Hello and welcome to today's episode of The OBM Educator. Last week we finished up our back to business series talking about more of the foundational pieces of having an OBM business and getting that set up so that you're really clear on what it is you're doing, who you're serving, and how you're serving them. And so if you didn't listen to that series, I do encourage you to go back and listen to it, but today we're actually starting another series. And this is, you know, kind of the next step, right? So when we all first start our businesses, a lot of the times we are not really approaching it from like a, I'm a business owner standpoint. We're not really approaching it from like what is the most strategic way to create this business. We're approaching it from like, okay, so I have to do social media and then I have to find clients and then I have to onboard those clients and then I have to figure out how to make it work within my nine to five job or with my kids at home.
And I'm just kind of piecing it together and then, oh my gosh, my business just blew up. Right? Sometimes in a good way, sometimes in a bad way, , but it's a lot of chaos that kind of gets molded into a business. It's not like you start it, you know, from the sense of I'm A CEO. Some people might, but a lot of people don't. You know, the I'm A CEO and I'm gonna run my business like a CEO would, right? We're focused on helping our clients run their business like CEOs that a lot of the times we don't focus on running our own business like A CEO. And so that is what this series, um, the O-B-M-C-E-O Blueprint series is gonna be about. And so we're gonna be going through three different topics on really becoming a CEO in your own business. And the first thing we're gonna talk about today is having a client ready backend and the importance of that.
And then next week we're gonna be talking about getting booked. And so this isn't necessarily marketing, but it's more of how you are handling your discovery calls as an OBM slash CEO and how you're actually like landing and booking clients. And then the third week we're going to be talking about boundaries, which is always something that, you know, every OBM that I have talked to has always struggled with boundaries. And so that's gonna be a big topic to cover, but definitely an important one. And this series is leading into a challenge that I'm gonna be doing starting October 20th, and it's called becoming the CEO of your OBM business, right? D sense a theme here. And so it's gonna be a three day challenge where we get together and talk about different aspects of becoming the CEO of your business. And so in that challenge, we are gonna be talking about the mindset of being a CEO capacity and boundaries. We're gonna be diving even more
Into boundaries. 'cause again, it's a huge topic. And then systems that you can have set up in your business that help you run your business more like a CEO. And we're gonna be getting together live, um, for three days, October 20th, 21st and 22nd. There are gonna be prizes for participation. And I'm really excited for this. It's been about a year since I've done the challenge. And I think that it's a great way to learn, but also come together as a community, right? Because we're doing these like live and Zoom, you get to know other people, you get to see the struggles that you're having are not, you know, individual to you, right? A lot of people are going through the same thing. And you can grow together in, you know, this becoming of a CEO in your business. So the link to register for that is in the show notes. If you have any questions at all, just send me an email or a dm. Would love to chat through it with you. It is free. Um, it's a free challenge. And even if you can't attend the daily lives, we will have replay available. So you can always catch the replay, submit your questions, all of that good stuff. Okay, let's get into today's topic.
So what does a client ready backend look like? What does that mean, right? So if you have ever hired someone, whether it's in your business, in your home, in, you know, whatever, and you hire them and immediately things are like going off the rails, they're like, oh yeah, you know, uh, I'll be in touch next week about like starting, and then you have to follow up with them and then, you know, they're losing paperwork left and right and it just feels so messy. What is the feeling you have of that working relationship? Like, do you feel confident in the decision that you made in hiring them? Or are you starting to feel a little worried? It's the same thing in business, right? When your clients are hiring you, if you have a messy backend, if you have a messy process for onboarding clients, if it is disorganized, if balls are dropped, that is your client's first impression of working with you.
How are they gonna think about what it's like to work with you fully, right? And this even goes, you know, before they say yes, how your discovery call process is, how your proposal process is, all of those things are helping your future client, your client, make a decision of what it's like to work with you. And it's important to have a backend set up that is client ready. Now, there is a balance to this, right? Because there are so many times that I'll talk to new ODMs and they are fine tuning the heck out of their backend. They're like, all my workflows are perfect and my welcome packet is beautiful, all of that. And I'm like, okay, so how's your marketing? And they're like, oh yeah, I haven't done that yet. Right? So there's, there needs to be like an uh, balance to it, right?
