We never know what is around the corner until we run into it; having a future-proofed business is more than a pipe dream; it can be your reality. As a service-based sole trader, we try to prepare for every eventuality. I’m always sharing the importance of disaster recovery plans, and in 2025, they will be more relevant to other things that impact our world besides fire and flood. Let me share a story with you about the biggest impact I’ve felt in my business since I started JMJ in May 2011.

On January 18, my husband went into our local hospital before being transferred to Melbourne on 20 January, where he remains today, post > 11 March. What started as a routine hospital stay quickly escalated into weeks and weeks of treatments and procedures that we didn’t see coming. Family first is what I always tell my team, and I was no exception to that rule.

With my husband ill, I needed to be where he was, so I was spending a lot of time in Melbourne and commuting the 11-hour round trip from our home to Melbourne every week. This meant that I couldn’t run my business as I previously had. I needed to make some strategic changes to how I ran my business. I have always been a great delegator and sharer of knowledge, and for the past few years, I’ve been future-proofing my business to operate without me. The time had now come to put many of those strategies into play so that we could continue without disrupting our clients.

But as luck would have it, another spanner was to be dropped in the works, severely impacting my ability to function as a human, let alone a business owner. I became very ill and after a course of antibiotics *rocket fuel* as the GP described them, did absolutely nothing. I then tested positive for COVID on the 28 Feb, and because I was ill a week prior, I didn’t see my husband. I couldn’t even lift my head off the pillow for fear of it exploding. Let alone do any work for our clients. So, for the past 3+ weeks, my husband has been on his health journey alone. While I have returned to our Mallee home to recover from the worst illness I can ever remember having.

How I Future-Proofed My Service Based Business!

Many small business owners and sole traders feel they need to turn over more than 500k before getting help. This is stupid—absolutely stupid. I’m not turning over 500k a year, and I have a team of four who work with me in the business every week. Each member of the JMJ team brings a specific specialty and quality.

  • Anita has been with me 13 years
  • Darlene since 4.5 years
  • Mira for 1 year
  • Jeremy a couple of months (talk about jumping in at the deep end)

Each member of the JMJ team could jump in and take over from the other as the need arises.

  1. We use procedures and checklists as our business systems.
  2. We collaborate to achieve the desired outcomes.
  3. We meet regularly to discuss What is Working and What Isn’t Working in the business.
  4. We don’t work in silos. We are a team and focus as one.
  5. We don’t throw landmines on the table and sit back watching or throw each other under the bus.
  6. We are solution-driven in providing the outcomes for our clients.
  7. We step up and step in where we need to.
  8. We stay informed and updated on business progress

4 Step Future-Proofing Process

  1. The call goes out: – Jeremy started with us in early February as the JMJ account coordinator. I chose Jeremy to work with us because of her keen organisational and attention to detail acumen. I had always envisaged training this person with the right skill set in the ways of JMJ. Jeremy had only a few weeks in the business before I relied on her to drive it.  Jeremy’s first week with us was all about learning the ways of JMJ through our workflows, sitting in on meetings, and getting to know our clients and how we operate.
  2. A leader is born: – Because of Jeremy’s previous 5 years of experience working for a US business, I could sense that she would be able to step up and deliver even in this very short time frame. When it comes to choosing team members for JMJ I like to pick those who have some knowledge but not all the knowledge. I want someone who is trainable in how I like business to be done.
  3. A team springs into action: – Jeremy brought her experience to the table and got to work with the other JMJ team members, finding out who was up to what and where she could help if they needed it. The wheels were beginning to turn, and I received one update from Jeremy every week, letting me know where things were going. What problems/solutions did they have and solve, and what implementations did they put in place?  Sometimes, there was a question for me, but they were few and far between because each team member is highly skilled in their own area of expertise and often banded together to achieve the desired outcome.
  4. Happy clients: While all this was going on, my clients knew I was out for an undisclosed period of time and that Jeremy had my back. In fact, the whole team had my back, for which I am truly grateful. We onboarded a new client and managed our existing clients, completing the tasks and work as required on time, including building a funnel in Clickfunnels. I mean, come on! Super team.

So thank you, team JMJ—EA for a Day, for taking care of our clients and me.

As sole traders and small business owners, we often overlook tomorrow. We get so busy doing today’s work that when something happens, the business falls over. Investing in help doesn’t have to blow the budget, and this type of backup for a small business is vital because you never know when the unexpected will arrive.

If you’d like to know how we can help you future-proof your small business and keep the doors open for you, book a chat here—it’s free!