The Secret for Sustainable Business Operations (Alicia Butler Pierre)

 In this episode of Time to Thrive, Bethany Meadows chats with Alicia Butler Pierre, an expert in business infrastructure and founder of Equilibria Inc. Alicia shares her journey from chemical engineering to helping small businesses streamline their operations. She introduces her Kasennu™ Framework, which helps businesses replicate their success for sustainable growth. They discuss key warning signs of operational chaos, the importance of delegating, and staying adaptable in a rapidly changing market. This episode is packed with actionable tips for business owners looking to build efficient, scalable operations.

00:00 Introduction and Guest Overview

02:18 Alicia's Background and Transition

05:39 The Kasennu™ Framework Explained

08:32 Implementing Business Infrastructure

11:32 Mindset and Visual Aids for Entrepreneurs

14:13 Warning Signs and Early Stage Challenges

16:54 Common Misconceptions and Pitfalls

21:30 Leadership and Delegation

23:33 Outsourcing and Specialized Knowledge

27:48 Adapting to Change and Continuous Learning

30:25 Final Takeaways and Contact Information

Discover the strategies, systems and skills that lead to success in business. Visit TimeToThriveInBusiness.com to learn more.

Transcript

The Secret to Sustainable Business Operations – Alicia Butler Pierre

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: [00:00:00] Hey everyone. This is Bethany Meadows with time to thrive on today's episode. Our guests will reveal the secrets for sustainable business operations. Alicia Butler Pierre is a leading expert in business infrastructure known for improving operational efficiency in small, fast growing businesses with a background in chemical engineering and experience at companies like Monsanto and Coca Cola.

She founded Equilibria Inc. where she developed the Framework. I probably said it wrong, but she'll correct me. It is detailed in her book, Behind the Facade. Alicia also hosts the Business Infrastructure Curing Back Office Blues podcast, offering practical advice to business owners globally. Recognized as a thought leader in operational excellence, she excels at transforming chaotic operations into streamlined systems.

Welcome to the show, Alicia.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: Thank you so much, Bethany. And yes, you [00:01:00] pronounced it correctly.

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: yay! I told you before we started recording. I'm just, sometimes these, some words, are a little messing up.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: get it.

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: Why don't we open with, why don't you tell us what that word means? It's

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: So Kasenu, that's the name of the, as you mentioned, the framework that I created for business infrastructure in fast growing small businesses. So it's actually two different ancient Egyptian words.

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: Okay.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: K A, which is ancient Egyptian for spirit. or essence sinew which is s e n u really means like twin or similitude or clone. And so the idea is KaSinu is to literally replicate the spirit or the essence of what makes your company so great in the first place.

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: Oh, so creative. Listen, I went to your website, your personal website, and I was just blown away by the about page. It was super creative. So I knew you were a creative person. And I [00:02:00] also read a little bit about your background, which kind of blew my mind a little bit because you have a degree in chemical engineering, which is really unusual for A creative person such as yourself.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: I

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: And you worked at Monsanto and you you just have a very interesting background. Tell me a little bit about how you made that shift from working in chemical engineering to working with business owners with their operational efficiency. That's just a. Big leap. Or maybe it's not.

Maybe there's a connection there.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: there absolutely is a connection. And thank you for asking that, Bethany. The connection is processes. So as a chemical engineer, when I was working at companies like Monsanto, and I did some work in some different oil refineries as well, we work as what are known as process engineers. And what that means is we are literally responsible for monitoring the [00:03:00] manufacturing process of refining oil or making a specific chemical or whatever the physical products are. have been. if something ever went wrong, where let's say you're producing so many barrels of oil and it doesn't meet the specifications that it should have, then I, as a process or chemical engineer, had to literally figure out what went wrong in manufacturing that particular batch that caused the problem in the first place. So the way I see it, Bethany, I just transitioned from monitoring processes that involved chemicals or petrochemicals to monitoring processes and improving processes that involve the flow of work and information for businesses. The way that transition happened, it didn't take me long to realize one that I didn't want to be in a, in that kind of working environment for the rest of my career, but. Beyond [00:04:00] that, it was really not understanding the accounting side of things. So there would be these monthly meetings where accountants would come in and they would talk all of that jargon and about liabilities and report excuse me, accounts payable, accounts receivable, equity and debt to equity, all of these accounting words. I didn't have an appreciation for what it meant, but I knew it impacted the way that we would operate. a month to month basis. And so I went back to business school while I was working. And once I finished school business, that was like the missing link, Bethany. So I had this technical knowledge, but then the business that I gained by getting my MBA, just opened up a whole new world for me.

