The Entrepreneurial Operating System illuminates even the darkest of rooms in your business. EOS benefits broken down.
Fumbling around in a dark room: this is how I would describe my approach to running a business one year ago.
A lightbulb illuminating everything before me: this is how I would describe my experience with EOS.
EOS stands for Entrepreneurial Operating System. What is it? In short, a set of tools and concepts that allows entrepreneurs to get what they want out of their businesses. I discovered EOS a little over a year ago and my business has quite simply never been the same.
Running your own business can be overwhelming, intimidating, isolating, and downright confounding at times. I remember for a long time feeling muddled and confused about almost every aspect of my business: Who do I serve? What do I stand for? Why am I doing this? What do I want, and where am I headed?
In the face of all these uncertainties, EOS gives you a guiding flame to travel by.
There’s a whole lot to EOS, and I certainly won’t try to cover all its ins and outs in a single blog post. Instead, I’d like to share with you the top five ways in which EOS transformed my business.
Purpose, Cause, and Passion
Is it easy to write? No. But does it hold enormous power? Absolutely. Gaining clarity on the why of your work is at the heart of what EOS calls “The Vision/Traction Organizer,” a collection of eight questions to encapsulate where you’re going and how you will get there. Here’s mine:
Providing mission-driven entrepreneurs and non-profits with an online home that amplifies the essence of them and allows visitors to see them for who they really are.
My Purpose/Cause/Passion holds power, and yours will too.
Core Values
What do values have to do with business? Everything. They dictate who you’ll work with, and who you won’t. Coming up with my three core values: Always Be You, Create Community, and Dream Big – has helped me enormously in clarifying who I’m trying to reach, and how I should speak to them.
Ten Year Target
Admittedly, visioning has never been my strong suit. Give me a to-do list and I’ll crush it, but ask me what I want my life to look like in ten years? Crickets. EOS has helped me to think hard about what I want my business to look like over time and dare I say has encouraged me to practice one of my own core values: to dream big!
Delegate and Elevate
What are the tasks that energize you and that you’re great at? What are the tasks that wear you down and that you completely suck at? Getting clear on these has made it easier for me to take the plunge of hiring a virtual assistant and giving her all the tasks that wear me down. This has improved my productivity, quality of work, and overall mood.
The Level 10 Meeting
The Level 10 Meeting is a weekly 60-minute call with a single partner. It’s designated time to keep track of the overall “health” of your business, your quarterly goals, and the BIG issues that are holding you back. It might sound like an accountability buddy, but it’s not. An accountability buddy might help you keep up with your small tasks from week to week, but a Level 10 Meeting partner will help you address the biggest issues in your business such as: How do I talk about what I do? How can I improve my marketing? Why don’t I have enough clients? How can I get more satisfaction and joy out of my business? Its tried and true format delivers results.
Does this sound super sweet to you – and just a little overwhelming? I get it. I’ve been there, and fear not. I know just the person to help you get started because he helped me get to where I am today. If you’re interested, get in touch!
It was helpful when you explained that the tools and concepts of EOS help entrepreneurs reach their business goals. My brother has been having trouble running his business. I’ll give him a call and suggest he work with an EOS implementer to help him get back on track.
Hi Eileen, I’m so glad you found this helpful – and I certainly hope it will prove to be helpful for your brother as well. EOS has given me a crystal clear framework within which to run my business, and the effects have been incredibly far-reaching. Just let me know if you need a recommendation for an EOS implementer – the person I worked with is truly the best! 🙂 Warmly, Janelle