is the first and foremost thing, which I know I've done many episodes at.
79
00:07:10,352 --> 00:07:19,549
Tracking all of the time, but that's going to be the ground zero of what you build an operations meeting off of is going to be the numbers, right?
80
00:07:19,549 --> 00:07:23,672
Because we start talking and analyzing the numbers, and that is the basis.
81
00:07:23,672 --> 00:07:28,112
There's a lot of things that also get talked about in the ops meeting.
82
00:07:28,112 --> 00:07:30,432
Of course, things like, well, who's the problem child this week?
83
00:07:30,432 --> 00:07:38,477
I jokingly say that every week at meeting, like which staff member do we need to be watching, like going through all of the staff members, what's going on with them.
84
00:07:38,477 --> 00:07:44,965
Going through the hiring and what the pipeline is looking at, looking at the ads, looking at the marketing, looking at the close rates.
85
00:07:44,965 --> 00:07:47,300
Like, right, like, that's what that's what it is.
86
00:07:47,300 --> 00:07:55,605
Tactically, you're just going through and getting a state of the union, if you will, and figuring out where everything is progressing on our different areas and projects and stuff like that.
87
00:07:55,605 --> 00:08:02,352
So, number one thing I think is it is really valuable to have this time, and so this is when this came up was last Wednesday.
88
00:08:02,352 --> 00:08:05,552
Is we knew April's absence is coming up.
89
00:08:05,632 --> 00:08:10,352
The first thing I want to say is that we need to be treating a planned absence like any other responsibility.
90
00:08:10,352 --> 00:08:14,832
An audit, not an emergency because this isn't an emergency.
91
00:08:14,832 --> 00:08:17,632
We know it's coming; we've known it's coming, which is fantastic.
92
00:08:17,632 --> 00:08:19,552
This is literally the ideal situation.
93
00:08:19,952 --> 00:08:21,872
Not every situation is going to be like this.
94
00:08:21,872 --> 00:08:28,272
Most times when people are gonna be absent, it's not typically planned because something is happening right in their personal life.
95
00:08:28,272 --> 00:08:32,992
So this is a perfect opportunity for us because it is planned.
96
00:08:32,992 --> 00:08:38,672
So this is like the perfect runway for trying out what I'm about to describe.
97
00:08:38,912 --> 00:08:44,112
So for you guys, when I say if nobody has a planned absence, could you pretend?
98
00:08:44,432 --> 00:08:54,912
If you had to pick a date two months from now that your admin person or you are going to be off for a week, for two weeks, right?
99
00:08:55,392 --> 00:08:56,272
What would break?
100
00:08:56,272 --> 00:08:57,632
What would not work?
101
00:08:57,632 --> 00:09:00,189
And then you just start granularly breaking it down.
102
00:09:00,189 --> 00:09:03,599
It may feel like well everything would break because they do everything.
103
00:09:03,599 --> 00:09:03,883
Okay.
104
00:09:03,883 --> 00:09:05,872
Well, let's start with the first thing.
105
00:09:05,952 --> 00:09:07,312
What would be the first thing that breaks?
106
00:09:07,392 --> 00:09:09,276
And then we start to document that.
107
00:09:09,276 --> 00:09:10,352
We start to explain.
108
00:09:10,352 --> 00:09:12,432
And we start to put due dates on it, right?
109
00:09:12,432 --> 00:09:24,112
So what we did then is we worked through the calendar that she is going to be gone and looked at like daily tasks, weekly tasks, sporadic tasks.
110
00:09:24,192 --> 00:09:27,542
Okay, so that would be what I would do for you: I.
111
00:09:27,542 --> 00:09:37,872
Would work through like what needs to get done every day by, this role or person, what needs to be done every week, and what needs to be done sporadically, or maybe it's like a rotating basis.
112
00:09:37,872 --> 00:09:42,912
So, for example, with April's position, she is my payroll and accounts manager.
113
00:09:42,912 --> 00:09:59,312
So she runs all of the payroll; she does all of the invoicing, anything to do with billing or payment—that is her she also ensures that all of our credit cards are paid on time, with all of the transactions if I could speak, holy crap!
114
00:09:59,552 --> 00:10:03,472
All of the transactions are categorized correctly.
115
00:10:03,472 --> 00:10:04,592
She is doing that.
116
00:10:04,752 --> 00:10:08,512
She is going to be paying any manual bills that are coming in.
117
00:10:08,512 --> 00:10:10,272
She is going to be processing checks.
118
00:10:10,432 --> 00:10:15,232
Literally anything to do with accounts receivable or accounts payable that is April's responsibility.