And I eventually quit my job, from, I was living in New Orleans, Louisiana, relocated to Atlanta, Georgia. And that's. How I eventually started my business. [00:05:00] I did come here looking for a job. I think that's very important to share with your listeners. I was looking for a job just didn't happen.

I guess it just wasn't meant to be. And I just decided to start my own company.

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: Because why not?

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: I had to do something right. I couldn't just keep sitting around applying for these jobs and constantly getting rejected. So

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: I love it.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: how it would That was the catalyst, if you will, for creating my company.

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: That certainly says a lot about you. You're not someone to just sit around. You're a goer, a doer, make it happen.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: Absolutely.

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: developed this framework, Ksenyu. I probably said it wrong again, but Ksenyu framework. Why don't you explain what that is? And what are the key components for business owners?

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: Sure. So it's really a framework for building what I call business infrastructure. And those who may have heard [00:06:00] of Lean Six Sigma, maybe that's another highly technical thing out there, but that's a framework also for quality and process improvement. So the way I like to describe the Cassinou framework is imagine it being. A prerequisite to Lean Six Sigma, something that you would do before you even get on to process improvement. that framework consists of seven key elements. The first is helping people figure out are the tasks or activities that have to be performed in your business on a day to day basis, no matter how complex or how mundane getting all of that information out of your head and getting that onto paper.

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: I

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: you figured that out, Bethany, the next step would be to understand how do we take all of these tasks and activities and group them into departments? things that are similar in nature. And I like to use stick figures and index cards to help [00:07:00] people figure that out because it's such a, it's such an intense exercise when I do this with my clients.

And even if those who are listening were to do this on their own, it's really rigorous when you have to sit down and think of every single thing that you do and write every single task or activity onto an

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: couldn't even imagine.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: Yeah, index card. And so what happens is you have this table or floor full of figures or index cards, and you want to group those things into that are similar in nature again, it a department name, and then from there, figure out what it is. In a perfect world, Bethany, if you had access to all of the resources that you needed, ideally should perform each of those tasks or activities. And it's such an eye opening exercise because as entrepreneurs and as CEOs, we know we're wearing a lot of hats,

Like this that we it's crystal clear.

Oh my gosh, I'm doing the work of six or seven [00:08:00] different people. I shouldn't be doing that, that much work. So who should be doing it? Even if you don't have those people currently on your team. And from there, we help them figure out a hiring strategy. What order do you need to start to hire people so that you can delegate more and more things to these new people?

Will they work full-time, part-time? Will they be interns, independent contractors, other people that you could outsource work to? For example, marketing. We could come to you, Bethany as a marketing resource. And then from there, that really is a foundation for all of the other elements of this framework.

So we would, from there, help you figure out what does your company's organizational chart look like? And we do things a little bit different with the way we represent org charts. not only represent what your arc or chart currently looks like, also what it would look like in the future if you had all of those resources that you identified. So really it's like a [00:09:00] vision board,

That you can have in front of you and easily share with other people as a way of talking through what your growth strategy looks like for your company.

Some of

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: a much sexier thing than a business plan.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: absolutely,

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: I totally see that.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: digest, It's

To digest, very visual. And the other elements just to go through them fairly quickly. So there's, we help you figure out how to, now that you know the organizational structure of your company, how can you use that as a way to organize your digital or electronic records, to organize your physical records, to organize your physical workspace. Even if you're not in a. two or three persons two or three room suite you may just be in an office at home. That's fine. You can still organize your workspace so that efficiency and productivity are maximized. And then finally, the final elements of the framework has to do with actually [00:10:00] identifying the processes that need to be documented so that Again, as you start to hire more people, we're not communicating telepathically,

Know that you have something

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: You

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: a recorded video, a checklist, a template, a standard operating procedure, whatever it is that you can hand over to people to train them so that they can replicate what you may have been doing before.

