From Chaos to Clarity: Building Stronger Business Systems with Jessica Millhiser

In this episode, Crissy sits down with Jessica Millhiser of JMills Consulting to talk about one of the most overlooked parts of business growth, internal structure and systems.

So many entrepreneurs focus on marketing, visibility, and sales, but without documented processes, client journey systems, and operational clarity, scaling becomes chaotic. Jessica shares how moving from chaos to clarity helps you create sustainability, increase retention, and free yourself to focus on visibility, speaking, and showing up boldly online.

If you’ve ever wondered:

• How do backend systems impact client experience?
• What SOPs every entrepreneur should document (even solopreneurs)?
• How can systems support more consistent visibility and social media growth?
• Why the right processes give you freedom, not restriction?

…then this conversation will give you clarity, strategy, and practical tools.

Jessica also opens up about her own visibility journey, batching content, using templates, and preparing for a 3-week vacation while her business runs smoothly in the background.

Connect with Jessica:
Sign up for newsletter https://www.jmillsconsulting.com/newsletter

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicamillhiser/

Instagram 

OMNI - Become Known, In Demand, and Confidently Visible
With a visibility strategy that works harder than you do.

OMNI is your group coaching experience where you learn how to create visibility that works harder than you do. A strategic blueprint to become discoverable on the feed, search and AI. https://thevisibleceo.com/omni 