119
00:10:15,392 --> 00:10:29,449
So the final area is going to be then inventory, is her other responsibility as inventory, and there are other things like maintaining vacuums and some miscellaneous stuff, but these are the heavy hitter responsibilities of her we started just going through, okay, what happens?
120
00:10:29,449 --> 00:10:30,992
What do you do every day?
121
00:10:31,072 --> 00:10:35,221
Like what do you need to do every day, and start diving it up.
122
00:10:35,221 --> 00:10:39,667
Cool, invoicing needs to be done every day, well, who is going to do that?
123
00:10:39,667 --> 00:10:44,705
And we kind of like talked about could we divide it up amongst the rest of us.
124
00:10:44,705 --> 00:10:47,668
And then crystal said, awesome, I will take on invoicing.
125
00:10:47,668 --> 00:10:49,447
Crystal is going to handle invoicing.
126
00:10:49,447 --> 00:10:57,152
Done, cool, and all of the invoicing notes are within that client's details in ZenMaid, so we have the details how much they should get charged.
127
00:10:57,152 --> 00:11:03,232
Like everything that crystal needs in order to fully complete invoicing, is there on the residential side?
128
00:11:03,472 --> 00:11:07,114
On the commercial side, though, we had some gaps.
129
00:11:07,114 --> 00:11:10,352
So, for example, I started digging into April.
130
00:11:10,352 --> 00:11:13,392
How do you know when to do the invoices?
131
00:11:13,712 --> 00:11:18,752
Meaning, the commercial invoices—the ones that are not done after every single service.
132
00:11:19,488 --> 00:11:25,008
And this is where we realized that there were some things that were still a little bit spread out.
133
00:11:25,008 --> 00:11:28,528
So, we have as you guys know and you're probably sick of hearing about ClickUp.
134
00:11:28,768 --> 00:11:39,488
We have really moved towards moving everything into ClickUp as much as possible because ClickUp has due dates, it has subtasks, it has recurring tasks, and so that is really what we're moving towards.
135
00:11:39,488 --> 00:11:44,848
But previous to that, my managers had really used Outlook for a lot of their reminders.
136
00:11:44,848 --> 00:11:55,408
So, you know your Gmail, which I know many of you guys are probably using your email or other basic like to do list that type of thing for your what needs to get done and when right?
137
00:11:55,408 --> 00:12:07,008
And so for us, we really want to keep our email tasks set to like meetings, like that's what I keep my email for.
138
00:12:07,088 --> 00:12:16,608
Email all of the things in my calendar are only related to meetings where I am having to communicate with another person that is going to be in my email.
139
00:12:16,688 --> 00:12:19,168
Everything else is in ClickUp because that is a task management tool.
140
00:12:19,168 --> 00:12:23,968
I need to do my meetings, and they are also in ClickUp so that I can see everything I'm doing that day.
141
00:12:24,208 --> 00:12:29,888
But otherwise, what happens is things kind of get spread out, like do I need to do something or do I need to meet with somebody?
142
00:12:29,968 --> 00:12:37,596
For all of the invoicing, you know, a lot of that is automated because it's set up on a regular cadence.
143
00:12:37,596 --> 00:12:41,592
We just have it set on auto-invoice in QuickBooks, easy peasy.
144
00:12:41,592 --> 00:12:51,036
But there still were a couple that the reminder is in April's Outlook on the first and the fifteenth to remind her to send the invoice.
145
00:12:51,036 --> 00:12:51,399
Right.
146
00:12:51,399 --> 00:12:54,669
That's not the right place for it to be.
147
00:12:54,669 --> 00:12:56,848
It needs to be in ClickUp.
148
00:12:56,848 --> 00:13:05,488
It needs to start getting moved over there so once we started asking questions about like, are there any invoices that are unusual or anything like that?
149
00:13:05,488 --> 00:13:12,304
And that nuance is where things can get really messy when somebody's out because it's like, great, you got like ninety percent of the thing.
150
00:13:12,304 --> 00:13:12,577
Right?
151
00:13:12,577 --> 00:13:18,848
Invoicing, ninety percent of that is good, but all of these kind of like edge cases is where things can get really messy.
152
00:13:19,168 --> 00:13:27,808
And so it's a perfect example of where we can make sure that process is in the right place and tagged with the due dates, so that nothing gets missed.
153
00:13:27,808 --> 00:13:29,168
So that was an invoicing task.
154
00:13:29,168 --> 00:13:32,448
There were some other things that were still in our head, right?
155
00:13:32,448 --> 00:13:37,888
So things like reordering for our largest account—like where do we go for that, right?
156
00:13:37,888 --> 00:13:45,408
Because the task was in ClickUp, meaning reorder, like check supplies for that account, right?
157
00:13:45,408 --> 00:13:49,808
Because we do order our like stuff directly to that account; it's kind of an outlier, right?
