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Service-Based Fastlane Business - Is it possible?

Sean Marshall

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Hello Everyone - I'm new to the forum but I'm quickly becoming a raving fan of the book and MJ's philosophy. I agree with pretty much everything in the book!

I also have my own business working with businesses doing online marketing. So I took a deep look at the 5 Fastlane commandments and I feel mostly good about how my business stacks up. Need - check. Entry - check. Control - check. It's with scale and time that I feel a little concerned with.

The only way I see my business being scalable and separated from time is through outsourcing. I already have other people do most of the work and I can even hire a manager to replace myself.

And as far as scale goes, this sounds harsh, but there's no shortage of people in the Philippines and India and Romania. I can always hire more (or have someone hire more for me).

The big question is - can I make a service based business truly scalable and independent from time? I mean, I know I can for myself but I'm still reliant upon other people using their time. Is that ok?

Thank you for any thoughts on this!
 
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FastNAwesome

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Hi Sean,

I'd also like to hear thoughts on this.


Welcome to the forum.
 

MJ DeMarco

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I mean, I know I can for myself but I'm still reliant upon other people using their time. Is that ok?

Yes because you are leveraging other people's time.

Service-based businesses become Fastlane through human resource systems which IMO, are the most difficult systems to create due to management and control loss. If you outsource overseas, you risk a loss of CONTROL. You need control to control your brand, service, and reputation.

I great example of when outsourcing renders a loss of control is Tony Hsieh's book, Delivering Happiness (Zappos). To maintain control, the company dumped the outsource, and kept things inhouse. (In your case, it would be to hire employees vs outsourcing).

Even in my own publishing business, my outsourced activities have their share of difficulties. (The fulfillment house isn't as speedy as I'd like AND the printer didn't print to the quality I expected.)

The challenge of scale via human resource systems always is control and management. If you can hire at will and your people can achieve scale without a dilution of quality (or your brand) then you hit the jackpot.
 

Sean Marshall

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Wow. Very good to know! Thank you for taking the time to explain.

Having a human resource system seems pretty scary to me whether overseas or domestic. Unless I can really systematize it so much that anyone could do it.

Hmmm...I guess I better get myself into selling products fast huh?

Anyway, thanks for the reply again and thank you for writing the book. I already bought a few for some buddies of mine I know will read it and apply it. Now if I can just get my wife to put down her Twilight and read it!!
 
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Sasha

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....
I also have my own business working with businesses doing online marketing. So I took a deep look at the 5 Fastlane commandments and I feel mostly good about how my business stacks up. Need - check. Entry - check. Control - check. It's with scale and time that I feel a little concerned with.....

The big question is - can I make a service based business truly scalable and independent from time? I mean, I know I can for myself but I'm still reliant upon other people using their time. Is that ok?

Thank you for any thoughts on this!

Cool, part of the business I'll be launching will handle internet marketing for businesses too. Anyways, your business is actually one of the easier one's to scale and leveraging other peoples time is one of many ways you can accomplish that goal.

Also, at the end of the day, building a fastlane business is like creating a well oiled machine. The idea isn't to have no pieces working to keep it spinning and functioning properly, the goal is to make sure that none of the pieces doing the work has to be you. So freeing up your time but being reliant on that of others is a non issue.
 

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Service based business is great but only if you set it up correctly. A few things to remember when searching for the right business would be:

1. Having the ability to have all your staff under one roof and in one place.
2. Having the ability to sell your service nationally or internationally.
3. Selling a service that people can put on there credit cards.

With this you have a good advantage in a few places. Your able to rent cheap office space because clients are not going to be stopping by. Your also able to control your entire staff without going anywhere but down the hall.
 

Pinnacle

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Service based business is great but only if you set it up correctly. A few things to remember when searching for the right business would be:

1. Having the ability to have all your staff under one roof and in one place.
2. Having the ability to sell your service nationally or internationally.
3. Selling a service that people can put on there credit cards.

With this you have a good advantage in a few places. Your able to rent cheap office space because clients are not going to be stopping by. Your also able to control your entire staff without going anywhere but down the hall.

The company I work for is a fastlane service/product-based business based in Oklahoma City. Single owner (owned it for 26 years)...it is the largest (by market share) and most successful real estate software company in the country. I have paid extremely close attention to things my co-workers are unable or unwilling to create in their own lives: the systems and human capital infrastructure. Every inch of this company is fastlane for the owner.


Having the ability to have all your staff under one roof and in one place - CHECK
Having the ability to sell your service nationally or internationally - CHECK
Selling a service that people can put on their credit cards - CHECK

The owner made this company fastlane years ago, but decided to keep owning it [stepped down as chairman and simply acts as a consultant to his managers when times get complex]. He even continues to interact with customers sometimes. He's a big dog.

Sean, I had to work for a business like the one you want to build before I could understand how it would look and how it would work. Do you have any mentors --people who are already where you want to be in the fastlane --who can offer you structure and tools?
 
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