The Design Business Show 190: Creating Systems That Help Get Your Ideas to Executionwith Kris Ward

Kris Ward is creating a movement where your business supports your life instead of consuming it.  Kris is the founder of the Win The Hour, Win the Day philosophy.   After the loss of her husband, Kris returned full-time to her work as a marketing strategist.  She was relieved that her business had not only survived her absence but was growing. Now, Kris has completely changed the landscape for entrepreneurs by sharing the successful practices that allowed her absence.     Kris has shared the stage with Jack Canfield - Chicken Soup For The Soul, Kevin Harrington original Shark from Shark Tank, James Malinchak -ABC’s Secret Millionaire, Sharon Lechter - Rich Dad Poor Dad Co Author and  Joe Theismann - NFL All star and commentator to name a few.  Kris has also featured on award winning podcasts, radio and TV shows. Kris is an acclaimed podcaster. You can hear Kris on her own podcast - Win The Hour, Win The Day, where she has engaging conversations with dynamic guests covering a variety of business topics so you can get to your next win now!  Here’s what we covered on the episode: Win The Hour, Win The Day + Creating Systems  I share that Kris and I connected because she had sent me a pitch - I was impressed with her pitch and could relate to her story, which is why I was excited to have her on the podcast  Kris shares that when she first started her business, 12+ years ago, she was working crazy hours the first 2 years  By the end of her first 2 years, Kris was told that she was losing her charm, so she went from working 16 hours a day to 6 hours a day - which didn’t happen overnight  A couple of years later, Kris’s husband was diagnosed with colon cancer, which resulted in her taking a step back for a couple of years  When Kris returned to the business after her husband’s passing, her existing clients had no idea of her absence   Clients started to approach Kris about helping them with time management, productivity, team building, etc. because they didn’t notice her absence; they thought she could help them step back a little to free up their time from their business as well  Kris believes that your business should support your life, not consume it, and is passionate about helping other entrepreneurs achieve that Kris realized that many entrepreneurs looked good on paper but were working way more hours than people thought they would be in their small business journey, so she had to reach those people, which is why she wrote her book, Win The Hour, Win The Day  20% of Kris’s work is still marketing strategy, and the other 80% is her passion for creating a movement where your business supports your life instead of consuming it  In Kris’s book, she heavily leans into your team, your time, and your toolkits  What Kris means when she says win the hour, win the day is that if you break your day into bite-size pieces by the hour, you can win the hour, you can win the day, you can win the week, you can win the month and so on  Running a business off a to-do list is never going to work; Kris says it adds stress and is a rotating list of emergencies - what you want is systems and processes in place, like our super toolkit that allow you to get ideas to execution  How creatives are not favorable to systems because they probably had a job where procedures and systems were in place that the end-user did not create - but having them in your own business is a game-changer because it allows you freedom  Kris shares how one of her clients was able to implement systems into her business to help manage her time, deliver superior service, and set up boundaries  Most clients get 25 hours a week within the first month of working with Kris and her team  Building a Team + Kris’s Current Offers  Kris believes that your team should manage you - you should not be parenting them When hiring a team, you need to have the infrastructure to support their talents in place before or be in that process while they’re coming on; otherwise, you’ll be throwing work at them, stressing them out, and it will fall apart You can have a fantastic team with 1 or 2 people - Kris shares that she has 4 people on her team but works with many large, successful people from all different levels  Why you shouldn’t use email to keep your systems and how it’s important to keep your systems in one place - Kris and her team use Basecamp  Kris believes that you can’t do a whole lot without a team because you’re limited to your capacity and talents  How Kris realized that she could have her team take courses for her   The subject of Kris’s podcast is general business; she shares it could be anything from social media to sales  Kris’s book Win the hour, win the day is offered on Amazon, and her coaching program, Winners Circle, which she’s super passionate about because it allows her to help more small business owners and entrepreneurs  You can have dreams, and it shouldn’t cost you your health, family time, or lifestyle, and business should be fun; otherwise, why did you leave your last job Kris believes that a book is a very polished business card that gives you authority, which can lead to other opportunities  How Kris’s podcast tends to be a lead generator of connections and how some guests on the show end up working with Kris  You always want to be moving to the next thing - you may be fantastic at what you do, but if your competitors get their ideas executed faster and more consistently than you, they win the game  Kris says you want to have a lean team and says that you can get crazy talented people from around the world for affordable prices  For the Winners Circle, they do find, hire and train people for people in the program  Why design is super important in your business because it helps you present the quality of your brand - it’s not talked about enough, and the impact it has on the consumer to make decisions   The pandemic changed a lot of things for small business owners and entrepreneurs, but those who had the infrastructure in place were able to pivot and change easily  If you’re saying, “once I get caught up, I can..” that should be a red flag, Kris says, because the point is to bring in more business, so you should be busier, and if you can’t keep up now, you never will - which again is why systems are important   Kris says she’s surprised at how useful she finds TikTok - she’s learned more about LinkedIn off TikTok, and it’s changed the content she produces because she realized it had to be quicker, cleaner, less polished sometimes, and heavy on tangible takeaways  How TikTok is big on whatever you did today, you’ll be better tomorrow - it’s more about posting 3 or 4 times, and it’s very forgiving, Kris says  Connect with Kris on TikTok or LinkedIn and go on over to free gift from kris .com to get some gifts from Kris - some are free, and some they still charge for  Links mentioned: Win The Hour, Win The Day Podcast  Kris’s Book - Win The Hour, Win The Day  Winners Circle Program  Connect with Kris on TikTok  Connect with Kris on LinkedIn Free Gift From Kris    Like what you heard?  Click here to subscribe + leave a review on iTunes. Click here to download my Sales Page Trello Board Let’s connect on Instagram!