158
00:13:50,048 --> 00:13:54,208
So it's like cool—you need to reorder—but where do I go for that?
159
00:13:54,208 --> 00:14:00,608
What spreadsheet is the correct one to go to for reordering that stuff?
160
00:14:00,608 --> 00:14:02,976
So it's painful, guys.
161
00:14:02,976 --> 00:14:12,608
When I describe everything about what I'm describing in this episode, it's really fucking boring and nobody wants to do it, but it must be done.
162
00:14:12,608 --> 00:14:18,608
It must be done, and it is just something that you need the discipline to slog through.
163
00:14:18,608 --> 00:14:26,628
And once you do it once, it does get easier and the gaps get smaller and smaller as to what, like, what needs to be done, right?
164
00:14:26,628 --> 00:14:35,878
Because most of April's job is has been documented really thoroughly, but these are the little gaps that would trip us up, of like being able to complete something fully, right?
165
00:14:35,878 --> 00:14:39,758
Like, "cool, I need to check the supplies for this one account, right?"
166
00:14:39,758 --> 00:14:48,113
The big, the big account, great, I see that task I see when I'm supposed to be doing it, but where do I go to do this, right?
167
00:14:49,008 --> 00:14:54,678
So there was a gap there, so literally running through everything from start to finish to completely have that thing done correctly.
168
00:14:54,678 --> 00:14:56,170
What does that look like?
169
00:14:56,170 --> 00:14:59,452
And then any gaps we need to fill those gaps right.
170
00:14:59,452 --> 00:15:00,646
That was one example.
171
00:15:00,646 --> 00:15:02,734
Another one was the credit card payments.
172
00:15:02,734 --> 00:15:04,226
You know, the Amazon card.
173
00:15:04,226 --> 00:15:05,718
We have two credit cards.
174
00:15:05,718 --> 00:15:07,509
The Amazon card is on auto-pay.
175
00:15:07,509 --> 00:15:09,001
The Chase card is not.
176
00:15:09,001 --> 00:15:11,090
So, what do we need to do?
177
00:15:11,090 --> 00:15:18,251
We need to assign it and click up with the due date and the link to the how-to, the login, all of that stuff.
178
00:15:18,251 --> 00:15:20,448
So, like just making sure it's like cool.
179
00:15:20,448 --> 00:15:23,248
We know we need to pay the credit card, like we know we need to do that.
180
00:15:23,248 --> 00:15:27,808
What does it mean to do that in completion fully and that nobody ever forgets it again?
181
00:15:28,208 --> 00:15:29,488
It needs to have a due date.
182
00:15:29,488 --> 00:15:31,408
It needs to have a recurring task, right?
183
00:15:31,408 --> 00:15:33,000
And so, this is why.
184
00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:39,369
Like, I know you guys are sick of me talking about getting a task management software, but it's just I.
185
00:15:39,369 --> 00:15:47,648
Honestly, can't believe we were able to like do anything before we implemented one because it just makes all of the like, it's so overwhelming, right?
186
00:15:47,648 --> 00:15:49,888
Like I know how overwhelmed you guys are.
187
00:15:49,888 --> 00:15:55,248
I know how overwhelmed I was and how sometimes I still get even with a task management software.
188
00:15:55,248 --> 00:16:08,206
So, at the very least, if you don't want to have some type of software for this, be do like religiously using your email like events or todos and making sure you're setting due dates.
189
00:16:08,206 --> 00:16:11,168
And you treat that thing like the Bible.
190
00:16:11,248 --> 00:16:12,688
Like, we are going by this.
191
00:16:12,688 --> 00:16:19,168
This needs to be done, then, because if you don't, if you don't have the discipline to use something like that, things can go wrong.
192
00:16:19,168 --> 00:16:20,928
Are really gonna fall apart?
193
00:16:21,008 --> 00:16:28,048
Like it's going to fall apart because as soon as you do want a vacation, as soon as somebody is off and all of a sudden you're like cool.
194
00:16:28,048 --> 00:16:31,888
This is the list of things that, like I'm sure you know, all the things that you do right.
195
00:16:32,048 --> 00:16:33,728
But when do they need to get done?
196
00:16:33,968 --> 00:16:35,488
Like really start separating.
197
00:16:35,488 --> 00:16:42,528
Like a good exercise may be to like really start separating your tasks by like daily, weekly, monthly, and sporadic.
198
00:16:42,528 --> 00:16:44,768
Like just like create a chart and start brain dumping.
199
00:16:44,768 --> 00:16:45,808
Like what do I do every day?
200
00:16:45,808 --> 00:16:46,928
What needs to be done every day?
201
00:16:47,248 --> 00:16:50,848
And then we start working through each of those and documenting each of those.
