Episode 107: Project Planning and Organisation with Aiden Fishbein

Show Notes for This Episode:

[1:00] The gang welcomes Aiden to the show.
[2:00] Aiden opens up about creativity and organisation.
[3:00] Before you break the rules you need to know the constraints.
[4:00] Through pain comes creative birth.
[5:00] Aiden shares how horribly wrong things can go without planning.
[6:00] The “We’ll fix it in post” scenario.
[7:00] Lack of preparation sets Aiden up for failure.
[8:00] Aiden shares how his agency prepares to prevent disasters.
[9:30] Tom explains how Uh-oh’s have strengthened the podcast.
[10:00] Lack of preparation makes you look unprofessional.
[11:00] Dustin is still discovering ways to improve processes at Retro Supply.
[12:00] Reactive and proactive thinking.
[13:00] How do you find the not so obvious pains to fix them?
[14:00] Learn to sit in the pain and motivate yourself to fix it.
[15:10] As a small business how do you measure and complete everything needed.
[17:00] Play to your strengths to gain control of your processes.
[18:20] Most companies have two people planning and implementing.
[19:00] Bringing your business yang onboard.
[20:00] Dustin’s business partner is invaluable to him.
[21:00] What do you do if you can’t hire anyone else?
[22:00] Tom poses a real business scenario for Aiden to assist with.
[23:30] Writing down processes will help you see voids in your system.
[24:00] Documenting processes can also reveal profound niche business insight.
[25:00] How Aiden’s onboard documentation resulted in a refined niche.
[26:00] Finding and letting go of work that is more hassle than profit.
[27:20] Lisa asks Aiden what type of questions helped them find system failures.
[28:00] Business breakdowns can run rampant if not addressed.
[29:30] Dustin asks if there are quick business hacks one can implement now.
[30:00] Eliminating unnecessary meetings saves time.
[31:00] Track time so you know when you’ve had a time saver win.
[32:00] Aiden’s favorite time tracking tool is Toggl.
[33:00] Cutting meetings in half.
[34:20] Ask yourself why you want to get organised.
[35:00] Everyone has their own set of rules and lifestyle vision.
[36:00] Find your goal before you optimise.
[37:30] Perfecting a balance of organisation and creativity.
[38:30] Scheduling a monthly/quarterly business tune-up.
[40:00] Take time to review your metrics.
[41:00] How do you know what metrics to look at?
[42:00] Aiden shares his early creative business days.
[43:00] Personal fulfillment is a real metric. Measure it.
[44:30] You have to have things you enjoy that don’t make money.
[45:30] Low creative pressure prevents Aiden from suffering.
[46:20] Ian talks hobby fun turned business pressure.
[47:30] Ian finds if money projects can kill his creativity.
[48:30] Take care of your reputation and the revenue will come.
[49:00] Aiden shares his top reads with the group.
[52:00] The team discusses Toggl’s functionality.
[53:00] The Moment App for tracking time.
[54:00] Try time tracking strategies before asking your team to jump onboard.
[55:00] The quick hack of daily journaling to find great workday consistencies.
[56:20] Simple polls are easy to read and learn from.
[58:30] The fear of bloated processes and data.
[1:00:00] The push and pull between visionary and implementer.
[1:01:00] Play up to your strengths rather than mitigating your weakness.
[1:02:40] Trying to wear both hats is difficult.
[1:03:00] Introvert vs. extrovert and analytical vs. creative.
[1:04:00] Some people are closely balanced between left and right brain thinking.
[1:05:40] Special thank you to Aiden for visiting the show.
[1:06:00] You can find more about Aiden over at Vitals Agency.
[1:08:00] And that’s a wrap!

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