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Transcript

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Welcome back to the visibility impact show. I'm super excited today because we have someone who's going to help you take your business from chaos to clarity. I know everybody's business has a little chaos in it. And so if we can get more clarity and we definitely want to do that. So today, I want to welcome Jessica Millhiser, who is the owner of j Mills consulting where her mission is to help entrepreneurs build better businesses. And she does this through strategic action, collaboration and getting things done real time, every time. Jessica, welcome to the show. Yay! Thanks, Chrissy. Super excited to be here. Can you give me like a quick story? Because I feel like we all have a quick story, well, we probably have a long story, but we have a story that leads us to what we do and why we're so passionate about what we do. So I'd love to hear like what led you to where you are now. Yeah, great question. So I love to call myself an accidental entrepreneur because this was never actually the plan, uh but COVID happened. My husband got laid off. We moved to a different state and I was kind of like, what's happening? What am I doing? And the entrepreneur role really kind of developed organically. Cause a gal that I was working with in Los Angeles, one of her staff broke off, wanted to start her own swim school. she reached out to me and was like, hey Jess, I'm doing this thing, but I don't know how to run a business. Can you help me? And so I really attribute that moment to JMC being born. And that was in January 21. And I've just been kind of rocking and rolling and growing and learning ever since. So we're going to talk today about chaos to clarity. Do you feel really passionate about that when it comes to other entrepreneurs? And if so, what leads to that passion? Like what do you see them doing that maybe drives you crazy that you knew that you had to make a shift and help people like get more clarity around their business? Yes, 100%. So if I look back at my life, my working years, the common thread has always been operations, admin, leadership management. That's always been the roles that I've held. And it was in a bunch of different industries. had a lot of insight into how different businesses operated. And with my natural skill set of organization, planning, prioritizing, strategy, all of that stuff, it was really apparent to me that A lot of businesses are reactive. A lot of businesses are sort of operating with, well, I'm trying to stay afloat. I'm trying to put out fires. I'm trying to manage the day to day, because the day to day onslaught is a lot. And really, I look at my job and really my passion is helping entrepreneurs slow down, take the pause, take the breath, and really intentionally shape and design their business. And what that will allow them to do is to move from chaos to clarity because they will feel more grounded, they will feel more aligned, and they will be able to move their business forward with intention, which is really what I'm trying to help them do. Absolutely. So one of the things that you say is entrepreneurs focus on external growth like the clients, the marketing, the sales without building that internal structure to sustain it. Why do you feel this is like a costly mistake for most entrepreneurs? Well, let me ask you, like, if you're an entrepreneur and your first response is, well, I need money, I need clients, I need to be networking, I need to be on the social media, all the thing. And I'm like, yes, you do. All those things are important. But what happens then? What happens next? You get people that are ready to move forward with you, that want to follow up with you, that want to like, maybe work with you. Are you set up to sustain that? are you set up to move through that efficiently and effectively? And that's really what internal structure provides. Absolutely. So this is funny because I see one of two things happening with entrepreneurs, just the ones that I coach and the ones that I've been around for six years. So we either have one where we just jump into things and we go market the heck out of something that we don't have built, right? And we're not ready to, you know, sustain or we have people who are hiding in the back end systems and dotting their eyes and crossing their T's and have no desire to get visible and market their business. So like, what do you do when you see like, I feel like it's one extreme to the other, but it's really hard to have that balance in the middle. It's funny that you say that because I feel like most of the folks that I interact with, they are out there. They are going, they're doing, they're like, I'm, and maybe that's just because that's who is drawn to me. That's where I'm spending my time, my space. But I more often encounter people that are out doing, growing, and less focused on the internal. I guess for anybody that's on either end of that spectrum, my question would be, do you have a clear idea of what it is you're striving for. Do you have that vision? Do you have that sense of here's really where I'm trying to go? Here's sort of what that path looks like and I'm showing up visibly in this way to support that intentionality. Yeah, absolutely. And a lot of people who were working with me and maybe listening to this show too, they are trying to find distractions to hide. it's like, it's that's why I think that they're one way or the other. If they work with me for a while, then maybe they don't have the back end systems or they're doing the back end systems, right? They're doing the things, but maybe not in a way that's actually... I would say it's probably, it is probably more chaotic than it is clear, right? It's just, I'm gonna do things to keep me busy so I can say that I'm busy as an entrepreneur, not necessarily being productive. Busy, like busy work does not equal growth. Busy work does not equal productivity, right? That's just like you're being busy. So I think starting to shift that mindset into I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, but like, are you busy in a way that is meaningful, that is impactful, right? Or are you just kind of being busy to keep busy, I guess? