Coffee Chat Take 5: I Had to Reset My Own Systems (Yep, Even Me)

Welcome to another Coffee Chat Take! A bite-sized episode designed to feel like a quick voice note from a friend who gets it.

If you’ve been feeling the weight of growth and wondering why it doesn’t feel as good as it looks, this is your reminder: you don’t need to work harder. You need the right structure.

Today, I’m talking about a trap I see way too many consultants fall into, doing CEO-level work without the CEO-level systems to support them. On the outside, things look great. You’re booked out, clients love you, and the opportunities keep coming. 

But behind the scenes? You’re juggling endless details, repeating the same tasks, and cleaning up problems that shouldn’t exist in the first place.

If you’re tired of your days being filled with chasing client info, fixing preventable mistakes, or typing the same email for the tenth time, this one’s for you. I’m sharing a real client story that might sound a lot like yours and the one shift that helped her stop working harder and start leading her business like a CEO.

In this short but powerful episode, you’ll learn why success can start to feel heavier instead of lighter, how to pinpoint the process that’s draining you the most, and the simple way to start building systems that give you back your time, energy, and focus.

Resources Mentioned:

EP 217 - You’re Not Behind, You’re Just Building Without Support

🔍 Want to see exactly what’s going on behind the scenes in your business?

Grab the Back Office POWER Checklist which is a simple, fillable Google Doc you can complete right on your screen. It will help you spot what’s working, what’s missing, and where your systems are quietly slowing you down, so you can focus on fixing the real issues instead of chasing surface-level solutions.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Coffee Chat Introduction
• 0:15 Personal Confession About Systems Reset
• 0:52 Life Before Proper Systems
• 1:33 Learning From System Failures
• 2:58 Announcing Systems Reset Series
• 4:56 Today's Challenge and Resources

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Thank you for joining me for another Coffee Chat. Take Just a reminder these are short, bite-sized episodes that feel more like a quick voice note from a friend who gets it, and if you're listening with your morning cup of coffee, that is even better. Now, today, I have a confession to make. I have had to reset my own systems. Yes, even me. I have had to reset my own systems. Yes, even me. Now, before you start thinking, well, if Shannon had to reset her systems, then I don't stand a chance at getting that right. Let me stop you right there. I want you to remember what I said in last week's episode You're not behind, you're just building without support. That truth, it also applies to me, because the truth is we all outgrow the very systems that we build. That's why we have to review them and make updates at least once a year.

Speaker 1: 0:59

But I do remember life before. I had things like a real onboarding workflow in place and let me tell you it was crazy. I would book a new client, but then I would spend hours manually piecing everything together the contract, the invoice, the emails, getting the kickoff call schedule and every single time I reinvented the wheel and I always forgot something important. So the client experience always took a hit, and this wasn't intentional, but without a documented process that was automated, things slipped through the cracks. The same thing happened with my discovery calls. I used to end up on calls that never should have made it to my calendar anyway. You might be thinking why. Well, for one, I didn't have clear messaging in my marketing and I kind of had a screening process, but it wasn't as thorough as it needed to be. So I ended up spending time on conversations that were never going to move forward in the first place. That left me drained, frustrated, and I even started to question whether my marketing was even working. It was working, it just wasn't working the way that I wanted it to. So if you're booking calls but you're not talking to the right people, or your onboarding clients but the process feels like it's kind of duct taped together, then I hope that what I've shared with you gives you some relief, because you're not alone and, although you're probably working harder than ever, the back end of your business it's not set up to actually support you, and that's what we need to fix. So here's what I had to learn Resetting your systems or even having to build them after being in business for a few years, it doesn't mean that you failed.

Speaker 1: 2:52

It means that you're growing and you need systems to support that growth. Really, it's a growing pain that no one can avoid, but this also actually means that the way that you've been doing things, it got you this far, but now it's time for you to change the way you operate. So see, for me, that reset looked like creating a simple, repeatable, automated onboarding workflow Not just the checklist, because you can absolutely start with that, but I needed a real process that outlined every single step, that's, from when the client signs their contract to the kickoff meeting and beyond, and it needed to be a process that didn't require me to manually complete each step. So that looked like getting my messaging clear enough that, first of all, the right people started finding me and contacting me, and then the rest of the process would be smooth. This also required me to set up a screening process, so I will only take calls with people who were actually a pretty good fit, and if they weren't, I could help them make progress on their own or I could connect them with someone who could assist them, based on where they were at the time.

Speaker 1: 4:16

That's why I wanted to share this story with you now. It's because next week we're kicking off the systems reset series. I'm going to walk you through how you can look at your own systems, spot what's not working and reset them so they actually fit the business you're building today and into the future. Not the one you had two years ago and definitely not the one that only exists in your mind. So if you're feeling like you've been scattered or like your back end is duct taped together or you've hit a wall where things just don't flow the way that they used to, but you want to fix it, you are going to love this series. So make sure you subscribe on your favorite platform and then put a reminder on your calendar to tune in each Thursday.

Speaker 1: 5:07

But now here's my challenge for you for today. Before we get into that series, I want you to take a look at one area of your business where you keep saying, oh, I'll just fix it later, but you keep putting it off. Is it your onboarding process? Is it how you schedule calls? Is it the way files and client information is scattered across your desktop or in multiple places online? Just pick one, write it down. That's your reset starting point.

Speaker 1: 5:36

And if you want some help figuring out where the cracks are showing up in your back office, grab the back office power checklist today and complete it. It's a simple, fillable document that will walk you through your backend piece by piece and help you identify what's working right now, what's not and what's missing. Go to theshannonbakercom forward slash checklist and grab your copy, or you can click the link in the show notes. As I want you to remember, systems are not about perfection, but they are about getting you the support that you need, and sometimes the most powerful move you can make as a business owner is saying the way I've been doing it isn't working anymore and that's okay, it's time for a reset.

Speaker 1: 6:19

So all right, my friend, keep an eye for next week's episode. We're diving into the first step of the systems reset series and you don't want to miss it. So be sure to subscribe if you haven't already done so. But until then, keep building with clarity and confidence and don't be afraid to reset when you need to. That's your coffee chat. Take for today. No pressure, just progress. See you next time.