The Entrepreneurial Journey: From Engineer to Consultant | Adi Klevit

PROFITABLE TALKS

In this episode of the Profitable Creative, host Christian Brim speaks with Adi Klevit, an industrial engineer and entrepreneur, about the importance of processes in business, especially for creative entrepreneurs. They discuss how processes can liberate creativity, the entrepreneurial journey of Adi, and the challenges solopreneurs face in implementing effective processes. The conversation also touches on the significance of delegation, defining success, and the mindset shifts necessary for growth.

PROFITABLE TAKEAWAYS

• Processes empower employees and free entrepreneurs to create.
• Creative entrepreneurs often resist processes, fearing they limit creativity.
• Implementing processes can lead to greater freedom and efficiency.
• Solopreneurs must decide if they want to grow or remain stagnant.
• Identifying high-value actions is crucial for business success.
• Networking success requires defined goals and follow-up processes.
• Podcasting can be a powerful tool for knowledge transfer.
• Excuses for not implementing processes often stem from mindset.
• Successful businesses delegate effectively and define clear roles.
• Investing in delegation can lead to increased profits and growth.

Join our community of creative entrepreneurs and get a free copy of our No-BS Guide To Making Your Creative Business Actually Profitable delivered straight to your inbox. We’ll share smart, simple tips to help you keep more of what you earn—no boring accountant talk, we promise.  
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Transcript

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Christian Brim (00:01.772)
Welcome to another episode of the Profitable Creative, the only place on the interwebs where you will learn how to turn your passion into profit. I am your host, Christian Brim. Special shout out to the one listener in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. I've been through Kingfisher many times. It is on my way to my hometown of Enid. Nothing particularly special about Kingfisher. It's on old US 81, small town.

I mean, like I'm not going to chamber of commerce and say you should go there. You shouldn't. anyway, joining me today, Adi clevet of business success consulting group. Welcome Adi.

Adi Klevit (00:43.672)
Thank you, Christian. Glad to be here.

Christian Brim (00:46.666)
Well, I'm glad you're here. Made my day worthwhile. So tell our listeners who you are and what you do.

Adi Klevit (00:55.117)
All right. Well, I am an industrial engineer by my profession, an entrepreneur, a podcaster, an author, and a lot of things. I'm a mother, a wife, but in this context of my business, what we do at Business Success Consulting Group is we create, document, optimize, and implement processes and procedures.

Christian Brim (01:01.075)
okay.

Adi Klevit (01:25.674)
And our mission is to empower employees to be able to do their job and produce their products and allow the business owners, the entrepreneurs to achieve the freedom to create and to grow their business.

Christian Brim (01:44.727)
So, okay, there's so much already. An engineer, now engineers and accountants are cousins. They definitely have similar thought processes for sure. I will tell you that I categorically do not work with engineers. They make the worst clients in the world.

But I'm sure you would make a wonderful client. And in any case, I'm

Adi Klevit (02:15.928)
And know, Chris, recorded the podcast together and I think that is our similarities, although we come from professions that are very much can be put in a little square and not get outside those boundaries, we are creatives and we understand how to think outside the box. And I think that's what we really found in common when we recorded our episode and we got introduced.

Christian Brim (02:27.861)
Yes.

Christian Brim (02:31.765)
Yes.

Adi Klevit (02:41.75)
And that's probably why I'm here now doing this episode, because we're to have that interesting conversation.

Christian Brim (02:43.807)
Yes.

Christian Brim (02:48.095)
Yeah. And I think that, you the, introduced, you identified yourself as an industrial engineer. I hate identifying as an accountant or a CPA. People always ask what you do. And, I, my, my patent to enter is, as little as possible because I don't want to say I'm a CPA because you know,

like you said people don't people have a perception of what engineers or CPAs are and It's not what I feel like I am so I just don't like to identify at it, but I think that this this whole convergence or overlap of The the creative in the analytical to kind of be reductive and and make it

Adi Klevit (03:33.123)
Makes sense.