202
00:16:50,928 --> 00:16:52,208
And it is a slog.
203
00:16:52,208 --> 00:16:53,408
Quick little break here.
204
00:16:53,488 --> 00:17:03,973
If you have ever been listening to the Filthy Rich Cleaners podcast and thought oh my gosh, Stephanie would die at this story, well guess what guys, I want to hear that story okay.
205
00:17:03,973 --> 00:17:12,608
We are looking for guest applications for the show, and I know many of you have never been on a podcast before but those are my favorite episodes.
206
00:17:12,608 --> 00:17:16,288
To be frank, is the owners who are just here to share their stories?
207
00:17:16,288 --> 00:17:27,888
So, if you are an owner who wants to share your story or Perhaps you would like to have a free consulting call with me and ask me your questions live for everybody else to learn from.
208
00:17:28,208 --> 00:17:38,341
That is also an option, and then finally, if you know somebody in our industry, you have a friend or somebody that you look up to and have learned from, who you think would be a good reference.
209
00:17:38,341 --> 00:17:47,408
Be a great guest option for us, please go to the link down in the bio, and we would love to see you apply or nominate them, and we will take it from there.
210
00:17:47,488 --> 00:17:51,728
And I would love to have a conversation with you and get to know you more closely.
211
00:17:52,048 --> 00:17:56,113
Back to the show: I am going to recommend a lot of you.
212
00:17:56,113 --> 00:18:09,248
Guys, like, really like the idea of an SOP, which I understand, but your version of an SOP is like a booklet with pictures, and all of these things, and I do not recommend you go that route because things change, right?
213
00:18:09,248 --> 00:18:15,168
Things change, and doing instructions like that—it's so much work when you don't need to do it that way.
214
00:18:15,248 --> 00:18:17,648
When software like Loom exists, right?
215
00:18:17,648 --> 00:18:19,088
Like you—I've mentioned Loom before.
216
00:18:19,728 --> 00:18:24,128
Many times, this is a perfect example of the ideal reason we have Loom.
217
00:18:24,368 --> 00:18:26,208
Is so you can just record yourself, right?
218
00:18:26,208 --> 00:18:28,128
Record yourself doing the thing.
219
00:18:28,128 --> 00:18:30,848
You don't need to make a booklet or anything like that.
220
00:18:31,168 --> 00:18:32,688
Quick and dirty.
221
00:18:32,688 --> 00:18:33,858
Attach that Loom.
222
00:18:33,858 --> 00:18:39,648
You know, you could take the transcript, give that to AI, and say, Hey, make a checklist for this.
223
00:18:39,728 --> 00:18:42,128
I love a checklist outside of the field too.
224
00:18:42,368 --> 00:18:45,728
A checklist in the office is amazing because it's like boom, boom, boom.
225
00:18:45,728 --> 00:18:49,088
Just do it this way, and then now you do have written instructions.
226
00:18:49,168 --> 00:18:51,008
You have a video that goes along with it.
227
00:18:51,248 --> 00:18:55,568
You have the due date, and you have all the links that are associated with that task.
228
00:18:55,648 --> 00:18:55,968
Boom!
229
00:18:55,968 --> 00:18:58,128
Now that is fully documented.
230
00:18:58,208 --> 00:18:59,248
It is ready to go.
231
00:18:59,248 --> 00:19:00,368
It's ready to pass off.
232
00:19:00,368 --> 00:19:08,448
And if something changes, it's very easy to just re-record the process or add a little note about what changed, like at minute blah blah blah.
233
00:19:08,448 --> 00:19:09,568
Do this instead, right?
234
00:19:09,808 --> 00:19:14,480
So, all of that to say, that's what documentation truly looks like.
235
00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:20,480
You do not need to make a 30-page SOP for anything; nobody is going to read that, and it's a waste of your time.
236
00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:24,160
So please, please, please start using screen recordings.
237
00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:27,600
And again, Loom is very, very affordable—just highly recommend.
238
00:19:27,600 --> 00:19:37,440
Okay, the next step that has been crucial for us is doing practice runs before her absence.
239
00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:42,320
And so, the practice run specifically that we're talking about is running payroll.
240
00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:42,800
Okay?
241
00:19:43,120 --> 00:19:46,435
So payroll is definitely the most time-consuming and complex.
242
00:19:46,435 --> 00:19:58,960
Part of April's job, and it's not something that you could just give somebody instructions to do something, and we would feel comfortable that they're going to get it right the first time, right?
243
00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:04,880
Because there's so much variance; there are so many random things that come up with payroll—payroll, right?
244
00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:07,760
What if they have something that we need to reimburse them for?
