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In the end it's all about this, no? I slapped my head when I first realized it...OF COURSE!

We spend all our days putting out fires (I'd call them "fake fires" honestly).

We try to catch up with the chats.

We go home when it's dark, shrugging our shoulders "well I guess there's no more time today..."

In the end it's not about:

YES, we have gifts to give, a mission to serve, art to create.

And what the world needs right now is more compassion, more genuine connection (don't make me talk to robots), more kind hearts.

But that's not in the WHAT we do...it's in the HOW we do it.

That's why for me, I define the HOW of my business first and for all:

I want to run a Calm Company.

I mean of course, it's not as easy as just saying it. Redesigning the core of your business not for the faint of heart. But hey—we're entrepreneurs, we're used to this stuff. Challenge and hard work with potential big payoffs? Count me in!

As I've gone on this journey I've identified 3 pillars that I think make the biggest difference, and I've tried to simplify the work as much as possible.

Everyone tries to make a complicated company but I don't believe in that. Let's keep it simple—I'm not gonna make you create empty folders on your desktop because maybe in the future you're going to need them.

If you feel ready, come with me.

And see how deep this rabbit hole goes.

Click "Learn more" to keep reading.

Page 1: Introduction

Max noticed the heat of the cup in his hand as a dash of steam tickled his nose with the unmistakeable flavor of an excellent espresso.

The sun was just coming up and part of Max' morning routine was really feeling gratitude for three things. Today they were:

I wish all your days could start like this.

Heck, I wish all of my own days would start like this!

I'm not perfect but that's okay.

Today I wanted to talk with you about what a calm company is for me and how you can design your company to become a calmer place too.

Just a word of warning though: this ain't a magic bullet. No matter how hard I try to create one, no matter how closely I help my clients, there's always serious work in your hands. Because right now, you're the only one that knows everything—from your 10-year vision to the password for your email marketing.

To be frank, that has to end.

That big brain of yours might just be the biggest reason why the business is so chaotic. You shouldn't know so much!

In a calm company:

Instead of being addicted to feeling busy, we have built the engine that makes running the business...easy.

We eliminate what's useless, automate what's boring and simplify what's complex.

Because let us not forget that amidst the spreadsheets, the sales calls, the product launches, it is the human heart that beats at the core of all we do.

It matters that we grow, not just for growth's sake, but because what we are building is great, and its greatness deserves to be known, to be felt, to ripple out into the world.

That's why for us, designing a calm company is at the core of what we do.

It's a vision worth dreaming of, a goal worth working for.

Let's start with the first pillar—because this might be the easiest 20 hours you can save in a month.

Continue reading...

Page 2: Automations

Our dopamine system goes ding-ding-ding every time we go-go-go.

Like a little slot machine in our heads it drips out the feel-good hormone. It really feels like we're moving ahead and getting shit done.

But at the same time this burns us out. We stay in this heightened state for the entire day, never take a break and bring all of that baggage back home, to our friends and family, to our sleep.

Maybe you think it's fine because you can keep going. Good point—we're entrepreneurs, this is where we feel home! But the day has to end too. And if you feel like you're having less fun than you could, you probably crossed that line.

So what are automations?

They're a big part of the invisible engine that's behind every calm company.

In the next pillars we'll talk about how we can empower the team to work without your constant presence, but the great thing about automations is that you don't need any of that! (Well, there's quite some overlap actually, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.)

Let me first tell you what an automation is not. It's not a fancy AI robot, a complex software system or "something techy" you'll never understand.

I often compare automations to duct tape. A simple tool that helps you stick stuff together. Duct tape doesn't magically solve all your problems but it can make a lot of things a lot easier. You don't need to stand there all day holding pieces together.

Same thing here.

You probably have a whole bunch of software to run your business. The website, contact forms, CRM, invoicing, task manager, team chat, email marketing,... the list goes on.

Now, by default all of these apps are separate and you have to go copy-paste stuff from one to the other. You know, a customer should be subscribed to the newsletter, once an invoice is paid it has to be marked in the CRM, contact forms on the website should turn into leads.

That's what automations can do for you.

They're little pieces of software that are easy to build and make the most boring, most repetitive tasks just happen by themselves.

They can also help in your processes, like creating a set of to-do's every time a new project is created.

What are some things you could automate right now?

Take some time to write a few down. Let this article be a spark that starts some change starting now.

What I've found is that it's not that difficult to teach people how to build their own automations, but it can be hard to know what can be automated. It's often helpful to have someone else with experience "look over your shoulder" and notice good opportunities for automation.

Then you can go into Zapier or Make.com and connect it all up.

We don't want the day-to-day to depend on us doing this stupid stuff. We don't want the team to depend on what we know. We don't want the basics running through our mind all the time.