Christian Brim (03:47.053)
that simple, I don't think it's that simple, but for this conversation, is where the magic is made. Like a lot of creative entrepreneurs that I work with and talk to, the analytical components of a business are oftentimes difficult to nail down. Things like processes, for instance. mean, like that's...

just not the way their brains work, right? but it's Uber important if you're going to grow and scale a business to have processes. So what, is your experience working with, creative entrepreneurs and helping them, create those processes?

Adi Klevit (04:37.007)
So my experience is that some of them will say, I don't need processes, I'm a creative. Some of them will say, I welcome processes because it helps me be more creative. And the second one is really, I don't know if there is a right or wrong answer, but that is the path to take. And those that are creative or consider themselves to be creative,

Christian Brim (04:46.444)
Yeah.

Christian Brim (04:52.352)
Mmm.

Adi Klevit (05:06.572)
but are saying, I don't need processes, I feel like they're gonna stop my creativity. When we start working together, they go through this change or switch or mindset shift to see that creating the processes and putting them in place is what is going to get them the freedom to create.

and the freedom to do what they want to do and what they do best, which is to create.

Christian Brim (05:40.587)
Yes. And as you were saying that, I thought, you know, really the processes aren't necessarily for you. I mean, you have to work within them, but the processes are for the people that you are going to involve in your creative endeavor. Right? Like, I mean, sure, you can use processes for yourself. And if it's just you, it will help you. But, you know, to me,

processes and the way I have been able to use processes is to get those things off of my plate that I don't want to do or that I'm not particularly good at or are low value to allow me to do what I do best.

Adi Klevit (06:29.964)
That is very true. It's exactly right. It's allowing you to do what you do best. So if you have a concern of why do I need processes or is that going to limit my creativity? I invite you to ask the question in a different way. If you do not have processes, what limits are you putting on yourself? What limits are you putting on your creativity?

What limits are you putting on your creation and how can you change that so you have more time and ability to create?

Christian Brim (07:08.104)
Yeah, in that regard, I think the processes rather than stifling creativity are actually supportive or liberating you to creativity. I think it's kind of like, I can't remember the author, but it was maybe Jocko Willnick or some former seal that he was talking about discipline being liberating.

Adi Klevit (07:36.846)
Mm-hmm.

Christian Brim (07:36.964)
Whereas a lot of people think that that discipline and the negative in that, you know, it restricts you. But but he goes through the argument that like no discipline actually frees you, it actually gives you the freedom because it it it takes those things off of your plate.

Adi Klevit (07:57.325)
Right, and it really depends on what kind of discipline, because if you look at the creative, let's say for instance, they experience throughout their lives people stopping them from creating, or there were different circumstances that they felt that they have to switch their career and do something else that is more in alignment with what society thinks that they should do and not really allow them to create. So you have all that external discipline that you associate as something that is wrong, incorrect.

restricting. So then the pendulum swings all the way to, I don't want any discipline. I don't want the procedures. I don't want processes. I want people to do whatever they want to do. But then again, it's just like that pendulum is swinging too far to the other side and extremes of both sides are not productive and I'm not going to get you to where you need to be. So we are looking at, analytically looking at what do you need to do in your business?

in order for it to grow and thrive and do well. And if you had a set of procedures and processes that are optimized, that are predictable, that are consistent, would it allow you to produce more or produce less and being profitable at the same time? Because you don't have to be a creative artist and be starving. That's not the idea. That's why they're working with you, Prisheen, because

They have to understand that it doesn't go, it doesn't have to be that way. You can be very successful as a creative, but what you need to do is to adapt the principles of business and then put your creative forces on top of it so you can be successful.

Christian Brim (09:44.748)
I couldn't have said it better myself. So let's talk about your entrepreneurial journey. Did you, did you work as an engineer?