245
00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:14,320
What if there's a random "whatever" like there's just so there's so much random shit that goes into payroll to make sure it's accurate.
246
00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:18,080
That we are not comfortable with just being like, okay cool.
247
00:20:18,080 --> 00:20:19,520
We don't need you to show us it.
248
00:20:19,520 --> 00:20:21,040
We don't need to run practice runs.
249
00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:24,400
You can just hand off right and really for most things we don't want to do that.
250
00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:26,320
We wanna watch the person.
251
00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:33,120
We want them to practice it and then us check it right or whoever is responsible for that task originally they check it.
252
00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:40,960
It's just like honestly how we do ideal client handoffs in the field when we are switching off a client to a new cleaner right?
253
00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:49,968
Like the ideal situation is the current cleaner has the new cleaner go with them to at least two appointments, and then it is now that other cleaner's client right?
254
00:20:49,968 --> 00:20:55,920
That is the ideal because they can see the home even though we're following our checklist they can run through.
255
00:20:55,920 --> 00:20:58,620
They can make sure everything's perfect at least twice.
256
00:20:58,620 --> 00:21:05,520
And then it is not that handoff that transition is beautiful, and it's very likely that the client is going to be happy.
257
00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:10,320
So we treat that with some of these more complex office tasks in the same manner.
258
00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:11,920
So, for example, payroll.
259
00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:17,229
Veronica, my executive assistant, is going to be doing payroll while April is out.
260
00:21:17,229 --> 00:21:24,000
And there's a couple reasons that we decided to do it that way, because the really main one is.
261
00:21:24,848 --> 00:21:31,168
Instead of Katie or Crystal taking on payroll, we have Veronica available for work.
262
00:21:31,328 --> 00:21:38,848
But the more complicated thing than payroll is client communication and rearranging schedules and all of these other things.
263
00:21:39,088 --> 00:21:47,248
So we would rather Katie and Crystal do anything customer-facing because they have all of the context they need.
264
00:21:47,248 --> 00:21:55,448
They've talked to these people; it's going to be much easier for them to take any of that communication on and stay open for that as opposed.
265
00:21:55,448 --> 00:22:03,648
To doing payroll, which we can train her to not have to talk to anybody or anything like that, because there is a time difference as well.
266
00:22:03,648 --> 00:22:08,928
So it made the most sense for Veronica to take this on instead of the other managers.
267
00:22:09,008 --> 00:22:15,808
Additionally, like there's a decent amount of time to get payroll done because it's due on Thursday evenings every week.
268
00:22:16,048 --> 00:22:23,328
Instead of with like client communications, this may need to be done very timely; like we need to get back to them quickly, we need to answer questions, whatever.
269
00:22:23,328 --> 00:22:24,448
So it just made the most sense.
270
00:22:24,448 --> 00:22:32,368
Of like really looking at the workload and who does it make the most sense to do that thing right, and so it made the most sense for Veronica to do the payroll.
271
00:22:32,608 --> 00:22:41,466
So the first thing that we did was we had April document her payroll with the Loom and have the AI do the instructions, and then we!
272
00:22:41,466 --> 00:22:48,027
Had Veronica do a test payroll a few months ago basically when because we've known about this for a while.
273
00:22:48,027 --> 00:22:50,324
I think we had her do one.
274
00:22:50,324 --> 00:22:58,198
Or two practice rounds, and April watched her do it and saw where the gaps were in the documentation because she was making mistakes.
275
00:22:58,198 --> 00:23:01,478
And it wasn't Veronica's fault; there were gaps in documentation.
276
00:23:01,478 --> 00:23:08,368
And this is why we do this because when we document our stuff, almost always the first time is not perfect.
277
00:23:08,448 --> 00:23:12,181
This is why I'm like, don't slave over a book or anything like that.
278
00:23:12,181 --> 00:23:18,315
Just document it, give it to somebody else, have them do it, and be like, oh shit, like I thought that was obvious.
279
00:23:18,315 --> 00:23:20,448
It's not because it's not their process tone.
280
00:23:20,448 --> 00:23:22,048
They don't know where everything is.
281
00:23:22,048 --> 00:23:24,448
We just have so much stuff that we know.
282
00:23:24,768 --> 00:23:35,328
In our heads, that we don't even consciously think about when we're doing a process, and this is why we need to have somebody else do it so that we can see where those gaps in documentation are.
283
00:23:35,328 --> 00:23:48,688
So now it's been a couple months; April has made those changes, and now Veronica will be running all three remaining payroll cycles as practice while April is still there to check them right.
284
00:23:48,688 --> 00:23:53,968
So there is going to be three more payroll runs that Veronica can basically draft up.
285
00:23:53,968 --> 00:24:00,608
She does not hit the final go-through right, and April can check over, correct, and make those minor adjustments to any documentation.