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Can you share an example where internal systems shifted everything for an entrepreneur? Yes, great question. So I was working with this gal, she was in business, I think maybe 18, 20 years before she and I started working together. Yeah, 18, 20 years, she was always a solopreneur. And when we finally kind of aligned, she was like, I'm ready to grow. I'm ready to take the next step. I'm ready to be bigger than just me. And so, uh We've been working together, I wanna say the past three or four years now, and she now has like a better client portal, a better booking system. She has documented processes. She's getting ready to bring on some more help. Her team has grown, and all of that is due to building the internal structure, building the foundation and setting it up so that it can grow more sustainably. And so she can remove herself more from the day to day. and allow other people to really dive in and do certain aspects of the business instead. Yeah. So one of the things that I have found in my own business is that I have a really high retention rate, like I keep people they don't leave. And I would love to talk about what what back end systems help create that client experience that keep people right because I mean, obviously, it's how you deliver things too. But I believe there's a lot of client experience, things that you can do in the back end that keep people for longer as well. Yeah, I love talking about client experience, client journey. So really when you think about the client experience, I want you to think about it as sort of a parallel road, like a two-lane system. And on one end, you have the operations, the logistics, the tech, like how everything works. And on the front end, you have how does this impact the client? How does this impact their experience? And they are both very important. So when you're thinking about that, right, like in my world, I think about that as your consultation or discovery call, your onboarding, your deliverables, your client communications, your offboarding for whenever that becomes appropriate. So really thinking about how do I want people to move through my business? What are my processes? What are my systems? What are the communication touch points? Is there a welcome letter, an onboarding letter, a next steps email? How are they moving through my payroll system or my CRM or my project management platform? How am I keeping an eye on the status of where everyone is at? So logistically, those are all the pieces at play, but then how does that impact their experience with you? How do they feel when they work with you? Do they feel valued, appreciated, seen? Are you delivering what you said you were gonna be delivering? And I love having people think about what are some small extras? What are some small touch points? A welcome card when they sign on for you, a birthday card or a birthday gift when that comes around, little like milestone congratulation items of some kind if they've hit a milestone or a thank you card or a thank you gift when maybe you're parting ways, right? So really just thinking about how can I continue to give value? always with my clients that are working with me and how can I continue to be as efficient as possible on the back. So it's really a two-fold experience. Yeah, absolutely. And I love that you said, like putting a card in the mail because we're so online as business owners and especially if you work with other business owners that are online businesses, that we forget like how powerful a postcard could be or how powerful a little note just say thinking about you could be and so that's just magical to me. And really thinking about like, the longer people are with you, like you're really cultivating a relationship. You're really like in it with them. You're learning about them. You're part of their experiences. I had a few clients this year. Their kids were going to college for the first time. And that was like really challenging for them. And we were navigating that together. And I would occasionally send just a little pick me up text or a thoughtful, small like appreciation item. I have a couple clients that were turning 50 this year, right? Hey, that's a big birthday. Like, I'm gonna send you flowers, because that's incredible, right? Like, so really paying attention to what is happening in their world and inserting yourself in ways that make sense. That's so good. So it's interesting that you say that because years and years ago, when I first started having what I used to do social media for my clients. And one of the things I said uh was I like to over deliver. And this person was trying to get some kind of certification. And so she was interviewing me and she goes, but I need you to define like over delivering. And I'm like, well, I can't because it's different on a case by case basis, right? Like. for one person, like you said, somebody turning 50, like that's way different than somebody who just had a child, right? And so you can't really, you know, I think there gets to be like some processes, right? But also there gets to be that I can over deliver in any way I want. Like it's my business. I get to do that. And there may not be a, a streamlined process for that, but I would love to like talk about that a little bit because I do think that increases, right? The customer experience, it also increases retention. Yes. Yes. And so what I will say about that is you will have a process for your client journey. Like, I'm getting them here. Here's how they move through my program. Here's how they move through my process. Here's how I work with them. Like, that is your process. That is your flow. That is your deliverable, right? That is what they are buying from you. That is the expectation and the relationship. That's your deliverable, that's your process. You need to have that streamlined and mapped out. Anything else is bonus, right? And so that's really on you to be like, hey, how much can I, I guess over deliver really is the right word, maybe the right word. It's like show extra appreciation. And really that's gonna be on a case by case basis. So I think... not separating that exactly, but just knowing that like at the base level, here's what my program is, here's what my flow is, here's what their experience is. And then where can I go above and beyond in demonstrating value and appreciation and camaraderie? And I'm here for you with you, I'm in this with you. Does that make sense? Does that answer the question? absolutely, absolutely. And so kind of piggybacking off of processes, besides the client journey, like what are other processes that every business owner should have documented? Well, so I, so let me just share. So I guess what I would say first and foremost is even if you're a solopreneur, even if you're thinking about bringing on like a VA in a part-time capacity, like whatever that looks like, start thinking about what are the tasks, the projects, the processes that I want off my plate. I'm either not good at them, don't want to do them, don't care about them, don't fully understand how to do them well, right? Those are the kinds of things that you will eventually want to be handing off. The best way to hand that off is to start creating documented resources on how to do some of those things, right? So maybe that's taking payment or invoicing or creating your newsletters or your content, or maybe that's follow ups. for networking or social media or like whatever that looks like for you, right? So start thinking about what do I wanna take off my plate? Can I create a documented resource or an SOP process for this so that it's easier to hand off, right? You really wanna think about setting whoever this is up for success. And even if it's just yourself, the purpose of documentation, the purpose of having SOPs is so that it's consistent. reliable and easily repeatable. You no longer have to think about it. You're no longer reinventing the wheel. It's just, this is how I do this thing. This is how we do this thing. And it's just streamlined and easy. And that's really what you're trying to create with that. Yeah, can we touch a little bit on because we have a lot of business owners, I'm just gonna say a lot. I think a lot of business owners might be control freaks. how do you