Adi Klevit (09:55.309)
I did start my work, my career as an engineer in a consulting company and I worked at several international, I work at two big international consulting companies. I gravitated toward the management part, toward process improvement, toward increasing efficiency. And I always had that entrepreneurial streak in me. I I started my first business when I was in high school.

And throughout the years, also did, I mean, I had a bookkeeping business. had consulting that I was doing for my own on my own. I manage companies for clients. So I definitely had that hands-on experience. And also when I was working for the consulting companies, I got promoted to become an executive. So I ran people, I fired, I hired, I made decisions. You know, I know how to run people. I know how to be an executive. So it's not.

theoretical, I actually have, I had hands-on experience. And then in 2011, I decided that I would like to start my own company. And that's what I did. And at that time I started as a general business consultant. I was very good at it. I have the ability to spot situations, to look at things, to understand things very well, come up with strategies and help my clients with it. And

I was helping them implement what we came up with and I would tell my clients, know, it's a, you need processes, you need processes, you need processes. Week after week when we met and they said, yes, okay, but I am too busy selling. I'm too busy doing this. I'm too busy doing that. I can't, I can't, I can't. And it just didn't, it didn't happen. So then I asked one of my clients one day, well, what about if I do it for you? Really? So yeah, absolutely.

brought my sleeve and let's do it. And I did, and I created this beautiful playbook for that client. And I was like, wow, now we see how we can use it. And it totally helped them get to the next level. And I realized that there is a niche there that is needed that entrepreneurs need, the done it for you creation of processes and procedures, along with optimization.

Adi Klevit (12:18.144)
along with making sure that those procedures are being implemented across the company. And tying it in to the other management tools, making sure that they are, that we have the KPIs that are measuring the success of the processes, making sure that each employee knows what the processes are, making sure that we have a process for reviewing those processes and keeping them up to date, et cetera. So,

All of that led me to specialize in what we do today. So from being a general business consultant, we are specializing in process documentation. And I have a team that works with me of consultants and very highly skilled technical writers, admin support, marketing, et cetera. So we became a group. So therefore, Business Success Consulting Group.

Christian Brim (13:15.468)
So if I'm a solopreneur and let's say I run a boutique marketing agency or I'm a videographer and I'm listening to you talk about processes, I'm like, that sounds awful. don't even like the words.

How do I take what you teach and start implementing that concept into my business where I don't have employees? I might have a couple of independent contractors, but like I do all the work, right? So how do you apply those principles if I'm a one-man band?

Adi Klevit (14:10.072)
Good question. So the main question is, do you want to stay in one man band or do you want to grow? Are you doing okay as you are right now or do you suffer from the peaks and depressions that come with the business? Right? One day you have a lot of work, then you produce the work, you don't promote, then you don't have work, then again, you have work, et cetera. So the roller coaster ride of being a solopreneur.

Christian Brim (14:16.8)
Hmm. Yeah.

Christian Brim (14:35.242)
Mm-hmm.

Adi Klevit (14:39.245)
You have to ask yourself, do you want to continue like that or does something needs to change? And if something, if there is a need of change, then you need to do something about it. That was my journey. started as a solopreneur. It was me. But then I realized very fast that because I'm good at what I'm doing, I'm getting a lot of referrals. People want to meet with me. People want to sign up as clients. And there was a limit to how much I can serve my clients.

Christian Brim (14:52.404)
Yes.

Adi Klevit (15:09.312)
interview them and also write the processes, etc. It just doesn't, it's impossible. So it was a decision when I made that decision that I want to grow, that's when I did what I teach our clients to do in terms of creating processes. So to answer your question, if you are a solopreneur, you have to look in the mirror or you have to sit down with a piece of paper and ask yourself the question, do I want to grow? And if so, why?

Christian Brim (15:15.478)
Right.

