Today I’m talking about three magical works – eliminate, automate and delegate. I find these words so magical that I’ve even made them into a verb. Ead-ing. Pronounced – eeaading, or however you want, I’m not fussy.
These three words have been gamechangers for me over the years as I’ve applied them to all aspects of my celebrant business and helped myself in the process to streamline what I do and be happier in the long run.Â
Streamlining my celebrant business means I can spend more time doing what I love in my business and less time or no time on all on the jobs that I really flipping hate doing. Or get no joy from whatsoever. Because let’s face it, no-one loves EVERY aspect of running their celebrant business, right?
So I wanted to share with you how I bring ead-ing into my business and what it looks like for me, which might help you to recognise what in your business you can EAD the hell out of! And get some joy back in the process.
Eliminating
Sometimes as celebrants we can find ourselves doing stuff that we really don’t like or enjoy. And it can be anything from big things like actual offerings or smaller things like accounts and book-keeping. Sometimes we end up doing stuff regularly in our business that actually serves no purpose whatsoever but we keep doing them because, well, we just do!
My first big elimination epiphany came in 2017 when after not having done funerals for a few years (lying to funeral directors and saying I was busy and recommending colleagues), I decided to actually let them know that I no longer did funerals and I took it off my website. Oh the epiphany. Perhaps one day, I’ll write a whole blog post about why I stopped doing funerals but for now I want to focus on what it felt like when I faced this decision-making process. Bliss! And this is how you should feel when you eliminate something from your business that no longer serves you.
My business wife Claire had a similar epiphany. After years of feeling that baby-namings weren’t really her thing (as much as she loved loved the ones that she did do), she finally took it down from her website. And yep, she felt the same joy too!
Whilst both these examples are of quite big business eliminations, they don’t have to be on this scale. You might be perfectly happy with your offerings. Here are some examples of things to consider eliminating:
Using social media during the day/during worktimes. Giving discounts. Working at venues that you don’t like or are far away. Your terrible website hosting. Using paper scripts. Paid advertising that doesn’t work for you.  Old or unliked photos or text from your website. Newsletters that do your head in. Venomous, energy-sapping or overwhelming Facebook groups or people!
These are just some examples, but have a go at finding your own. What could you eliminate from your celebrant business that would make you happier? And never forget Marie Kondo’s infamous words, ‘if it doesn’t spark joy, get rid of it!’
Automating
I cannot tell you how much I love automation. I automate whatever I possibly can. From social media output to my business admin, I’m an automation queen! Why do something yourself with a lot of energy when something else can do the same job effortlessly? In my post last week I talked about the software I used to automate aspects of my business, you can read about it here.
So what could you automate in your business to free up your time for the things that you love doing?
Delegating
Okay, so this is where I’ll put my hands up and admit that I’m not the best at delegating. I never realised how much I control what I do and my reluctance to let others share some responsibility. It also doesn’t help that I have this sometimes impeding way of thinking that if I can do something well myself, then why should I pay someone else to do it?
For example, I totally re-designed and did the whole Celebrants Collective website, all by myself, and our Celebrant Courses website too. I enjoyed it (I’m a bit of a website nerd) and it gave me great pleasure doing it. BUT we could have paid someone else to do it and put that time and energy into all the celebrant courses that we have coming up!
Do you see what I see here?
Sometimes, just because we can do something, it doesn’t mean we should. However, that said, one non-negotiable that comes into this category is my accounts. I cannot do accounts. I do not want to do accounts. Accounts bring me no joy whatsoever. I hate accounts. So I have an accountant. And she doesn’t cost the earth, which is an excuse I told myself before taking the plunge!
What could you do with delegating in your celebrant business? What could you ship out and get someone more capable to do?
So there you have it. Some top ead-ing tips for eliminating, automating and delegating your way into a happier business model and a better way of working.
Routinely check in with your biz and see where EAD can be applied, because just like with people, businesses change over time and what once suited you doesn’t mean it still does. As businesses grow, slow down or adapt, changes need to happen to reflect a new stage of business. So go take your EAD wand and let the business magic happen.Â
PS. Have you grabbed your FREE ticket to the Book More Weddings Virtual Summit yet? It kicks off on Monday, so hurry up! Five days and 26 presentations from wedding industry experts, including mine, all for FREE! Click here for more info and to grab your ticket.