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: know, I work with small business owners too, and I will tell you that they're very adverse to creating plans and most of them, because they tend to be the visionaries, right? They tend to be those people, the dreamers the, they drive on passion. And so getting into the nitty gritty.

of some of these things can be challenging for them. So is there like a mindset that you help them adopt [00:11:00] that gets them past that, cause I will tell you like, one of the things that's difficult for me in my business is bookkeeping. Because I'm a creative and that's a very technical analytical thing.

And so I don't enjoy it. And because I don't enjoy it, I probably avoid it or procrastinate in doing it. So is there a mindset strategy that you help them overcome that to get those details, get into those details and embrace that process?

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: You know what I do? There's two main things. One. Most of my clients do not come to me proactively. So another, so what that means, Bethany, is has already broken. Something has already failed.

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: Yeah, they're feeling the pain of something.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: are feeling the

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: Yeah.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: some aspirin. They're not coming for vitamins as preventative treatment.

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: Got it. Yeah.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: So that's the first thing. And it's unfortunate, but [00:12:00] I get it. second thing though, is I cannot underestimate the value of using visual aids. This is a huge part of how I can get people quickly get involved. And you're right with entrepreneurs. A lot of us, we don't like to sit down and have to go through these laborious planning sessions. But we also can't, we just can't keep still. Many of

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: Yeah.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: have so many things going through our

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: Yes.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: we are visionaries. And I've found scheduling sessions in two to four, no more than four hour chunks at a time, but using as many visual aids as I can. We're usually on our feet. We're standing up. things around on a table, so there's some level of action

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: Physical

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: taking

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: to it. Yeah.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: activity that's taking place, and that's what keeps them engaged. And over time, you do start to see that mindset shift happen, and it's a beautiful [00:13:00] thing. Because they go from a place of resistance to, how can we want to do more of this.

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: Yeah. They will, they're they, business owners are results oriented, right? So when they see the value in a process, they'll embrace the process.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: Yes.

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: until they've done the process, they can't see the value. I had one client here recently. It was a new client. And every time I talked to him, something new would pop out of his mouth.

And I'd be like, okay, you didn't share that before and it kept happening. So finally I just handed him a big post it notepad and said, please just write down. Everything that you're involved in, thinking about, have ideas about, whatever, I just need to somehow get this out of you, because it would just keep popping out.

And he handed it back, it was like, this thick of post it notes of all the things, and then that helped me map it and help him [00:14:00] prioritize so that we could focus.

Because I think that's a big challenge for business owners, too, is that, like you said, they have so many ideas and they're going in so many different directions and so you get nowhere on a lot of things,

Right?

For small business owners who are in that early stages of growth, what are the most critical elements of business infrastructure that they need to implement to avoid chaos? And are there any warning signs they should be looking for that indicate they're in trouble and need an overhaul?

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: Some of the immediate warning signs are when, if you are fortunate to start having team members, there's very high turnover.

A dramatic increase in complaints from your customers. indication is for those who are operating businesses and industries where they have to be, that are heavily regulated and they must be audited. If they fail that audit if you are paying something is something like paying a lot of late [00:15:00] fees and late fines, that's an indication that you're so busy that you are, you don't have a good accounts payable process in place. Those are some of the generic across the board warning signs that I've seen with many of the small businesses that we're working with. But in terms of the first part of your question, Bethany, about you were asking about early stage companies and

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: I

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: best prepare for growth. It's tricky because we typically don't work with early stage companies. And the reason is because they haven't been at it long

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: haven't figured it out yet.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: haven't figured it out yet. And it tends to be more about what you help your business, your clients with, right? Which is the marketing, the branding, the sales strategies, the promotion, the publicity, We come in once the things that you've helped them with from a marketing perspective, Bethany, once you've gone in and you've helped those clients and now they're achieving some [00:16:00] type of a return on investment in those marketing dollars. Now they have a different type of problem. They go from not having enough customers to having so much demand that their operations are crumbling. And that's our sweet

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: Yeah,

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: doesn't happen. Typically with an early stage company. Now, there are exceptions to that. Obviously, for example, if there are tech companies or any type of early stage company that is well funded, and there is the expectation to scale and scale very quickly.