Adi Klevit (15:38.379)
why having processes are important. For me, it was important because I knew that I couldn't delegate without having processes. It was important for me because I knew that the number one priority is my service to my clients. And I knew that when I take ownership, when I'm consulting my clients, the service is going to be superb and I'm going to get great results every single time.

The question is, if I want to expand and I just want to wear the CEO hat, how do I clone myself, duplicate myself so there is still the service is at a high level that I'm hiring people and I can train them and they will know what to do, that I know that my clients are going to be 100 % satisfied, I know that there is going to be consistency, et cetera.

So that those are the reasons. you have to decide why, why do you want that? And then look at everything that you do as a solopreneur, make a list and then identify where and you should actually give it a numeric value, like a dollar amount. How much do you ask? Does it actually cost you to produce what you're producing and where are you getting the biggest return on investment?

Christian Brim (16:40.224)
I, yeah.

Adi Klevit (16:59.821)
And note those actions that you're doing right now that if you had a well documented process, you will be able to pass it on to somebody else. That's how I would start.

Christian Brim (17:11.69)
Yeah, I think that's sage advice. I talk about it in my book about the Pareto principle, which for the listeners that haven't read the book and aren't familiar, Pareto was a Italian economist that did a study, I believe in the 19th century, and wanted to determine how much of the land was owned by

how many people and essentially what he discovered was that 20 percent of the people in Italy owned 80 percent of the land and you know this 80-20 paradigm is really a function of human behavior. There's always people that rise to the top, it's just human nature but the way we apply it in business is that

20 % of what the entrepreneur spends their time doing produces 80 % of their profit. And it may not be exactly 80-20, it might be 70-30, 60-40, it's some split, but some small amount of work that you do actually produces the most results. And I think what Adi is describing there with making a list is saying, okay, identify those things that make you the most money.

Like, where do you bring the most value to the equation? And then get rid of the rest of it, automate it, delegate it, or eliminate it. Because we tend to, and this is also a function of the mind, we tend to gravitate to predictability. And so what happens for the entrepreneurs and what happened in my case is that

Adi Klevit (18:44.206)
Exactly.

Christian Brim (19:01.772)
rather than create the processes rather than go through that exercise and identify the things that are most valuable that I do. I default to what's comfortable and gives me a predictable result, which is I'm going to go do some work that I really shouldn't be doing like there's I don't need to be doing that work, but it gives me a predictable result. So I'm going to gravitate to it.

Adi Klevit (19:24.664)
That's right. That's right. It's the comfort zone. It's the what you know that you can do. Let's say, for instance, the photographer. So you know you can edit, right? I let's say you shoot a wedding and now you sit in and you edit the pictures. You know you can do that. It's predictable. It's actions you have done many times. You're probably very good at it and you have it explained or excused that no one can edit like you do. And it is the most important thing.

Christian Brim (19:50.71)
Yes.

Adi Klevit (19:51.521)
important day for that couple. That's what they paid you for is the final product. But you're doing it and you're going through the motions and you're doing it and you're putting your creativity into it. However, if you actually identified the actions to be done in order to grow the business, probably going out to a networking event that will probably take 20 % of your day. Maybe the editing is 80%, but 20 % of your day will can be spent on the networking will

create more opportunities, but it's a little bit more uncomfortable. It is more tedious. You now have to show up. It's less predictable because you don't know what will happen. You have to show up with your best smile. You have to dress up. You can't just sit there with your hoodie and you know, and in your room, it's drinking coffee and editing. No, you have to like show up. So it's a lot more effort that is required and it's easier to gravitate towards the other one. But

Christian Brim (20:25.312)
Right. Less predictable.

Adi Klevit (20:49.391)
To that point, if you had a process, even in your head on how you do networking, you take a little bit of predictability out of it. Why? Because if you define ahead of time what is the end result of you going to a networking event, then you are able to achieve success every single time. For instance, if you know that you're going to a networking event and the result is not necessarily a new client because...