explain to them that an SOP and documentation actually can create freedom for them and not feel as restrictive? so really what it comes down to is like, what is it costing you to keep holding on? What is it costing you and costing you not only in terms of money, but in terms of time, in terms of bandwidth, in terms of family or life time, right? Like the longer you hold on to these things that are maybe not suited for you or maybe just you don't need to be doing it. It's costing you in some way, or form, time, energy, resources, whatever. So thinking about that, right? And there is a sense of, are they gonna do it as good as me? Can I trust them to handle it? And so it is a process. And so what I would recommend is start small. Just start with something small. A few tasks that are like, hey, I'm gonna let this go, build the relationship, see how it goes, empower them, get comfortable and confident in their ability, and then you can continue to hand off more. But really the key is recognizing the purpose of letting go, which is to free you up to give you more time and then so that you can slowly start to grow your business in a way that actually makes sense. Because if you continue to hang on to everything, you will stymie yourself. Yeah, absolutely. So for the people who love showing up online, can we talk about how systems can support them showing up more consistently online? Maybe because there's that, you know, whether you call it freedom or that knowing that the backend has been taken care of no matter if you go viral or, you know, you gain 10 new clients like in the next week. really thinking about, you know, how does your business function? Can you create templates? Templates and checklists can be really a helpful tool in terms of kind of what's your capacity, what's your bandwidth. Once you really understand like what your program structure is or what your client structure is, you can better start to align like, okay, let's say I run a 10 week program and onboarding takes this amount of time. I can onboard. two or three clients at one time, here's what that looks like. Or maybe it's, okay, I have three clients in this phase of the program, I can take two more clients in this phase of the program. Like just really starting to understand like, how does it function? How does it work? And then that will allow you to understand what your actual capacity is, what your actual bandwidth is for growing, right? And then always like I love checklists and I love templates. The more you can template, the easier and more efficient it will be. Try not to reinvent the wheel. If you are answering questions frequently, if people are seeking certain answers frequently. Like template those things, template your onboarding, template your welcome, template your, you know, here's your next steps. Template as much as you can and start paying attention to what am I doing frequently that is repetitive. That could be something that's templated. Yeah, I love that. I'm all about the templates, by the way. especially because this is interesting that you say this, I have a morning routine, and that I use. I created a book, because I wanted my own planner. And then I sold it because I was like, this is what I do every single day. Why am I not using this myself? And then I was well, maybe somebody else wants to use it. So I love that. I love the template idea. And even with like newsletters or social media, right? Like I use buffer. I have templates for my content. I have templates for my newsletters. So like I can just easily repeat, customize, tweak the content, whatever, but I'm not having to like reformat or restructure or put too much thought into that component. Cause it's all about energy efficiency. like, how are you finding AI making setting up these SOPs and these processes easier for people than it ever has been? That's a really good question. And I've been thinking about that a lot lately because it is so easy for somebody to just go into chat and be like, I need a process for X, Y, and Z. And then it'll come up with it. And part of me is like, yeah, that can work. Absolutely. My concern around that, maybe not concern, but my hesitation in going all in in that is it's not customized. It's not customized to your business, to your process, to your functionality, right? Like your business is unique. How you run your business, how you operate your business is unique. Chat will not capture that properly. You're still gonna need to like feed it. Okay, well, I use Stripe or I use Square or I use Kajabi or I use whatever and you're still gonna have to put a lot of time and energy into feeding it. what it needs to know, where you might as well just create the documentation yourself or with somebody like me who can help you do that. I don't think chat is there yet. I'm not saying it won't ever get there, but I don't think it's there yet. Yeah, absolutely. And that's a good point out because, you know, I always joke if you've seen those memes on social media, that it says I put my our whole argument into chat GPT and it said I won and I was like, well, if the other person did the same thing, it like it tells you what you want to hear, right? It doesn't always give you like the hard truths or you know, this is what you're not doing because it doesn't see all and so I just I find it fascinating. And I think also it's not going to be, it is not going to be able to be like, well, it looks like you're missing a step here. How did you get from here to here? There's a disconnect or you know what I mean? Like I think it's a helpful, I mean, I use it, right? Like I use chat to like help me in a bunch of different ways, but I do not use it to help me create SOPs because it's just not there yet. I feel the same way when it comes to chat GPT for visibility or writing all your content or using whatever the new software tools are that make it look like you talking but you're really not like just show up on video, right? Like, so I feel the same exact way, but using it for research and things like that and to automate things that maybe are rinse and repeat are even a better way to utilize it versus telling it like how to think for you. Because really like my husband and I have this conversation all the time because he's in cybersecurity and is super into AI and whatever. And like, he actually put it a really good way. He's like, think about chat as an intern. Like you still have to feed it all the information. So, you know, I was like, that's a really good way to put it. Yeah. absolutely. So when you think about visibility for your own business, how has visibility speaking, podcasting, showing up impacted your business growth personally? man, I love it so much. I used to hate it, right? Like I'm still like not super into this old like Instagram and Facebook. I'm like, okay, I guess I'll get on it. But once I developed a routine, I am a very consistent poster on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, that is my rhythm. That's what I do. And I've got my templates, right? And I use chat to help me come up with ideas. So I have a system now I have a routine now. And it is helpful and I feel much better about utilizing it. Mm-hmm. for one, so that's been cool. And podcast guesting, I love, I love, love, love it. It is so much fun