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: right.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: and so I would say the most critical elements for companies like that in that situation where they do have funding And are expected to scale quickly. Make sure you start building those solid teams and getting those processes documented as soon as you possibly can

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: What are some of the most common misconceptions business owners have about operational structure?[00:17:00] 

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: that it doesn't matter that it doesn't matter. And perhaps the biggest one is that this is something for much larger companies. it just, it simply isn't true.

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: Are there, I've experienced this myself. We're 16 years old and we've grown over the years. And, there's always periods of time where you have like rapid growth. It's never consistent. It's you're static for a while, and then all of a sudden new customers are coming out of the woodwork and you're straining to provide that level of service at that, at that level of excellence that you want to provide.

And I've also noticed that when that happens it's, it can be more challenging to maintain your margins. And your profitability, even though you're growing. And so there, what are some common, pitfalls you see when companies are scaling and how can they avoid that? Yeah.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: That's such a poignant [00:18:00] point that you mentioned. Because I think because we do have those moments where we're getting so busy. We just know that money's coming in, but we're not paying attention to the money that's leaking out. It's like a crack. Imagine a bathtub and that bathtub is being filled with water. And you just know that the water represents the money. The money's just coming in. Yeah. But you don't see that crack on the side of the tub to show you what's actually leaking out. Some of the best ways to monitor that Bethany beyond having the processes documented is actually having key performance indicators or KPIs, which are metrics. you may have a metric that monitors sales. We want to hit a certain target in sales every single month. You're meeting that target. That's not the issue, right? But what if you're another target you have might have to do with [00:19:00] or accounts payable, accounts receivable. How many of your accounts how many of invoices that are owed to you are older than 60 days? That's a problem. That's eating into your margins as eating into your profitability. these are clients that, you have the money coming in, but you have some aging accounts that need to be brought current the payable side. You might, again, you might, a lot of money is leaking out of the business because of late fees, fines, penalties of some sort, or there might just be any type of expense That you weren't expecting and because you don't really have someone who's monitoring it and tracking it and reporting on it on a monthly basis, you're losing sight of it. that is a major way that when you have these fast paced, chaotic environments, someone, will fall through the [00:20:00] cracks. having those key metrics in place, and I always recommend. Imagine if you had a single sheet of the eight and a half by 11 sized paper. So letter sized paper and just think of all of the major areas of your business, accounting, sales and marketing, business development, management, operations, I.

T. H. R. And there I'm sure there may be some others facilities management and try to think of at least two to three areas that you would want to track and to measure and track every single month. That is a really good way to get into the habit of looking at your numbers every month. And if you see that something is starting to dip, for example, margins,

You can act on it right away.

Okay. What happened this particular month to cause our margins to go down? You don't want to have that surprise. Every quarter. You certainly don't want to have that surprise at the end of the [00:21:00] year when you're working with your accountant or your bookkeeper or your CPA and you finally start to see those, the P and L and your balance sheet and it's not looking so great. So yes that's one way to work around that.

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: Another area that business owners did not anticipate when they started their business was the fact that they were now going to be a leader and every leader has a leadership style, whether they realize it or not. What advice would you have for business owners to align their leadership with operational goals?

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: Ooh, that's a great question because I talk about this in my book, actually, for many of us. We realize. Especially as we start to grow, because it's fine when you're just starting, but as you start to hire more people or expand your team, whatever that expansion looks like, you may have to, through a period of introspection, [00:22:00] aside and realize that you might actually be getting in the way. There's a difference between being a founder and a A founder, you're grinding, you're hustling, and some of us enjoy that. And we want to make sure that we hold onto that kind of culture, eventually your baby grows up other people get involved you have to become more corporate And not everybody is cut out for that. And I think each of us as entrepreneurs, we have to be honest with ourselves and recognize when we may be getting in the way of our own company's success.