It's not when you go to a networking event, that's business development. are developing the relationship. So maybe your final result of the purpose of going to a networking event is to make three new connections that you haven't made before or help three new people or have a great conversation with two people. Whatever you define it is that is realistic and you go and do it. Then you will have success. It will be a win.

And then you have a process of following up. So let's say you talk to three people. Good. What are you going to do with those connections? You send them a follow-up email. Great meeting you. I know you needed help with this and this. Let me introduce you to that person. Or with that person you do this. So you have a process of following up. And then maybe two weeks later you follow up. Hey, you know, I connected you with, know you needed, you know, of the connection with a great accountant or with somebody that can help you with your profit.

I introduce you to Christian, did you connect? There is definitely a reason for more communication. But if you don't have a process or you never define yourself that process, then you go to the networking event. Maybe it is successful, maybe it is not, and then you're right. It's a waste of time because then you never follow up, so nothing happens. So why would I go to more networking events? You see, therefore, you have to identify the value of your actions.

Christian Brim (22:34.22)
Right. Right.

Adi Klevit (22:39.116)
and then identify the actual actions, which is basically the process.

Christian Brim (22:44.609)
Yeah, that's a, that's a great point that, you know, you can, bring some order to the unpredictability by, by defining the success and the outcomes that you want. And, you know, I, I was, I was talking to, a videographer earlier today and I, I use the example I, I started doing,

woodworking again, and I am not good at woodworking. I create ugly things. But, but when I set aside time to go work in my woodworking, I start to hear my brain say all of the things that I could be doing otherwise. I should be doing otherwise. Well, like you need to, you know, go to the grocery store or whatever. And I realized that that's my brain working against me because

my brain wants to keep me where it's comfortable and the woodworking is uncomfortable because I'm not great at it. I have a limited amount of experience. But once I realized that those are just my brain trying to keep me from trying something new or doing what I want to do, I can go through that and to your point, setting an expectation. Well, you know what? I just want to do X.

in in the shop, that's all I want to do like and if I achieve that then I have had success as opposed to I I don't really have a clear goal of what what's going to come out of this and I may get frustrated because I do it wrong Or I I don't know how to do something and so I quit you know, I I think that is really good advice to

When you're going into something that you're not entirely comfortable with and doesn't don't have a predictable, outcome is, is to define that success for yourself.

Adi Klevit (24:48.29)
Right? And then you have success. Otherwise, you know, if you don't achieve, if you don't put a goal there, how do know you achieved the goal?

Christian Brim (24:55.905)
Right. Right. So, I want to pivot back to you. You are a podcast and an author. How did, how did that come about?

Adi Klevit (25:08.91)
I'm interested in people. I love hearing what they have to say. And my podcast actually started during the pandemic. I used to do a lot of in-person networking, meeting a lot of people. And as you know, we couldn't do that anymore. And I got interviewed to somebody's podcast and I wow, this is great. I love being interviewed on a podcast, but even more so, I love interviewing people for my podcast because I get to know

Christian Brim (25:11.233)
Mm-hmm.

Adi Klevit (25:38.255)
to learn about them. I'm fascinated by people, by what they do, how they think, what they think, their opinions. I learned so much from it. So I started doing it. And then we're probably right now over 300 episodes. I do it consistently now for years. And I've had a chance to meet wonderful people. I like to tie everything around processes. So...

Christian Brim (26:07.148)
Mm-hmm.

Adi Klevit (26:07.596)
Whatever their expertise is, whatever their story is, we always come up with some kind of a process that they applied in order to achieve their success. I then write a blog based on the podcast. And, I wrote a book about how to, how systematizing your business will increase the profitability. And I'm in the process of writing my second book about knowledge transfer, best practices of how to do a correct knowledge transfer.

Christian Brim (26:38.997)
I love it. That's a huge thing. you you were talking about processes and one of the things that came up for me as I was listening to you is as far as implementing profit first in businesses, a lot of people say something to the effect of, well, I don't have any profit, therefore I can't implement profit first.