286
00:24:00,608 --> 00:24:05,088
So we are going to be golden and very confident that payroll is good.
287
00:24:05,088 --> 00:24:14,048
And then while April is gone, I am still going to be doing the final push-through to run payroll instead of having Veronica just so I can have eyes on it.
288
00:24:14,288 --> 00:24:17,337
I may not catch mistakes, but just like okay, this looks normal.
289
00:24:17,337 --> 00:24:18,608
This looks like everything looks.
290
00:24:19,296 --> 00:24:19,936
Correct, right?
291
00:24:19,936 --> 00:24:23,456
And we can always correct something if something goes horribly wrong.
292
00:24:23,456 --> 00:24:26,016
But at this point, it should be practiced enough.
293
00:24:26,016 --> 00:24:33,856
And this is how we like to slowly give independence when you guys are asking me questions about like how do I, you know, like trust my office staff?
294
00:24:33,856 --> 00:24:36,496
Like I want to go on vacation, but I just don't know.
295
00:24:36,816 --> 00:24:38,496
This is how you do it, all right?
296
00:24:38,496 --> 00:24:39,636
You document something.
297
00:24:39,636 --> 00:24:41,296
You have them practice it.
298
00:24:41,296 --> 00:24:42,416
You see where the gaps are.
299
00:24:42,656 --> 00:24:43,616
You make adjustments.
300
00:24:43,616 --> 00:24:46,656
They practice again, like and until we can get it smoothly.
301
00:24:46,976 --> 00:24:49,536
And the beautiful thing is, once you do this once, right?
302
00:24:49,536 --> 00:24:51,216
Like this is painstaking for sure.
303
00:24:51,536 --> 00:24:55,536
But now that we've done this once and it is fully documented, well, guess what?
304
00:24:55,536 --> 00:24:58,496
The next time April is out, we're good to go.
305
00:24:58,496 --> 00:25:04,976
We're ready and everything is documented because remember, guys, we never know what the future is going to hold with any of our staff.
306
00:25:05,056 --> 00:25:11,776
And this is how you grow a company and allow it to be systematic because maybe somebody doesn't even leave.
307
00:25:11,776 --> 00:25:13,456
Maybe their role changes, right?
308
00:25:13,456 --> 00:25:18,656
Maybe we move it so that, for example, like I could very much see us bringing on a salesperson.
309
00:25:18,656 --> 00:25:18,976
You know.
310
00:25:18,976 --> 00:25:20,736
And so that means that things would shift.
311
00:25:20,736 --> 00:25:26,816
I wouldn't be firing anybody; I would be bringing somebody else in, and they need to learn the systems and processes, right?
312
00:25:26,896 --> 00:25:29,376
So again, we can do this with ourselves.
313
00:25:29,376 --> 00:25:34,176
It doesn't have to be; we have somebody else right now, but you could.
314
00:25:34,176 --> 00:25:38,976
Literally start taking all of your admin work that you do and start running.
315
00:25:38,976 --> 00:25:48,576
It through this pipeline of documentation, so that you are ready and also really figuring out where your gaps are because you probably don't have everything documented either.
316
00:25:48,576 --> 00:25:49,696
Most of us don't, right?
317
00:25:49,696 --> 00:25:52,709
There's always something, and so I think that this.
318
00:25:52,709 --> 00:26:07,776
Is just such a useful endeavor for anybody who wants to grow their business or just run it more smoothly, or foresees bringing anybody in to help administratively in the future, and especially if, like, long term, you guys are wanting to sell your business.
319
00:26:08,176 --> 00:26:08,816
Well, guess what?
320
00:26:08,816 --> 00:26:10,176
This makes it more valuable.
321
00:26:10,256 --> 00:26:23,296
The more that you do this, the more valuable your business becomes when it comes to like a selling point because they want to see systems; they want, a business that is not relying on the owner to do everything, right?
322
00:26:23,296 --> 00:26:26,896
That is not a valuable business to most buyers, right?
323
00:26:26,896 --> 00:26:31,616
So every time we do things, we're making Serene Clean more valuable.
324
00:26:31,616 --> 00:26:36,576
The more that we document, so not—that I have any plans of selling, so nobody email me about it.
325
00:26:36,816 --> 00:26:46,112
But the point is, like if I were to make my business as Attractive as possible to buy, it's probably going to be super well run.
326
00:26:46,112 --> 00:26:48,272
It's probably going to be running very smoothly.
327
00:26:48,272 --> 00:26:52,032
So, what would that look like if I had to sell my business?
328
00:26:52,032 --> 00:26:56,752
If I had to hand the whole thing off, could somebody come in and do the thing?
