Why you’re getting this: I’m Ayman Al-Abdullah and this is my CEO Newsletter. You probably signed up via one of my social links:

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Thanks for taking the time to read my newsletter.
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Let me ask you a question:​
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​When you look at the best companies in the world - Apple, Tesla, Amazon, Google, what do you see?
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They have so many differences, but what is one thing they all have in common?
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​Consistency.

Consistency builds customer trust and allows you to build a scalable thriving business.

In the last email, we talked about the Process stage of growth for a CEO and why it’s the first step to building a company that’s ready for scale.

As CEO, there are three main types of processes you need to have nailed down to scale up your business:

1. Your Profit Factory: How do you actually make money? How do you turn your hustle into dollars in the bank? You need processes for the entire profit-making cycle of your business, from customer acquisition to fulfillment to billing.
2. Recruiting: How do you attract and hire top talent? Is this a science or are you just winging it?
3. Your Leadership Process: (This starts with how you lead yourself). How are you deciding what to work on each day? Are you working on the highest leverage (low input vs high output) strategic tasks or just responding to the latest slack message? How does your team know what to work on? If your day is a mess, why would your company be any different?

Tldr; I use simple tools like ScribeHow to create super simple SOPs and drop the link into Notion. Nothing fancy - we can improve it the next time we do it.

What does each or the above Process Engines actually look like?

The truth is, they’re connected. If you don't understand how your business makes money, you’ll never be sure how to hire for your process. If you don’t know what to prioritize, your profit factory will come to a screeching halt.

If you don’t know how to lead, neither your profit factory or recruiting process will improve beyond you. You become the bottleneck. (Sound familiar?)

It’s important that you automate or create SOPs (standard operating procedures) and SOE’s (Standards of Excellence) for each critical component of your business.

“These are the exact steps to acquiring the best customers.”

“This is everything we need to do to make a happy customer and fulfill their order.”

“This is how we decide what to prioritize each quarter.”

“This is how we plan a perfect day.”

This isn’t something you invest in once and never open again.This needs to be built into the DNA of your company.

Starbucks doesn’t sell you a cup of coffee.

Starbucks sells a SYSTEM to sell you a cup of coffee.​
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And that’s why they’re a Billion dollar company while your favorite coffee shop is barely making ends meet. (I still love you).

The investment here is exactly what allows you to step away from the day-to-day and scale up.

For most modern companies, Loom videos are the best way to create SOPs. You can record the exact steps you take to get the job done and pass them on to current and future employees.

As previously mentioned, I also use simple tools like ScribeHow to create super simple SOPs and drop the link into Notion. Nothing fancy - we can improve it the next time we do it.

In the beginning stages of your business, be cautious as to not create processes and training assets that are too rigid to break. As you scale, things will change and new situations will arise. There will be new fires to put out.

Most businesses, even the Tesla’s of the world, are put together with a lot of duct tape and shoestrings. They’re engines, but they’re not very well refined engines. Your job as the CEO is to constantly be polishing, refining, and taking things to the next level as you build.

That next level may be automating large parts of your business. After all, the best business model is simply a computer plugged into the wall — with no human error.
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It’s unrealistic, but it’s the ideal.

When you’ve built a business that is thriving from clearly-defined processes, you gain the information needed to hire for the exact roles you need. You can create checklists of related tasks in your process, and create roles for talented people who can execute that checklist at a high level. The clearer the checklist, the clearer the role — which breeds a happy team and a successful profit-factory.

A dialed-in process for every step of your business will allow it to thrive. It is critical for a company’s success. From this process, you’ll need to bring in the right people to fill each role of the conveyor built from acquisition to fulfillment.

It’s one thing to have a team with the right skills. Soon, we’ll talk about how to build a team with the right character to thrust your business forward — and be fully ready to scale.

Talk soon,