20. Resets and Maintenance Are Part of Business

Welcome back to Your Win-Win Teacher Business. In episode #20 we’re talking about the ongoing business maintenance tasks and systems resets that are a completely normal part of being a successful teacherpreneur.

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Welcome back to your Win-Win teacher business. In episode 20, we're talking about the ongoing maintenance tasks and system resets that are a completely normal part of running a teacher business. 

[00:00:40] Before we get started with today's episode, I wanted to give a shout out to Brittany Flammer for leaving such a sweet review for the podcast. Brittany said, I've been waiting for this. I have worked with Janice and love her insights. I'm thrilled to be listening to the podcast with smart, simple tips and insights. 

[00:01:03] I really want this to be our podcast, so please know that it means the world to me when you log into Apple Podcasts and share your thoughts about the show. It's so helpful for other teacher business owners to know what to expect before they push play. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 

[00:01:22] In the spring cleaning episode where we talked about the Naptime Kitchen Home Reset, I shared how freeing it was for me to realize that even the experts were resetting their spaces multiple times per year. As business owners, we often bring big energy into setting something up perfectly at the start, and then feel defeated 6 or 12 months later when things are starting to feel less sparkly clean.

[00:01:53] Does a new car smell last forever? No. So why do we expect systems inside our businesses to last forever? Today I want to scream from the rooftops that needing to reset your business systems does not mean you failed. Maintenance is ongoing, and that means we need to plan for those rhythms so that we can keep things running smoothly and not wait until everything comes to a screeching halt.

[00:02:24] So when will we do this maintenance? Well, when you build a new system, it would be a great idea to just go ahead and set a calendar alert to check on it in 90 days. If you have a copy of my course, you might use it as a reference to optimize projects you already have inside your workspace and get curious if any new projects might feel supportive to add into the mix.

[00:02:51] If I had set up your system for you, you might prefer to make a punch list of what isn't working and get on my strategy call calendar to see if we can clean it up and optimize it to work well for your needs in the upcoming season. If major changes have taken place in your business and your project management tool feels long overdue for a tuneup, we might need to schedule a VIP week to get the optimizations done, top to bottom, across your entire business. But no matter what you decide is the right action plan. You'll appreciate having a recurring reminder on your calendar to reflect on your systems and see what small tweaks could save you a lot of headache and frustration.

[00:03:35] And please know that quarterly reminders don't have to start neatly at the start of a quarter. You can start one today. For my virtual support business, I clear time during Q4 each year to look at what I'll be offering for the upcoming calendar year, reset testimonials on my website, revise sales pages, clean up the backend of my client management system - and I love doing these types of maintenance tasks during Q4 because everyone is distracted during the holidays. I feel like I can do this type of cozy cleanup with minimal impact to others. If you run a business that serves teachers, summer might be a time when traffic to your store is slower, and that might feel like a good time to lean into backend cleanup.

[00:04:24] Some TPT sellers prefer to take a clean sweep in October once they've survived back to school season and when they are feeling crystal clear on what they want to accomplish and deliver during that school year. I also know some TPT sellers who like to do spring cleaning during the time period when sales are slowing down for the end of the year,

[00:04:45] but before their own children come home for summer break. They often have a focus sprint of energy where they get all the things in place for their own back to school efforts and optimizing everything feels aligned for them during the spring season. Does one of these scenarios resonate with you? I wonder, could you place a recurring task on your calendar to just look at your systems and take one tiny step towards cleaning them up every 90 days to help ensure that things keep running smoothly? 

[00:05:19] Let's talk about when we do the big resets. Ideal planned timing can go a long way towards preventing a major issue, but there may come a time when you find yourself in a sticky situation despite your best efforts. Sometimes business growth happens explosively and rarely does it warn us in advance. 

[00:05:42] Sometimes tech tools change and we have to adapt quickly. We might find ourselves changing systems that were once working smoothly before, but that tech stack might just no longer be a fit for our needs as we grow. Team capacity changes, sometimes that's planned from us as a business owner, and sometimes things come up in the lives of our team members and we have to pivot.

[00:06:09] Sometimes during those seasons of turnover, it just naturally makes sense to do a reset of the business systems while things are kind of already in flux. So sometimes a systems reset happens at the same time as a team capacity change. Maintenance you can likely do yourself, once you have a system in place and you find your rhythm. For a big reset, often that's a time to bring in another pair of eyes and hands to help bring a fresh perspective. 

[00:06:40] Because we don't know what we don't know, and every time I work with someone, who is an expert during a big reset, I see blind spots that I hadn't even considered, and they bring fresh solutions to the problem that I didn't even know were on the menu. I had my website set up for me by a professional, but they didn't teach me how to maintain it.

[00:07:04] That was not a good feeling, but I worked through it and now I have a solution so that my website is always running smoothly and it's being checked on monthly. I had my client management system Dubsado set up for me by a professional too, but they didn't show me how to maintain it over time, and that was frustrating. 

[00:07:25] Slowly I found a solution so that now I can update it myself during Q4 every year. I cleaned up and filtered my email inbox using a DIY course, but the folders that I needed would of course change over time. So now there's a recurring task on my calendar for me to go through a certain process and maintain that system. And with every system that I create and find a rhythm for,

[00:07:53] I am building an insurance policy for my business to ensure things are always in working order when I pour that fresh cup of coffee in the morning. None of this will happen overnight, but leave this episode knowing that maintenance tasks are just part of running a business, and that burying our heads in the sand is really inviting a big tech snafu to stop us in our tracks at the worst possible time. 

[00:08:21] Putting small maintenance steps and rhythms into place for your business will help things run smoothly over time and lead to a more peaceful, win-win experience for you as a teacher business owner.