Ocean’s Four: My Top 3 Takeaways (1 of 3)

October 8, 2014 by

Hey, Ryan here…

Now, just so you can get an idea of what kind of knowledge got “dropped” this past weekend at our “Ocean’s Four” ELITE Mastermind…

…Over the next couple days, I’ll be sending you my Top 3 takeaways from this past weekend.

Today, here’s my “Ocean’s Four” Takeaway #1:

“Ocean’s Four” Takeaway #1 – Mike Rhodes’ “Project Hourglass” for Scaling Your Business

This is a business-scaling framework that Mike Rhodes teaches.

(In case you’re not familiar with Mike, he’s co-author of the Entrepreneur Press Ultimate Google Adwords Guide with Perry Marshall – and probably one of the Top 3 Adwords experts in the world along with Brad Geddes and Rob Sieracki).

It applies whether you’re a one-person solopreneur, just getting your business off the ground…

OR if you have an existing organization.

Here’s how it works:

project-hourglass

Why is this such a big deal?

It’s because growing a team, the RIGHT way, is the #1 way to scale your business from wherever you are right now…

…To 6, 7, 8 figures and beyond.

And this framework gives you a very helpful, “Big Picture” view on how to scale – by breaking your business down into two main functions:

High Level Thinking (represented by the top half of the hourglass)…

And DOING (the bottom half of the hourglass).

In the middle, between these two functions, you’ll see I drew a box – which is your project management software.

(Like Teamwork PM, Podio, Basecamp, etc…)

This is where the THINKING from the top half of the hourglass…

Gets pushed to the DOING half…

(Your specialists: copywriters, designers, programmers, etc who actually EXECUTE those ideas…)

And here’s what my big “Aha!” moment was:

Seeing the power of separating the “thinking” function…

From the “doing” function.

Because as a small organization or solopreneur?

If you’re like most people, you’re usually trying to do BOTH functions.

And that’s ok, when you’re just starting out.

But for the most part, when you’re ready to REALLY grow your business?

You need to free yourself up to do the “thinking” as much as possible…

…By building a TEAM to help you execute.

And this is where Mike’s strategy gets into the nitty-gritty of how to do this, the RIGHT way…

Because instead of hiring for “positions”…

(As in, hiring a full-time designer / coder / writer / etc.)

And becoming dependent on ONE person to fill each position and function?

Mike laid out how to start building your “bench”…

…Your entire TEAM of players…

Right from the start.

Here’s how that looks:

Instead of just having one designer that’s full-time…

You might start by having one designer that you commit to 5 hours per week, no matter what.

And then, as you have more design work, you might ramp that up to a 10 hour week commitment.

BUT…

Instead of just using the same designer for 10 hours/week…

Because you’re trying to build your team for the long term…

You get a SECOND designer at 5 hours per week.

This way, you’ve got TWO solid team-members that you’re training up.

So that if it doesn’t end up working out with one of them?

(They get sick, or quit, or whatever…)

You’ve already got your bench.

And they’re ready to step in immediately.

So your business doesn’t skip a beat.

Pretty cool, right?

This was an eye-opener for me on how to build a systematized business…

And I’m implementing it myself as we speak.

But this was just ONE of the countless nuggets of wisdom from the weekend…

I’ll be sharing more with you tomorrow.

Peace out!

Ryan :-)

P.S.

Want to get in on the NEXT “Ocean’s Four” Mastermind?

Well… Hate to say it, but we’re already *almost* booked solid with returning members.

But we always keep 1-2 spots open for NEW members to keep the dynamic fresh.

So if you’re interested in grabbing a seat should one become available…

Here’s where you can get on the Priority Notification list:

http://www.thefunnelspecialist.com/oceans-four-waitlist-signup

Talk soon,

Ryan :-)

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