Adi Klevit (26:41.773)
Yeah.

Christian Brim (27:08.832)
And I'm like, no, you've got it backwards. Like you, you don't have profit because you haven't implemented profit first. And so I think there's probably some similarities in what you see of like, can't implement processes because of X. Like I don't have enough time, right?

Adi Klevit (27:29.058)
Yeah, I don't have a process. hear that. I'm laughing because I didn't know that you, I mean, I can imagine, makes sense, but I hear that, wow, we know we can document because we don't really have a process. And my answer to that is of course you have a process because what is a process? It's a series of actions that we do. So whatever we do, maybe you don't have a documented process. You don't have a streamlined process, but you have a process.

Christian Brim (27:56.161)
Right, right. And for someone to use that as an excuse to not do the work is thinking about it backwards, right? Like I don't have time to document the processes. No, you don't have time because you haven't documented your processes.

Adi Klevit (28:06.604)
It is.

Adi Klevit (28:12.494)
That is exactly right. And what I'm saying is, you know, it's, all in our minds, the way we think about things. When somebody says to me, I don't have a process, I can't figure out how to document it, or I can't figure out how we're going to create a process out of it, or we can't document it, well, something is wrong, right? It's just like, if you don't have a process, don't, you're not doing, I mean, everything can be put into a process. So the point being is that

you're just looking at everything together, just jumbled and mixed and disordered and in confusion. So we need to basically take piece by piece by piece and string it and figuring out what are the step-by-step actions that are being done every single time in order to create the same result. Now, what you put on top of it can be different, right? It can be

Let's say for instance, the process is mix the colors, then take the brush, put a brush in the cup with the color, and then paint. Now what color it is can be different. If you're more creative and you don't want to write a process of what color to choose, fine, you can just have the freedom to do it. Maybe if you have...

marketing agency, you do want to create a color palette with agreement with the client. So that's part of the process. Each client will have their own palette. Then the way you put it, you mark the streak on the canvas is different every single time, unless you're more, unless it's not just free art, but it's more like a graphic design or whatnot. has more of a, it's more structured. So there has to be a balance between instructions, steps.

and the actual creativity. But in order for you to put your time all the time into the creative part of it, you have to identify the common steps so you don't have to even spend time thinking about it, but you are performing them consistently every single time.

Christian Brim (30:23.244)
Yeah. So like when we implemented, uh, EOS, entrepreneurial operating system, uh, one of the tools in there is to create, uh, procedures. And I think, uh, where we went wrong with that was two things. First, we tried to be too detailed and two, we didn't involve. We tried to, we tried to optimize rather than just document.

Right. Up front. And, and we didn't in that optimization involve the people that were going to use the process. And, and so basically what we ended up with was a whole bunch of documentation that no one used. Right. yeah. Right. So, so the way we did it the next time around was we didn't do, detail. We, started with.

Adi Klevit (31:10.028)
And that's the worst. That's the worst.

Christian Brim (31:22.476)
this idea, which is again from EOS is not something we came up with, give a process of like, if I turn this over to another professional in that space that understood the term, like marketing, like, okay, they're a marketer, they understand the concepts, they understand the terms, but you give them like a one, one and a half page process of this is how we do things.

And so you're not going into the detail of these are the tools we use or even like, you know, color palette or messaging, you know, you don't go into a lot of the detail because that person is going to use that process to, to flesh that out. And there may be more detailed process that come out of that, but don't start there. What do you say to that?

Adi Klevit (32:16.258)
Yes, absolutely. You brought up the two of the points that people make mistake at is trying to optimize before you document and going into too many details. Now details are important and we work with many companies that implement EOS, you know, work with many implementers and they refer me to their clients and because people that already implementing EOS, they know that processes are important.

