S09 E01 - Prioritizing Process, Delegating Smart, and Doing What You Love with Austin Church

Today’s co-host is Austin Church, brand consultant, writer, and freelance coach. Austin is the founder of brand and marketing studio Balernum. He also runs Freelance Cake, a business growth course for freelancers and consultants. Above all else, Austin believes in the power of process.

Austin realized that his perfectionism and intense drive for quality were leaving him burned out and scrambling for profits. He struggled to delegate and couldn’t find the balance between quality and scale. Eventually, Austin discovered that prioritizing process actually gave him the freedom to do what he loved and grow his business simultaneously.

Austin talks about how to decide what needs to be delegated, why taking 10 minutes to prioritize tasks leads to quick wins, and the mindset shift that defined his career.

“For me, process equals freedom. I want to have more time to spend on the parts of a project that I love, whether it’s for a client or it’s for myself. And by [documenting] some of the essential but non-creatives tasks, action-steps, that sort of thing, I have so much more freedom. I have so much more joy in my work.” ~ @austinlchurch

Main Takeaways

• Time equals money and money equals the freedom to walk away from clients that don’t value your skillset. Selling premium services at a premium rate is key to unlocking that freedom.
• Standard operating processes (SOPs) are invaluable. If you can automate essential but non-creative tasks and standardize them, you’ll improve the quality of your work because you’ll be free to focus on creating.
• SOPs also save time with onboarding new employees. Instead of training new hires, create a training and give them access to it.
• There’s often a conflict between quality and profitability. The more time you spend on a project the higher quality it will be, but the less profitable it becomes. SOPs and smart delegation free up time so you can improve quality without sacrificing profit. Delegation also helps prevent burnout.
• When deciding which priorities need an SOP, think about the tasks you don’t enjoy, the tasks you aren’t great at, and start there.

Links and Important Mentions

• Austin’s Website
• Austin on Twitter
• Austin on LinkedIn
• Austin on Instagram
• Balernum
• Freelance Cake
• Jim Dethmer: Leading Above the Line [The Knowledge Project Ep. 60]
• Craft & Commerce Conference
• Notion
• Calendly
• Acuity Scheduling

Stay in Touch

• Feast Club
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram