66: David Jenyns, entrepreneur and author of “SYSTEMology”

Daniel Giordano

SUMMARY:

In this episode of the All-In Podcast, Daniel welcomes a fellow dad-entrepreneur whose business ventures are driven by passion but not at the expense of his family life and priorities. David Jenyns, an Australian marketing specialist and expert on creating business systems, shares a step-by-step breakdown for entrepreneurs looking to put processes in place. Any business without reliable, replicable systems is at risk of bottlenecking around a key team member or members. It’s David’s mission to help visionaries get granular about how to develop sustainable operations that can run independently – freeing up entrepreneurs for their next pursuit!

David explains how his own lack of understanding about systems early on delayed his evolution beyond the digital marketing agency he ran for 13 years. He has since literally written the book on systems (available here) and, as a result of implementing processes of his own, he is enjoying plenty of quality time with his children throughout both the week and on weekends. You’ll enjoy this robust conversation about how to leverage systems to create not only the business you want to run, but the life you want to lead!

KEY TOPICS:

A bit about David’s young life and the influences that shaped his entrepreneurial drive, including a hunger to have financial security and serial “wins.”
Early interests David pursued with varying results, from a course on stock trading to developing a study guide and direct mail campaigns.
Internet marketing became a central focus for David’s creative energies, including learning about leveraging YouTube and search engine optimization.
He founded a successful digital marketing agency, which he ran for 13 years before turning his focus to systems.
Passion is critical to sustaining entrepreneurial ventures during times of challenge or discouragement.
Challenges that David has confronted:
- A self-limiting belief that systems and process couldn’t be applied to his digital marketing agency.
- The bottleneck he was creating in his own business for lack of systems.
Why David decided to write “Systemology” and the niche it fills.
David’s daily routine reflects a balance he earned by front-loading long hours and intense focus in his younger, single, childless days:
- Starts the day with a clean slate and clear sense of priorities by handling as much email and other communications as possible the day before.
- Tries not to be too hard on himself as far as hours he keeps, allowing for quality of life and family.
First steps for entrepreneurs who need to develop systems:
- Identify your dream client.
- Figure out the product or service you would sell to that dream client.
- Map the “critical client flow,” i.e. the journey to delivering that core product or service.
- After capturing a prospect’s attention, how do you handle an incoming inquiry?
- Define the qualification and sales process.
- Map the follow-up process and payment system.
- Establish a process for onboarding clients.
- How do you deliver your core product or service?
- How do you get your dream client to come back?
David’s recent book “SYSTEMology: Create Time, Reduce Errors and Scale Profits with Proven Business Systems” is available in print or audible format here.

KEY QUOTES:

“Sometimes in business you kind of just fall into something … and it’s not necessarily strategic but just what feels right in the moment.”
“The fact is it’s very hard work to understand who your target audience is, understand a problem that they have, have a product or service that helps to solve that problem and consistently deliver that solution over a period of time.”
“(As an entrepreneur) you’ll have highs, you’ll have lows. You’ll probably have a lot more lows than highs.”
“As a business owner and entrepreneur you need to evolve at every single step.”
“If a business can’t work without me, it’s actually broken.”
“Having any form of key person dependency – whether on me or another team member – is a huge amount of risk. You can only grow so far.”
“Most business owners are big-picture, visionary thinkers. They’re not detail-oriented systems people.”
“All that burning the midnight oil (earlier in my career) has created for me the opportunities I have today. I’ve reaped that reward many years later.”
“Only think about what you currently do – not what you would like to be doing.”
“If you’ve got a particular pain point (in your business process), narrow in on that first.”
“If you can map your first 10 to 15 systems, your business can then start to deliver core services or products without key person dependency. And that’s the goal because then the business can make money without you.”

About David

David’s entrepreneurial journey began in his early twenties when he sold Australia’s most beloved sporting venue, the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Since then, his business experience has spanned from franchising retail clothing stores to founding one of Australia’s most trusted digital agencies, Melbourne SEO Services.

In 2016, he successfully systemised himself out of that business, hired a CEO and stepped back from the daily operations. Through this process, he became a systems devotee, founding SYSTEMology.

Further Info/Contacts:

Website: https://www.davidjenyns.com
Podcast: Business Systems Simplifed Podcast
@Facebook
@LinkedIn

About the All In Podcast Show:

The All-In Podcast Show presents top Entrepreneurs, Innovators and World Changers willing to share their breakthrough moments and how they are changing the world. Focused on being “All-In” on the four areas of life: faith, family, finances, and health, host Daniel Giordano invites mentors who exemplify balance and a commitment to building a bold life of excellence.

Previous Episodes: https://www.allinpodcast.com