We always start with a high level. We do a high level process mapping. We do the design, the planning, because this is somebody told me today, asked me, how many times do you build a house? It was, it goes no, twice. First of all, it's the planning on the paper and then you build the actual house. And that is also true for processes. So that's why we always map it high level, because when we map it high level, we can see the big picture.

and we can identify the areas that we need to document and some areas that we don't because we all have limited amount of time. So if we decided we're going to spend, let's say we have four months to complete this project. And if we decided we're going to spend all, you know, document really in detail, everything in the marketing department, we're never going to move to the rest of the departments. So my take on it is like, let's do it high level, identify the steps.

Now I do think that details are important because that's part of the knowledge transfer because you are accumulating things in your company that is your legacy, that is your knowledge. Now to your point, if it's something that you can learn outside of your company, then you don't have to document it. For instance, if I'm documenting the accounting procedures, I'm not going to document how to create a new customer in QuickBooks because that can be a tutorial out there that you

can do or if you're a bookkeeper, you know how to create a new customer. However, the way that if you have a naming convention for your customers, then you do document that because what you want to do if your bookkeeper right now wins the lottery and leaves, you bring somebody new that is competent as a bookkeeper. You don't want them to start figuring it out, right? They just have the instructions. This is how our name convention good. Or let's say, for instance, you invoice

Christian Brim (34:33.449)
Right.

Adi Klevit (34:39.193)
two times a week and that's what works for you. Go document that. So best practices, the why behind things definitely needs to be need to be documented because those details are your knowledge and that's why you want to transfer and don't lose it. So definitely start in high level and then work your way down from there and document existing state first and then optimize and make the changes. Why? Because

That is change management 101. If you do not have it documented, then you can't really measure your change against something that already exists. And you can introduce too many changes and then you don't know really what effect it created. So sometimes you can have a process, then introduce three things and you go, oh, none of them work, but that's not true. Maybe one of them work, but the other two counter it. So now it looks like it didn't work. But if you actually document what you have,

know exactly what you're gonna change and why. I always ask my clients, we always define why we wanna change it. What problem are we trying to solve? Is it that important to solve it? And what is the outcome that we expect? So again, we have measurements to measure if the change is good or not or successful. One thing at a time, try it out, see if it works or doesn't work and continue from there.

Christian Brim (35:48.001)
Yes.

Christian Brim (36:05.448)
One of the things I think for solopreneurs, so, so I think we all have in our journeys, what my friend Drew Goodman's calls, entrepreneurial inflection points. And it's where we have to make a decision to do something differently, like, like you so eloquently put, like, you know, do you want things to be the, as they are, if not, you've got to change something, right?

And I think the first inflection point that most entrepreneurs get stuck on is the idea of delegating. You know, that may show up as hiring their first employee or even just taking things off their plate and using subcontractors to do that work. I think you kind of alluded to it. I think the biggest impediment is this mindset that

I'm the only one that can do it like no one can do it like me. Well, that's not The goal is not to do it like you right because you know, it's it's not like everybody has to just Become another adi or another Christian and do things exactly the way you did them The point is do you have a clear outcome and a clear expectation a standard a quality standard like what?

What is it that you want them to produce and agree to that and then give them the freedom and latitude to use their professional judgment to obtain those outcomes? But that mindset shift is, know, frankly, most business owners never get past it. You know, they don't truly delegate. They hire people to fill in the gaps and the cracks.

Adi Klevit (37:48.499)
Exactly.

Christian Brim (38:05.024)
the overflow, but they don't really systematize it and say, okay, I want you to do this 80 % that I don't like to do is not profitable for me to do. And here are my standards. Here's what I want the work product to look like. And, you know, then truly letting that person do the job.

Adi Klevit (38:26.99)
That is correct. You're absolutely correct. You know, if you look around, the successful businesses are the ones that delegated are the ones that each person has their own hat. They know what hat they're going to wear. They do it. They are measured. They are responsible for their position. They are held accountable, but it can be that frantic, I'm doing everything. Nobody can do it. It just doesn't work that way.