Of putting effort into getting your backend ready, but then also putting effort into the marketing so you can get clients. But what we're gonna be talking about today is kind of the basics of a backend that will be client ready. So that when your clients, when you are onboarding your clients, that it is a smooth process and they feel confident in the decision that they made. And so the core pieces of a client ready backend starts with being clear on your offers and pricing, right? Being able to clearly define and state what it is to work with you, what is the pricing for it, what are the packages, what are the services offered? And then having the confidence to share those things, right? Being so clear on it that you are not stumbling your way through sharing what it is on a discovery call or going back and forth or trying to create customized everything.
Like you have clear services, offers, packages, pricing that you can use for clients with maybe a little customization here and there, depending on client needs, but something that you can confidently state to a client so that they are not confused and right. And so in order for them to not be confused, you need to not be confused by either. The second thing that you need to have for a client ready backend is an onboarding process. And this is, you know, one of the more important pieces and that's going to be your contract, your invoice, your welcome packet, your expectations, business policies, because this is what sets the tone for the entire partnership. I have had clients recommend me to other people solely going through my onboarding process because they felt so taken care of and so assured that our working relationship would be the same as the onboarding process.
So take some time to figure out like what all do you need in onboarding a client and how can you put it into a process that is simple yet effective in getting everything that you need? The third core piece of a client ready backend is the systems and tools, right? Your project management tool, your client communication, where you store all your files, where you have your SOPs, you wanna be super clear on how it is that you're actually going to be executing the work with your client. Now, there are some times that you know, you are more flexible depending on what the client currently uses, you know, if they already have things set up. But being able to come in and say, you know, this is how we're gonna communicate. This is where we're gonna set up your project management system. If you don't already have one, this is how we're gonna organize things.
That is going to help your client just feel so much more taken care of. And then the fourth piece is having your administrative system set up, right? Like that's your payment, um, your invoicing process, templates for proposals and rate increases, having that already so that you are not stuck figuring it out as you go, right? If you don't have a process for invoicing, and it turns out every month you have to remember to send the invoice and you know it's different for every client or all on different dates, you know, things are gonna get sloppy, things are gonna get missed. And so if you have that piece set up, it is going to make things so much easier on you, which allows you to focus more on your client's business and your business. Then the fifth piece of this client ready backend is how you appear, right?
Your professional presence. This could look like having a smooth scheduling system using Acuity or Calendly, having a clear call process, you know, the prep for it, the agenda, the follow up, the minutes, whatever your process is, making sure that it's professional and clear to your clients. So all of these pieces together, when you are super clear on them, it is creating a streamlined backend for you that is going to save you time and energy as you get clients. You know, you might experience your business blowing up in a good way, right? Where you have three people who reach at the same time wanting to work with you and you're onboarding three different clients. If you don't have this all figured out, you are going to drowning. Essentially, you are going to be struggling to get everything that you need for every client, and things will get lost, things will get missed, things will get confusing.
And so when you have the system set up, you are building the confidence for your clients, but also for you, you feel like an established OBM, you feel like you have your ish together because this process works. This process is defined and it positions you as a leader who has their business handled, right? Not someone who's just like scrambling to put it all together behind the scenes. And this could also help set the stage for later, for scaling, for bringing on team members, for having support in this area, that it's clean, that it's streamlined, that it's easy to follow. So I hope this was helpful as you're looking at your client ready backend and what steps you might need to add in or just refine a little bit more to really be able to step into that CEO position in your business. So as a reminder, register for my free challenge that's gonna be starting October 20th, called Becoming the CEO of your business. It's gonna be a lot of good information, but then also prizes and community, and I'm so excited for it. The link to register is in the show notes. And make sure to come back next week as we talk about getting booked out and what that looks like with discovery calls and landing the clients. I'll talk with y'all next week. Bye.