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: That's such a great point. I think one of the things that, you know, just to be transparent about my own personal journey, I think the hardest thing for me was delegating because I started as a single solopreneur, and then, had to [00:23:00] build a team. But over time, it was wearing out because I was checking everybody's work and I was like.

micromanaging and cause it was my baby and it had to be right. And so for me, that, that development that I had to have for myself was to recognize that I needed to train well, hire well, and just let it go.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: that's right.

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: You cannot grow if you're doing everything. 

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: Always say, let go in order to grow

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: Yes, good. At what point should a small business consider outsourcing certain tasks?

Is that because that's always a decision to like, should I hire internally? Should I outsource? What, where does that make sense?

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: In my opinion, it makes sense when there are the amount of time that is involved in doing the work that you are considering hiring someone to do. Is [00:24:00] that really a full time job? the answer is no. Okay. Is it part time? Yes. Yes. But. you really, is there someone out there, another company or an individual can do that work and take that on themselves?

For example, let's talk about payroll. I'm like you, Bethany, I do not enjoy bookkeeping at all. And, and I should say this before I get more into the details of that specific question. Always do something yourself before you delegate it to someone else. Always do it yourself.

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: Yes.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: So that you really understand it because, unfortunately, there are some charlatans out there, right? And they can take you for a ride, especially if you start to outsource it to someone. always try to learn as much as you can about whatever it is you're considering delegating Then you outsource it. So let's talk about payroll and I'll use myself as an [00:25:00] example. I didn't know a thing about how payroll was set up, taxes were paid. Because we're here in the U S we have state taxes as well as federal taxes. I just knew that it was being handled. The time came where I had to actually switch accountants and the new accounting firm did not handle payroll. So I had to learn and it was.

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: Amen.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: it was

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: Amen.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: It was so painful. I'm grateful for going through that pain when it came time to actually looking for a resource that could handle the payroll, I knew exactly what to look for. And I knew enough to Ask the right types of questions and know whether or not I was about to be beat. Someone was BSing me but I would never

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: I [00:26:00] still do it. And I did my own corporate taxes. For 8 years. And then it was the depreciation tables that finally did me in. I was like, okay, we're hiring. I can't do this anymore. And every year I would say it for years. Every year. I would say I'm hiring an accountant, but then I would wait too long and then I would have to do it myself.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: is hilarious.

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: Yeah, and I, I'm so thankful for the accountant and the things that they do. And just having access to someone like that an expert that I can call and say is that, I have three businesses, so I can call and say, is, does this make sense for this, here, or should I, things like that, just like even a question, should my car be owned by the business?

Or should I just track mileage or, what makes the most sense? So just questions like that. I don't know. And if you Google it, my goodness, you're going to get overwhelmed with lots of opinions in,

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: and that's, I think you bring up such a great point to circle back to your original [00:27:00] question about when is a good time or how do you know when to outsource a great rule of thumb is what you just, what you're talking about, Bethany, which is if it's something that requires highly specialized knowledge and expertise, so things like accounting, legal matters, right?

Insurance matters. You absolutely want to. Find that insurance agent that you

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: on the partner.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: exactly, that you

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: Build a team.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: on, right? Have that attorney, that business attorney, and there are all kinds of attorneys, right? IP attorneys, patent attorneys, 

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: Copyright. 

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: Attorneys. So who can you call on?

Who can you tap? can you develop relationships with now and just have them on standby so that when you need to tap them, you can leverage their expertise.

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: Yeah. One of the things that I really feel is impacting small businesses, especially in the last five years is that everything's changing so [00:28:00] fast. First we had COVID and that was like a whole thing. Now we've got AI that's, changing the landscape in a hurry. The consumer behaviors are constantly changing based on economy job market, things like that.

So how can I guess the question is, how can a business owner ensure that their infrastructure is adaptable enough to change that they can survive, a sudden growth spurt or an unexpected market shift?

