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Business Operating Systems and Virtual Assistants: A Winning Combination

From my personal journey of scaling my solo virtual assistant business to seven-figure revenues, I’ve experienced firsthand the transformative power of working with virtual assistants and implementing a structured business operating system (BOS). This article explores four distinct BOS options—Scaling Up, EOS, Business Made Simple, and System and Soul—that can drive your business towards greater efficiency and success. Bonus: add a virtual assistant to the business operating system of your choice to supercharge your results!

Last month, my good friend and strategic partner, Susan Fennema, founder and CEO at Beyond the Chaos, invited me to speak on a panel discussion on business operating systems at the Build.Grow.Learn. Conference in Greenville, SC. I had the opportunity to share the stage with some incredible coaches and implementers of various BOS, and one big truth we all agreed on is that utilizing a business operating system provides teams with greater transparency and accountability, accelerating growth and sustainability. The discussion sparked a lot of great questions and experience shares from the audience, encouraging me to lean into my tendency to be a bit of a BOS evangelist. If you’ve wondered which one is right for you, read on to see a brief comparison and recommendations for more resources on each business operating system.

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Scaling Up: The Growth Catalyst

Our journey at Trusty Oak took a pivotal turn with the implementation of Scaling Up, a system based on Verne Harnish’s “Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.” Scaling Up focuses on four critical decisions in People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash, providing tools that help leaders free up time to focus on business growth. The structured quarterly planning sessions and daily huddles introduced by Scaling Up brought unparalleled clarity and accountability to the Trusty Oak Success Team operations and alignment with Trusty Oak core values, significantly impacting our revenue and company culture.  

I was introduced to Scaling Up via the Entrepreneur’s Organization Accelerator program in Q4 2020. Then, I took my education and results to the next level when I began working with Petra Coach Chip Gallent in May 2021. Reading the book and self-implementing is a good idea on a budget, but I was able to make meaningful changes at a much faster pace with Chip coaching me through my goal-setting process, implementing new structures in my business, encouraging me, and holding me accountable. 

Virtual Assistants for Companies Using the Scaling Up Business Operating System

The fundamental principles of Scaling Up require the leader to be or become an effective delegator. The very nature and success of scaling a business depends on the leader’s ability to cultivate trust and empower others while raising their attention from the day-to-day up to the height of their strategic vision. Partnering with a virtual assistant while implementing Scaling Up provides startup founders with a budget-friendly staffing solution to help them focus on their highest-level tasks.

Scaling Up Resources

EOS: Simplicity and Focus

The Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) structured components—Vision, People, Data, Issues, Process, and Traction—simplify complex business challenges and streamline the path to organizational effectiveness. Companies that adopt EOS often experience improved communication and operational clarity, making it a great option for small to medium businesses aiming for alignment and growth.

For the same reasons that I decided to work with Chip, working with an EOS Implementer™ can significantly streamline and enhance the process of integrating EOS into your business. Unlike attempting to self-implement the system using just the book Traction by Gino Wickman, an EOS Implementer™ brings expertise and experience that can fast-track the adoption of EOS tools and strategies. Having this outside perspective and professional guidance ensures that the EOS framework is tailored to your company’s specific needs and that all team members are fully engaged and aligned with the system’s principles.

An EOS Implementer™ like my friend Andrew J. Gissal offers direct, hands-on support to help set clear goals and ensure accountability, avoid common pitfalls, and accelerate results. Businesses looking to maximize their operational efficiency and team dynamics through EOS will find that partnering with an experienced implementer like Andrew can lead to more substantial and quicker improvements in performance. For those serious about transforming their business operations, reaching out to Andrew Gissal for a consultation could be a pivotal step.

Virtual Assistants for Companies Using EOS

EOS Implementers™ guide clients on utilizing The Assistance Track™ to optimize their time management. This method emphasizes delegating tasks that you wouldn’t pay more than $25/hour to complete to individuals who are more appropriately skilled for those specific activities. Working with US-based virtual assistants familiar with the recommendations in EOS’s The Assistance Track™ can help you Delegate and Elevate™ smoothly, allowing you to focus on growing your business.

Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) Resources

Business Made Simple: Empowering Leaders

Business Made Simple focuses on the personal development of leaders alongside essential business skills. This system is designed to demystify complex business concepts and make them accessible and actionable. It’s particularly effective for entrepreneurs and small business owners who need practical tools to implement immediately, fostering both leadership capabilities and business acumen.

Working with a Business Made Simple Certified Coach can elevate the learning and implementation experience beyond what the Business Made Simple online platform alone offers. A certified coach brings personalized guidance that adapts the broad principles of the Business Made Simple curriculum to your specific business context, helping to bridge the gap between educational content and real-world application. 

Steve Freeman, with his expertise in coaching and a deep understanding of the Business Made Simple principles, can provide the accountability and insight necessary to drive significant changes. His tailored approach helps identify and leverage your business’s strengths, address its specific challenges, and get you unstuck. Engaging with a coach like Steve ensures that the valuable strategies learned through the Business Made Simple platform are implemented consistently and effectively, leading to faster results and a more profound impact on your business’s growth and operational efficiency. For more about how Steve can assist your business transformation, visit Framehouse Coaching.