329
00:26:56,752 --> 00:27:03,392
And if not, or they couldn't figure it out, based on our documentation, then there's still room for improvement, right?
330
00:27:03,392 --> 00:27:13,072
And so that is why we made the decision to start moving everything into ClickUp, managing everything there so that it's universal, and really trying to limit where information is.
331
00:27:13,072 --> 00:27:13,232
Right?
332
00:27:13,232 --> 00:27:15,792
We still have Google Drive; we've got ClickUp.
333
00:27:16,192 --> 00:27:28,308
We will hopefully actually be moving away from Trainul, which I know shocks some people, but with Made Path in the works at ZenMaid, which is going to be a training platform that we can move our orientation to.
334
00:27:28,308 --> 00:27:34,832
And in certain things over there, I hope to cancel Trainul, and then that's one less place to go for that.
335
00:27:34,912 --> 00:27:36,512
So that's super duper exciting!
336
00:27:36,512 --> 00:27:41,552
Actually, just had a call with Amar talking about Made Path this morning, so I'm super excited about it.
337
00:27:41,552 --> 00:27:42,032
I don't know.
338
00:27:42,032 --> 00:27:42,992
When it's coming out, guys.
339
00:27:43,072 --> 00:27:46,352
Don't ask me, but it is in the works and that will save me a bunch of money.
340
00:27:46,512 --> 00:27:53,456
But this is a good, good point of like really using the right software, auditing where all of your stuff is.
341
00:27:53,456 --> 00:28:01,392
And that anything that is a sticky note or in your brain is probably not particularly useful when you need to hand something off.
342
00:28:01,392 --> 00:28:13,232
So I know so many of you want to eventually be able to have a business that does not need you every single day on everything because that just you know that's the worst job ever, right?
343
00:28:13,232 --> 00:28:16,512
And I'm not saying it doesn't have to be that way right now, right?
344
00:28:16,512 --> 00:28:21,552
Maybe it does need to be like that, but can we work towards documentation like this?
345
00:28:21,632 --> 00:28:23,552
And again, things are gonna change.
346
00:28:28,217 --> 00:28:34,272
This can be quick and dirty, and that's why I'm just going to keep coming back to Loom because I think that it's such an efficient way for all of us to document something, get it out of our head, and talk through it, right?
347
00:28:34,272 --> 00:28:38,592
Because a lot of times, like click here, click here, it's so difficult to document that in anything.
348
00:28:39,872 --> 00:28:40,912
Inefficient, right?
349
00:28:40,912 --> 00:28:42,192
So I really like this.
350
00:28:42,192 --> 00:28:47,312
I know there are other software options as well that can watch your mouse move and turn that into an SOP or whatever.
351
00:28:47,392 --> 00:28:53,472
But people like to watch a video; they like to hear it get explained, and they can just follow along with the video on how to do something, right?
352
00:28:53,472 --> 00:28:55,232
So I'm just a big fan of that.
353
00:28:55,232 --> 00:29:01,472
That's how my brain works: I want to follow along with a video or have a very straightforward checklist so I can be like, "do this first," "do this."
354
00:29:01,472 --> 00:29:03,792
And so, yes, I'm a big fan of this.
355
00:29:03,792 --> 00:29:08,112
So all of that to be said, I'm really glad that this happened.
356
00:29:08,192 --> 00:29:19,952
And you know, at the end of the day, I really want to plan for the worst version and then if it's better, meaning April can work sooner than we anticipate, great—that's a bonus.
357
00:29:19,952 --> 00:29:24,272
But I want to prepare for the worst: April is going to be completely unavailable.
358
00:29:24,592 --> 00:29:25,712
What would that look like?
359
00:29:25,712 --> 00:29:29,552
How do we make sure that everything gets done and gets done on time?
360
00:29:29,952 --> 00:29:31,232
That's very important, right?
361
00:29:31,232 --> 00:29:36,432
I don't want to be paying credit card fees; I don't want to not invoice somebody correctly or on time—that type of thing.
362
00:29:36,432 --> 00:29:38,352
So we need to run payroll on time.
363
00:29:38,352 --> 00:29:49,872
Like these things need, happened so this is a really useful lesson, and I'm really glad that it happened so that we can continue to hone and improve the documentation within Serene Clean.
364
00:29:49,872 --> 00:29:54,175
So, I guess my homework for you guys, after listening to this, is that.
365
00:29:54,175 --> 00:30:07,392
I really want you to think about starting with one area, one area of task that you do, or maybe if you do have an office person that they do, that if you had to be gone, what would somebody need to know?
366
00:30:07,872 --> 00:30:11,232
And where would they be documented for them to be successful, right?
367
00:30:11,232 --> 00:30:12,672
And start working through that.