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: A good strategy is to remain as lean as possible and always stay on the cutting edge of technology. Even if I hear people say this all the time, Oh I'm not good with technology. I don't know this. I don't know that. You better learn. Because you will be replaced seriously if you don't.

So figure, learn these technologies, understand how to [00:29:00] incorporate them into your day to day operations so that you can be more streamlined so that you can potentially automate things. Your clients and your customers are going to be attracted to. They're always going to be attracted to those who can do it quicker, faster, better, cheaper, blah, blah, blah. In addition to knowing, liking and trusting you, they're going to want to know. Can you do this for me? How quickly can it be done? How accurate will it be? take the time to go on to tools like LinkedIn Learning or Coursera, Thinkific, Udemy, find these courses. Many of them are free where you can educate yourself about these emerging technologies. And instead of being fearful of them, Or just drawing that hard line in the sand and saying, I am not going to do this. I'm just going to stay and do things the way I've always done them. That's really to your detriment. Education. I always, I [00:30:00] tell everyone continuous education never stops. We have to continuously keep educating ourselves and constantly challenging ourselves to figure out how we can take whatever we're learning And applying it to our businesses will all be better for it will be better human beings better business owners. As a result.

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: Yeah all good points. And what would you say is the one or two, as we wrap up today, what do you say is the most? Most important takeaways that you hope business owners gain from listening to the episode today.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: Okay, I'll say one building that business infrastructure and a huge part of it is what you were talking about earlier, Bethany, which is delegating. The more you delegate, the more you have time to thrive, the more shameless plug for

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: I like that. Thank you.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: The more you delegate, the more, and it's really true.

The more you delegate, [00:31:00] the more you're freeing up your time to truly function as that CEO, to be out there doing the business development and more relationships and bringing in even more business. The second thing is, and I think you'll appreciate this considering your marketing background, is the three R's.

The three R's that many of us heard when we were growing up, reading, writing, arithmetic, write something every day about your craft, whatever it is you specialize in, whether it's a LinkedIn post, a blog post, an article for a magazine. something about your craft. It helps to sharpen your your mental saw. The other thing, reading, read something every day. Again, a chapter in a book, listen to a podcast. If you can't actually read something, but consume information that will you evolve. As a business owner and as a person [00:32:00] and will help solidify your talent and whatever your talent or your strength is.

And then third, arithmetic, going back to those metrics, something every day, measure and monitor. It's the only way you can literally make sure that you're tracking how you're doing so that you can understand when it's time to make course corrections and potential improvements.

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: Wow. That's great advice. I, I heard someone say recently that if you spend 18 minutes a day focused on developing a skill. 18 minutes a day consistently in a year, you will be in the top 5 percent of that skill.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: Wow, writing this down

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: So I, I took that to heart. I, so I am that I YouTube binge and I listened to podcasts and read the books. I've got stacks of them everywhere [00:33:00] constantly reading. Because this is my craft. Marketing is my craft. Brand is my craft. So I want to learn everything about it. I want to be the expert in that area.

I don't have to be the smartest person in the room. I just want to be the smartest person in the room in what I do.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: I love that. I love that. Sure.

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: You've been a great guest today. Lots of great information. A lot of times when you think about business operations, you think that's dry and it's boring, but I can see how you've made it into something that really adds value and do it in a creative way that business owners can embrace.

Tell us more about where people can find you and connect with you.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: I hang out in terms of where I hang out online, it's definitely LinkedIn. So please feel free to send me a connection request. [00:34:00] You can find me Alicia Butler, Pierre. So that's a L I C I a B U T L E R P I E R R E. And my company's website Is, uh, e q b systems. com. So the company is Equilibria. We'd love to have a free 15 minute discovery call with you.

If you heard something on this podcast and it piqued your curiosity, give us a call. We can set up a zoom call. We can talk by phone, email, send us an email, whichever form of communication works best for you. And we're more than happy to help point you in the right direction.

bethany-meadows_1_10-02-2024_100559: Wonderful. Thank you, Alicia.

alicia-butler-pierre_1_10-02-2024_110600: Thank you, Bethany. Thank you so much.