You know you envision your business thriving as you ride off into the successful sunset, but lately, things just feel… off. No pleasure, a bunch of pain, and all kinds of confusion.
The upside is, you are not alone. There are tons of businesses floundering, without any real direction, an idea of what is wrong, or how to begin to fix it.
The even bigger upside is, we know how to help. You give us your struggles, and we’ll give you a plan to turn them into satisfying successes.
In Dana Smith’s case, she went from being held in an operational chokehold, to running her business with enough confidence to create a thriving expansion.
Meet Dana Smith
Dana is the founder and owner of Spiritual Essence Yoga (SEY), a black-owned yoga and healing studio dedicated to manifesting the power of balance and peace, no matter what life throws at you.
SEY isn’t “just” yoga. They offer a variety of services, including weekly classes, wellness services and treatments, and Jiivana (L.I.F.E.) Yoga® Teacher Training, all created with the goal of helping you become your greatest self.
Because of the operations put in place through Business Laid Bare’s done-with-you method, Dana had the knowledge and confidence to expand SEY into a retail store that includes all things metaphysical: crystals, chakra balancing, and oracle cards.
Dana's Biggest Hurdle
“I felt like a hypocrite.”
Dana found herself drowning in the day-to-day operations of her business. She was a yoga instructor. She was supposed to be happy and stress-free. But instead, she was overwhelmed and anxious, the opposite of what her practice preaches.
Enter Business Laid Bare. Dana had seen the company mentioned a few times in her circle, but never thought she had a need for all of that operations stuff. She recognized opportunities were being missed but didn’t know where to start.
She didn’t have specific systems in place and the ones she had weren’t working. Stacks of Google docs, sticky notes, and illegible handwritten notes on scraps of paper just weren’t cutting it.
Dana's Solutions
Consistency is very important to Dana and she wanted her business to reflect that. By working through the detailed intake form and completing the BLB assessment, SEY was able to pinpoint their operations stressors and work towards a plan to eliminate those pinch points.
Dana quickly learned that a strong foundation was the key to her business prosperity. Sure, she could have attempted to muddle through everything on her own, but she would have had to sacrifice her mental, emotional, and/or physical health in the process.
Because Dana and her team were hands-on learners, the done-with-you program was perfect for them.
BLB worked to create and implement:
- Knowledge Base – just say no to disorganized Google docs!
- Project Management – no more sticky note to-do lists.
- Team Communication – proper communication channel implementation.
- New Student Onboarding – automated tracking for new students.
- New Team Member Onboarding and Training – create the perfect SEY team.
For the first time in a long time, Dana felt hopeful.
"It used to take new team members about 20-25 hours (that I was spending with them) to feel comfortable flying on their own. With the systems y'all put in place, it's about 8-10 hours now! I can now do other things for the business or just rest."
Expected Outcomes
SEY quickly learned their previous lack of operations affected revenue – when things didn’t get done, they wouldn’t know who didn’t do it, when it wasn’t done, or why.
After working with BLB, the quantitative results immediately spoke for themselves. Spiritual Essence Yoga was experiencing a revenue gap when they first contacted BLB. Soon after implementing their new processes, revenue was up by 25%.
The reminder tools put in place helped them remember to do the small things, which quickly turned into big results.
They no longer had to question if all the boxes were checked and hoping someone wasn’t dropping the ball somewhere along the way – they had a process for that.
On top of increasing revenue, Davina Midgette, SEY’s Team Development Manager, and Dana’s right hand, was able to cut her employee onboarding training time by 50%!
One of the things SEY really appreciated is that they never felt shamed, just forever supported. Having a team in their corner to give their ideas to and immediately receive feedback and actions in return, was unparalleled.
More than anything, taking the operational stress off of Dana’s plate allowed her to do what she does best – walk in her creative energy and show the world that EVERYbody has the power to become their best selves.
Conclusion
Dana Smith’s passion for her craft is undeniable. She wants to empower her community and not have to be concerned about her business being overrun with chaos while she focuses her energy on making a difference in the world.
Thanks to Business Laid Bare, her business has grown. Furthermore, Dana was given the opportunity to find balance in her life without being afraid of her business going under if she didn’t stay on top of all things, all the time. The processes are what did that.
Here at Business Laid Bare, we are a people-centered, pleasure-filled company, dedicated to helping all things in your business feel good.
Book a call to chat with us today!