Because as the founder, what matters is not your ability to keep the ball rolling—what matters is your judgement. You're the one to decide the company's direction, you set the vision, you choose which balls to tackle and how to tackle them.

That's your superpower, and the calm company revolves around giving you the ability to express that.

Then you don't just make better decisions, but you feel better in the process.

So you can go to sleep with a calm heart.

So the next day you can deal with a team that's probably powerless.

Because you didn't give them what they needed.

Let's talk about...the nuances of documentation (click here to read).

Page 3: Documentation

You have to stop putting out fires.

In your relationship, has your partner ever said or done something that made you feel angry or bad or sad?

...and then you didn't give them the feedback?
...so they just kept doing it?
...and speaking up became harder and harder?
...until at some point, it exploded?

Do you really think the fires in your business are any different?

Every fire starts out as a tiny candle flame you can just blow out.

So the fact that there's a big fire you need to extinguish just means someone didn't deal with the problem soon enough. That's why I sometimes call them "fake fires."

How to deal with the fake fires

Of course, if you're running this thing the biggest problems will always be yours to deal with.

But most of the time your team can deal with the small issues, immediately, if they know what to do.

“Your task is to optimize one system after another, not careen through the day randomly taking care of whatever problems erupt. Your job is not to be a fire killer. Your job is to prevent fires.”​ – Sam Carpenter, author of Work the System

Remember how I was saying that you know too much? One of my main principles in organizing the business is the following:

Everyone should be able to know everything.

Note that I didn't say "everyone should know everything." They should just know how to find it. That's what you get when you document well (I recommend Notion if you're looking for a tool).

This is really the Big Clue that unlocks the ability for your company to work async (I'll explain that on the next page).

So what should I document?

Three things:

The hard work will be that you will have to start documenting. It's going to be a ton of work at the beginning. But you'll feel so happy that it's out of your mind.

Then make your team use these procedures, and update them whenever they feel they can make an improvement.

This turns the business in to a system.
Because that's what it is.

And once you deal with it from this perspective, everything changes.

You've already gotten some hints at how to deal with everyone needing your attention all the time.

But there's more, and there's great tools that help you do that.

So let's talk about the best communication strategy (click to continue reading)...

Page 4: Communication

Most founders never really thought about how they communicate with their team.

You start out with WhatsApp, and then you get Slack licenses—I guess? It's what everyone does, right?

Yeah—and everyone is stressed out of their mind because they're drowning in chaotic chats.

That's not how calm companies work.

Because when you're out on a date with your partner and all you can think of is that unread message counter going up...there's no way you're going to give them the presence and love that they deserve.

It's time to flip this upside down.

Yes, good communication is what makes teams successful.
But the best communication is when you don't need to communicate at all.

Asynchronous messaging

Here's the thing: real-time chat causes stress and frankly, I think it's rude.

We call it "synchronous" because one person sends something and then waits for a response. Real-time chat only works if people are actually all there.

So it forces you to stay "jacked in." Because if you're away for a day, you come back with 397 messages from 6 conversations that happened and you have no idea what it's about.

The worst part is you don't even know if you should care! Maybe nothing in this conversation matters to you and you just wasted your mental energy trying to figure that out.

So what do we do?

You're going to have to force more structure on communication. Set some base rules:

I'm a big fan of a team communication tool called Twist. At first sight it looks similar to Slack but it has all kinds of little interface tweaks that make those rules natural. People just start following them without you having to breathe down their neck.

This is how you take the stress out of communication.

Make it slower.

Make a clear distinction between "most conversations" and "urgent things" that need instant chat (of course there should be a space for that).

Make communication a superpower of your business by eliminating it.

Ready to put the three pillars together?

Click here to keep reading...

Page 5: All Together

We've gone through the three pillars of what makes a Calm Company:

I hope I've given you some great insights and "aha moments."

When you build this, that's when you can find yourself in Max' position. Simply enjoying your coffee in the morning and knowing there's nothing urgent.

It's simple, but not easy.

With this blueprint, transform your business into a self-sustaining powerhouse that thrives, even as you step back to enjoy the life you've built.

You can trust that what needs to happen, will happen. On time. With excellence.

It's not about WHAT you do, it's about HOW you do it. Even your customers—your relaxed smile brightens their day and they'll pass it on.

It's not about the fires you put out—it's about the fires you ignite in others.

When you know that everything is going to be okay, the energy you put out in the world is completely different.

So...

Time to start designing and building your Calm Company.

I'm here for you.

I can guide you on this path and help you build those automations.

If you're eager to continue this journey, or just want to say "hi," let's get in touch.

I'd love to hear your story.

Fill in your details and press "Send" below. Then you can book a call.