Virtual Assistants for Companies Using the Business Made Simple System

Business Made Simple also incorporates training on delegation best practices. Successful leaders know they must hone their delegation skills, and BMS includes the Management and Productivity track, teaching overhead and operations management. US-based virtual assistants pair well with the Business Made Simple operating system, too!

Business Made Simple Resources

System and Soul: Balancing Structure with Humanity

System and Soul (S2) uniquely blends systematic processes with a focus on the organization’s cultural health. It recognizes that true success comes from aligning efficient systems with a thriving company culture. This approach ensures that while the operational aspects of the business are optimized for performance, the human elements are nurtured to keep teams engaged and committed.

Just like the other systems, engaging with a coach can significantly enhance the implementation and effectiveness of the System and Soul framework within your organization. Certified System and Soul coach Bill Green‘s expertise ensures that both the ‘system’ and the ‘soul’ of your business are developed in harmony, fostering a balanced approach to growth and operational excellence.

Bill’s personalized coaching helps to deepen the understanding of how to effectively balance structure with the human aspects of your company, driving engagement, productivity, and retention across teams. For businesses aiming to maximize their potential with S2, collaborating with a coach offers a way to elevate your implementation efforts and achieve transformative results. To explore how Bill can take your business to the next level, visit Meet Bill Green.

Virtual Assistants for Companies Using the System and Soul Business Operating System

System and Soul (S2) uses a powerful tool called Leverage to help leaders identify tasks that sap their energy and detract from high-level work. Leaders can take the Leverage Assessment for guidance on delegating to assistants or other team members and then invite their VA to access their proprietary software solution, S2Sync, to efficiently manage tasks collaboratively. Plus, S2’s partnership with Patrick Lencioni’s The Table Group teaches The Six Types of Working Genius, a critical “soul” tool that ensures leaders are spending their time in the right places. Working within these proven processes and tools saves leaders a lot of time, and adding an experienced virtual assistant to the S2 toolkit can help you perform at your best every week.

System and Soul Resources

Business Operating Systems and Virtual Assistants

Adopting a Business Operating System (BOS) can significantly amplify a business’s capacity for growth, particularly when paired with strategic delegation through the use of human virtual assistants. This approach allows businesses to maximize operational efficiency, enabling leaders to shift their focus from daily tasks to broader strategic planning. A BOS provides a solid framework that defines clear roles, responsibilities, and processes, essential for identifying tasks that can be effectively delegated to VAs.

The integration of VAs into a structured business environment offers increased operational bandwidth and scalability. It enables businesses to adjust their staffing needs dynamically—scaling VA support up or down as required—without the complexities associated with traditional hiring. This flexibility is key for swiftly adapting to market changes or seizing growth opportunities. By leveraging both a BOS and VA support, companies can concentrate on core competencies and strategic growth initiatives while VAs manage necessary but time-consuming tasks, driving efficiency and effectiveness throughout the organization.

Which Business Operating System is Right for You and Your Business?

As you consider these options, think about what your business needs most. Do you need a system that scales quickly (Scaling Up), simplifies operations (EOS), develops leaders (Business Made Simple), or nurtures company culture (System and Soul)? Each BOS has its strengths and can be the key to unlocking your business’s potential.

At Trusty Oak, adopting Scaling Up transformed how we operate and catalyzed our growth to unprecedented levels. I encourage every business leader to explore these systems and consider how they might serve as the backbone for your own business success. By choosing the right BOS, you can streamline your operations, enhance your team’s engagement, and drive substantial growth—a true blueprint for success.

Want to chat about which BOS is right for you and how Trusty Oak can help?

Schedule a call with our Business Development Specialist, Bex Howell.

Book a call with Bex

Amber Gray

Amber Gray is the founder and CEO of Trusty Oak, an Austin-based virtual assistant company providing administrative and marketing support to small business leaders, authors, and creative teams. A people-first approach to hiring, along with a scalable growth model have positioned Trusty Oak as a flexible, dependable, and affordable alternative to hiring administrative and marketing employees. In 2021 and 2022, Trusty Oak was named Freelancer Hiring Platform of the Year, and in 2021 Amber was recognized as Austin Business Woman of the Year.

Before founding Trusty Oak, Amber spent five years at a rapidly growing digital agency based in Austin, TX. Four of those years, she was responsible for hiring and leading both local and virtual teams while working closely with clients ranging from CEOs to bestselling authors to build their brand online. As VP of Operations, Amber helped lead the company’s growth to #15 on Austin Business Journal’s Fast50 List in 2014.

As a female founder and leader of a company that has quickly established a recognizably special culture within a non-traditional workforce, Amber has energized and empowered women from diverse professional and personal backgrounds to go against the grain of historically standard female roles in business, technology, and leadership. Trusty Oak provides an opportunity for experienced admin and marketing professionals to work independently as freelancers, but with a supportive internal network consisting of other ambitious and resourceful remote workers.

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Leadership & Personal Development, Productivity & Delegation, Affordable Business Growth, business operating system