Hiring a Systems Strategist was the best thing I did for my business
Back in 2015 I launched a course called “VA in 7 Days” — the idea was to teach people how to start their own virtual assistant business and make some extra income while working from home. I had been working as a virtual assistant for a few years and I wanted to help others learn how to do it too. I loved helping people organize their digital life and get tasks knocked out.
One of my favorite things to do for my clients was helping them digitally organize their projects, tasks and files in a system that worked for them. I was really good at this too. After my course launched, I decided to make the shift to primarily offering system strategy services.
What is a Systems Strategist?
This is someone who comes into your business and sets up repeatable, organized and streamlined processes to help you know what task should be worked on next. Think of them as a digital professional organizer.
Working as a strategist was so much fun. I got to problem solve and organize and make a huge impact in how people ran their businesses efficiently. Fast forward to 2023 — I decided to start my own ecommerce plant shop. I had been working in ecommerce for over a decade, I knew how to start a business, I knew how to stay organized and I knew a ton about my product
…BUT…
I felt frazzled. I had a million things to do, a thousand tasks to track and prioritize, events to plan for, products to manage and I was doing it all on my own. I knew how to set up the systems but I didn’t have the time or energy to actually set them up. When I did try, I would overcomplicate things, or get distracted and stop half-way through.
Why I hired a strategist
I decided to reach out to a old friend, Stephanie Chrystal. She was offering system organization services and I had worked with her before as a virtual assistant and collaborator. I explained the situation and she jumped right into working.
I’ve been working with her for one month now and I have gone from a fragmented Notion library with 100 ideas to a custom designed dashboard with all the organization I will ever need to grow my team or manage things on my own. She has helped me to prioritize my projects, organize my tasks, set up automations to save time and make a solid game plan for the rest of the year.
Having someone look at your business from the outside and give you a way to organize your thoughts is SO valuable. It can save you so much time, energy and money by having a clear view on what needs to happen next (and why).
The best part, is hiring my strategist didn’t slow down what I was doing at all. After one meeting, Stephanie started to work her magic and within a few days we were already on the way to a better system. We got rid of two apps I didn’t need, made content plans for the year, set up goals for the business, prioritized projects and got Notion set up as our business hub.
Finding a strategist
Finding someone who organizes in the same way you do can be really beneficial if you’re a small business that is considering this service. You want a person who can figure out how you best operate and build a system that will make sense to others, but be nearly seamless for you to start using.
Don’t be afraid of asking for recommendations or interviewing some different people to find the right fit. If you have a ecommerce shop, find someone who specializes in that field. Maybe you just need a strategist for your content or products — you can get really specific with your needs or go really big-picture.
I knew Stephanie and I had a similar way of organizing, and although she didn’t know much about plants — she did know a lot about Notion, Asana, Google Suite and online small business — so she was able to adapt her knowledge to fit my niche.
Organizing your business and your digital life doesn’t have to all fall on you. If you’re somone who struggles to create systems or you simply don’t have the time, consider finding a strategist for your needs.