for me. And speaking, I do some speaking. I'm not like all over the place speaking, but I definitely do some speaking. And I feel like podcast guesting and speaking in particular really help you solidify your message. Feel more comfortable and confident talking about who you are, what you do, how you help, all those things. and just getting more comfortable answering questions, interacting with people. And I think it's really good for skill building in a lot of levels and really just kind of honing in and refining your message. And yeah, that's kind of what I say about that. I mean, I wouldn't be where I am without any of that, right? Like networking is important, speaking, podcasting, whatever. Social is important. Like my vibe is do what feels good. Do what feels aligned and don't force yourself to do the things if you hate doing them. find what works and then really lean into that is my personal opinion. I'm sure you have your own thoughts on that. No, absolutely. I love that you said that you have a template for your social media content. Do you have any other systems that you use like that could be a visibility hack for someone? my newsletter is like my mailing list, right? Like I have templates for all of that, right? And so basically like my structure is the third week of every month, I'm focused on content for the next month. So I batch my content a month at a time because I don't have time to be sitting around working on that every single week. So I'm like, okay, I have an outline of like, what are the themes for my content each month? What do I really want to focus on as the content theme or talking point each month? So I have that outlined at the beginning of the year. So I'm like, cool, we're working on September. Here's what I'm talking about for September. Now I can utilize my templates for my newsletters and my socials, get all that set up. And then the third week of the month, I'm working on content. I'm working on my newsletters, I'm working on my socials. Everything feeds into each other, right? So I try to not continuously recreate content. I try to cross promote content. And then I batch it for the month. When I originally started, I was posting maybe twice a week, right? I was doing once a month newsletter, posting twice a week. Over the last couple of years, I have felt more comfortable and confident in my systems and routine. Right now I'm doing a weekly mailing list and three times a week. And that amount feels good for me. I'm not trying to post every day. So again, I think what is your bandwidth? What feels right for you? Yeah, absolutely. That's great advice. I love that. I'm all about that. So and it's funny because I had different seasons too. So there were seasons in my business where I had to batch everything. And then there are seasons where I'm more flow and I love showing up every single day. And I think it's really understanding the season that you're in and working with a system right that helps you like maximize that to the highest level. Yes, I love that. again, speaking to whatever aligns, whatever feels right for where you're at and whatever makes sense for you and your bandwidth. Totally agree. I love that. so good, so good. All right, can we shift to some rapid fire questions and have a little fun and get to know you a little bit more? All right, it, first question, is there one book that changed how you think about business? I mean, there are several, but the one I will throw out is the E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber. If you haven't read it, it's phenomenal. It's a great way to like really understand the shift from, hey, I work at a store where I make pies for somebody else, to I now own a bakery and I'm responsible for all these other things. So it's really good at illustrating the shift that needs to happen and the different phases of business. So yeah, the E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber. If you haven't read it, read it for sure. adding it to the to be read list because I have not. um What's your favorite way to unplug when you aren't working? A lot of different ways. I love taking walks. I love baking and cooking. Actually, those are very therapeutic for me. Sometimes I'll go, we have like a weight rack in our garage. And so I'll sometimes go do that. Sometimes I'll just chill and veg and like binge a show or read a book or something. So it just kind of depends on where I'm Do you have a bucket list vacation that you want to take? We're actually going on it in November. uh I just turned 40 this past summer and so one of the bucket list items was New Zealand. So we're going to New Zealand in November for about three weeks and I am so excited. three weeks. Okay, so you have to be the queen of systems in order to go on a three week vacation. So everybody listening pay attention. Because there's no way there's no way you couldn't like have things set up in the back end and gone a three week vacation. So I love that. Correct. That's fair. Yes. I'm living, breathing example of it. Absolutely. And last question. Are you a morning person or a night owl? Oh man, I flip-flop. I think by nature I'm a night owl, but I have really been trying to shift it to a morning person, and I actually really love mornings, but inevitably I will slip back into the night owl. So it's a constant tug and pull, yeah. It's seasonal is what you're Yeah, absolutely. Jessica, you have been a pleasure to have on this show. Where can my listeners connect with you if they want to hear more? Yes, I would love to connect with you on LinkedIn. You can find me under Jessica Milheiser. I'm also on Instagram, jmils, underscore, consulting. And my website is jmilsconsulting.com. If you connect with me on there, let me know if you listened and if you picked up any tips. I'd love to know. And there's also a newsletter that they can sign up for on your site, correct? Yes, yes, my newsletter. love my newsletter, my mailing list. It's a really great way. I'm really trying to cultivate a community, right? Like a JMC community where people can learn and grow. And like really my mission is helping entrepreneurs build better businesses. And this is one of my favorite ways to help people do that. Yeah. Is there anything that you would like to leave my listeners with I think just remember that there's power in the pause. So often I feel like entrepreneurs are go, go, go, do, do, do, complete, accomplish all the things, but there's so much power in the stillness in the pause and allowing yourself to reflect and really figure out what do I want my business to look like? How can I really start to curate and design and shape my business in a way? that fits the life I'm trying to live. That's so good. That's so good. That's like the perfect way to end this episode too. Yay, good. hope I mean, I really believe in that thank you so much, Jessica for being on the show. If you love this episode, make sure you share it with someone who could benefit from it. And if you feel like you're back end systems, you you feel they're chaotic, or maybe non existent, and you want to get them more clear and have more clarity. Make sure you connect with Jessica and reach out to her sign up for her newsletter, follow her on social media and let her know that you listen to this episode