In this interview, Richard speaks to Allen Edwards, an accomplished entrepreneur, speaker and expert on process. He’s the founder of Eureka Process and the co-owner of Gozynta.
And Allen has also just published a book: “Process and the Other P Word (Which is also Process): the Power and Profitability of Process Within Your IT Business.”
An Interview With Allen Edwards
How Gozynta Merged with Eureka
Allen explains that he loves where process gets him, and he learned that early on. He spoke to the founders of Gozynta and they explained that they wanted to improve their onboarding for greater customer satisfaction.
However, they didn’t have time to do it themselves, so Allen wrote some processes for them. This led to Eureka becoming Gozynta’s outsourced onboarding support, before they formalised the relationship a couple of years later.
How Allen Found the Book Writing Process
Allen admits that he found writing his book excruciating. It took him four years to complete, he says, because while the content was great, there was no structure. “And I realised that the same was true in my business, so I took the time to build in structure.
“Then I stumbled upon Mike Capuzzi, who helps people write short, helpful books that are great for marketing and lead generation. That was when I realised the book didn’t have to be long to be successful.”
Why MSPs Should Invest in Process Early on
No matter what business you’re in or what your clients want to accomplish, the first thing you need to do is understand what processes they have in place. Allen explains his concept of ‘leaky bucket syndrome’.
“No matter how well you teach someone, they’re only going to retain a percentage of it. And that’s either because they have their own beliefs, or you forgot to tell them something.
“So that bucket of knowledge you passed to them is imperfect. When that person goes on to teach someone else, the leaky bucket keeps going. And eventually it’s empty. You can’t fix it, but you can create waterfalls of knowledge to keep the bucket full – processes.”
The First Process an MSP Should put in Place
Allen uses the analogy of building a house. Various tradespeople will work together towards a common goal, so they need a blueprint. “And likewise, you need a blueprint for your business processes. I call it the ‘process process.’
“It’s a way to remind yourself how to write a procedure. You don’t want to have to read a whole book just to carry out a single action. Instead, you want to immediately find what you need and get to work.”
How to Overcome Overwhelm to Start Making Progress
MSP owners can often feel overwhelmed with running their businesses and struggle to put processes in place. So Allen’s advice is to use the power of 1%. “How can you be just 1% better today? And tomorrow?
“Let’s say you’ve got a blank page and you’re struggling. You just need to make it now blank. So day one, open a Word document, name it and save it. Tomorrow, see if you can add another line. And keep going. Fill in the blanks: ‘What’s your documentation system?’ ‘Where do you store documents?’”
How the Eureka Process Works
Allen’s business, the Eureka Process, is a consultancy that specialises in only IT firms: “We believe in a very one-on-one tailored approach. We worked hard on what we call ‘building the railway’.
“Lots of clients want an A-Z approach. However, we believe that you need to get the railway in place. Where should you start? What are your processes? We look at prioritising their issues so we deal with the most important one first.
“Our consultants discuss our solution with the clients to find the best way forward. And we offer a two-page business plan. It’s unique because it’s broken up into the purpose of identity, direction and objective. We teach leaders to be leaders.”
How to Connect With Allen Edwards
- Follow Gozynta on Twitter
- Like Gozynta on Facebook
- Follow Gozynta on LinkedIn
- Connect with Allen on LinkedIn
- Send Allen an email
How to Connect With Me
- Subscribe to TubbTalk RSS feed
- Subscribe, rate and review TubbTalk in iTunes
- Subscribe and rate TubbTalk on Spotify
- Follow TubbTalk on iHeartRadio
- Follow @tubblog on Twitter
Mentioned in This Episode
- Gozynta
- Allen’s book: Process and the Other “P” Word (Which is Also Process): The Power and Profitability of Process in Your IT Business
- Operating system: Novell NetWare
- IT management tool: ConnectWise
- Podcast interview with Dan Adams
- Business finance tool: QuickBooks
- IT business expert: Karl Palachuk
- Book coach: Mike Capuzzi
- Book: Michael Gerber: The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It
- Book: Robert Kiyosaki: Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!
- Richard’s book: The IT Owner’s Survival Guide
- Book: James Clear:Atomic Habits: the life-changing million-copy #1 bestseller
- Collaboration tool: Teams
- Collaboration tool: Slack
- Book: Dr Atul Gawande: The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right. Atul Gawande
- Documentation management tool: IT Glue
- Collaboration tool: Confluence
- Collaboration tool: SharePoint
- Book: Karl Palachuk: Relax Focus Succeed – Revised Edition
- Meditation app: Headspace
- Podcast interview with Karl Palachuk
- MSP community: CompTIA
- MSP community: The Tech Tribe
- MSP community: The Eureka Community
- MSP community: The IT Nation
- MSP event: DattoCon
- MSP event: ChannelCon
- MSP event: Channel Pro road shows
- Allen’s cafe and nightclub: Trickster’s Hideout
You Might Also be Interested in
Richard Tubb is one of the best-known experts within the global IT Managed Service Provider (MSP) community. He launched and sold his own MSP business before creating a leading MSP media and consultancy practice. Richard helps IT business owner’s take back control by freeing up their time and building a business that can run without them. He’s the author of the book “The IT Business Owner’s Survival Guide” and writer of the award-winning blog www.tubblog.co.uk
All PostsYou might like:
Comments