368
00:30:12,672 --> 00:30:15,331
And it does not need to be perfect documentation.
369
00:30:15,331 --> 00:30:21,240
Again, go listen to the book "Buy Back your Time," he really talks about like doing three versions of something.
370
00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:31,877
And what I mean by that is, like, if you're going to run payroll, for example, run through it three times and just record three different times because that will help capture some of those oddities.
371
00:30:31,877 --> 00:30:38,672
And, well, you know, because as you guys know, not every single thing is done the same exact way every single time, right?
372
00:30:38,672 --> 00:30:48,832
And then the other Thing I wanted to mention is, I really am trying to be better about knowing when my other managers are off to understand the flow of the office better.
373
00:30:48,912 --> 00:30:57,472
So for example, when April's going to be off for these several weeks, I'm like cool Katie Crystal, do you have any days that you guys are going to be off during this time as well?
374
00:30:57,712 --> 00:30:59,712
And what needs to get done in your guys' end?
375
00:30:59,712 --> 00:31:05,872
What do we need to rearrange there and looking at the office as a whole entity with Crystal taking on the invoicing.
376
00:31:05,872 --> 00:31:11,872
Another thing that she's doing is she is going to limit interviews because she is responsible for the interviews.
377
00:31:12,112 --> 00:31:16,432
We're also not going to be starting anybody unless it's an absolute emergency.
378
00:31:16,672 --> 00:31:23,472
The first week that April's gone because managing a new staff member is a lot of administrative work and communication.
379
00:31:23,472 --> 00:31:28,592
So if we could just cut that possibility off, the goal is just to keep it nice and steady, right?
380
00:31:28,592 --> 00:31:30,752
So as you guys do take vacations, right?
381
00:31:30,752 --> 00:31:33,872
Maybe don't start somebody the week before, right?
382
00:31:33,872 --> 00:31:39,392
Maybe don't start you know a new client if possible that week like we just try to keep it nice and steady during this time.
383
00:31:39,392 --> 00:31:45,312
These types of times, and really look at okay cool like what could we limit because we're going to be down one woman.
384
00:31:45,552 --> 00:31:49,952
What could we limit as a whole entity of work for the business?
385
00:31:50,272 --> 00:31:53,232
Well, we can do less interviews during those those days.
386
00:31:53,232 --> 00:31:56,050
We can not bring somebody on X Y Z.
387
00:31:56,050 --> 00:32:00,746
Right, there's certain things that could be just paused just to help with that workload.
388
00:32:00,746 --> 00:32:07,633
So, that would be another thing, is like what really really needs to get done versus what can wait until the break.
389
00:32:07,633 --> 00:32:07,946
Right?
390
00:32:07,946 --> 00:32:15,460
So, all of that said, I would love to hear if you guys can leave in the comments what task or is your task.
391
00:32:15,460 --> 00:32:17,652
I want to hold you to it.
392
00:32:17,652 --> 00:32:20,156
Okay, leave me something down in the comments.
393
00:32:20,156 --> 00:32:23,600
What is the task that you want to get documented fully?
394
00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:26,418
With the due date, with how to do it.
395
00:32:26,418 --> 00:32:32,992
The links to whatever things they need and websites or Google Drive spreadsheet that they need to get the thing done.
396
00:32:33,632 --> 00:32:35,472
I want you guys to put it down below.
397
00:32:35,472 --> 00:32:39,232
I want to hear what you need to document and I would love to hear.
398
00:32:39,392 --> 00:32:40,832
Your thoughts in general.
399
00:32:41,072 --> 00:32:45,392
As always, any ideas for podcast episodes are always welcome, guys.
400
00:32:45,792 --> 00:32:50,112
I'd love to see you subscribe to the ZenMaid newsletter, and it is completely free.
401
00:32:50,112 --> 00:32:52,592
You do not need to be a ZenMaid customer.
402
00:32:52,832 --> 00:33:00,512
And every single week they're putting out really great content, educational content, and super valuable stuff so that you can learn and grow.
403
00:33:00,832 --> 00:33:08,992
And if you respond to that newsletter email with a question you have for me, we'll add it to our list for future podcast episodes.
404
00:33:08,992 --> 00:33:11,712
So please hit that like, hit that subscribe, guys!
405
00:33:11,712 --> 00:33:14,112
And we will see you in the next episode of Filthy Rich Cleaners.
406
00:33:14,272 --> 00:33:14,512
Bye bye.
407
00:33:14,752 --> 00:33:21,472
If you enjoyed this episode of the Filthy Rich Cleaners Podcast, please be sure to leave us a five-star review so we can reach more cleaners like you.
408
00:33:21,792 --> 00:33:25,072
Until next time, keep your work clean and your business filthy rich.
