I / We / They Framework: 3 Simple Steps to Grow Your Business

E14:  Today, I'm sharing a framework called the 'I / We / They' framework that I developed to help me gain clarity on what I need to work depending on the stage of my business. I wish that someone had taught me this framework 7 years ago when I first became an entrepreneur.

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TOPICS:
I / We / They Framework (2:09)
There are 3 parts to this framework: Experimental, Operational, and Scaleable, corresponding to I, We, and They respectively.

Experimental Phase (2:26)
The Experimental phase of your business starts with yourself. This is where the "I" portion of this framework comes into play. It's characterized by building your audience and validating your ideas. During this phase, you're trying lots of new things. You're still exploring what might work and that's OK. This phase tends to have the greatest fear of failure and self-doubt as you'll have more questions than answers.

Operational Phase (6:12)
You need to create three primary systems: lead-generation, value-delivery, and overall operations. Build an all-star caliber team around you to help you with these 3 processes. Work with them carefully and refine these systems over time. Mentor your team and teach them everything you know about your business.

Scaleable Phase (15:03)
So your business is growing and you’re working with your team to build out processes and systematize your operations. Now, it’s time to empower your team. What motivates employees is the autonomy to make big decisions for the company. Ownership over creation. Ownership over decision-making. Ownership over action. The biggest growth levers in my own business happened when I let go of control and delegated the decision-making process to my team.

Strategies for Delegation (16:45)
Encourage your team to brainstorm solutions first. Then, give feedback on the decisions that your team makes. If you must come up with the plan yourself, get your team's buy-in so that they feel ownership over that decision. And lastly, trust your team to make the right calls, but it doesn't hurt to verify first. By doing this, you're eliminating your own decision-making bottleneck at the company and also empowering your employees. Elevate the key operators in your business to take the reins from you.

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LINKS:

Episode 12 - How to Find, Nurture,

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First Class Founders is a show for indie hackers, bootstrapped founders, CEOs, solopreneurs, content creators, startup entrepreneurs, and SaaS startups covering topics like build in public, audience growth, product marketing, scaling up, side hustles, holding company, etc.

Past guests include Arvid Kahl, Tyler Denk, Noah Kagan, Clint Murphy, Jay Abraham, Andrew Gazdecki, Matt McGarry, Nick Huber, Khe Hy, and more.

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