If you look at successful people, they don't operate that way.

Christian Brim (39:01.898)
No, and in my case, I think it was honestly hubris. was false pride that for me to say that no one can do it as well as I can. Well, that's just a false statement. That's not true, but I believed it. I believed it to be true.

Adi Klevit (39:24.462)
Absolutely, and I believed it too until I realized that okay, it's probably I did not teach somebody else how to do it the way I want it to be done or I didn't identify What is it that I do? that Others do not do and that is where the shift really happened for me It's listening to I actually hired when I hired a COO I had her listen to my calls that I do with my clients and identify

What is it that I'm doing there that we then need to teach the rest of the consultants? So some of it was, you she came up with, you're asking a lot of questions. Good. What type of questions that this, this and that. Okay, good. So then we create a training for the rest of the consultants. You know, when you are on a call with a client, you have to ask a lot of questions. And here's a list of examples of questions. Not that they have to be wrote about it.

But for instance, one of the things that I ask clients is, why are you doing this? What are the best practices? What's working for you? What is not working for you? So there are questions that I was asking that led to the success of correct documentation. So now we have it documented and our new consultants or consultants that come on board, they are trained on how to do that. That is an example. So there is nothing you can't

Christian Brim (40:47.445)
Yeah, and

Adi Klevit (40:49.795)
really train, it is really the mindset. It's several things, Christian, is really looking around and seeing who is successful and who is not, and what is the common denominator of success. And that's why, another answer why I like my podcast, because I bring on entrepreneurs and thought leaders like yourself that work, that you're successful and work with successful entrepreneurs or have seen success and not so many, and not successful and can differentiate and ask them.

What is the common denominator of success? had somebody on my podcast this morning, super successful entrepreneur, and he said, I'm working myself out of a job. I hire correctly. I'm not afraid of firing the people that are not the right people. I give them their mission and tell them to go and hold them accountable. And that is exactly right. So you need to have the mindset. Do you want a business or do you want to just continue to be a worker?

without a direct boss other than yourself. So it's how you want to run your business that will determine which direction you're gonna go.

Christian Brim (41:55.341)
I couldn't

Adi Klevit (41:56.985)
Yeah. And you know, Christian, one thing that you, I think one thing that will resonate with you is people say, well, I don't want to delegate what I hear people say. I don't want to delegate because it will cut my profits.

Christian Brim (42:09.356)
Mmm.

Adi Klevit (42:10.646)
or hire somebody is very expensive, my profits will suffer.

Adi Klevit (42:18.712)
Yeah.

Christian Brim (42:19.612)
I mean, it could be true if you didn't take that opportunity, that extra bandwidth, that extra time, that extra energy and do something with it.

Adi Klevit (42:31.663)
Exactly, it's an investment, right? So it's not if you're just hiring and continue just like to your example, if you hire somebody but never let go and you're still running it with them, it's a waste of your money. You might as well, you're right, just wear their hat and just do it yourself and get paid for it. But if you truly want to scale, if you truly want to expand, then you need to identify what is it that you're going to do with your extra time in order to generate more income and more profits.

Christian Brim (43:01.598)
Exactly. Adi, how do people find you and learn more about working with you?

Adi Klevit (43:09.208)
So the easiest way is to find me on LinkedIn. So it's Adi Klevit. You can also call or text. We have a number in the office that you can text as well. It's 503-662-2911. Visit our website, bizsuccesscg.com. And my email is adi at bizsuccesscg.com. I'll be happy to answer any questions and I would love to hear from the listeners.

Christian Brim (43:38.996)
and we'll put all of that information in the show notes. Adi, thank you very much for your time and your experience here. It's very much appreciated. Audience, if you like what you hear, please rate the podcast, share the podcast, subscribe to the podcast. If you don't like what you hear, shoot us a message back, let us know what you'd like to hear and I'll replace Adi. Until then, ta-ta for now.