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I am a fantastically lazy man - let me teach you my ways

Some just call me "energy efficient".

December 29, 2022

2022 has been a good year - I sold a business, launched a few, and have really been able to focus on high-impact & high-leverage activities.

I’ve become known as a “systems and offshore” guy - which, if you know about my background, is hilarious.

Why is that so funny to me?

I’m much more aligned with the classic “Sales Guy” persona.

Evidence of my “Sales Guy” street cred:

  • The last time I took math was in high school

  • When I used to go on business trips, I lost money because I was terrible at tracking & submitting expenses

  • I used to be paid to “schmooz” at pretentious international events

  • I can’t make the columns add up correctly in excel without asking for help

Despite that background, I’ve built up a ton of expertise on “systems & offshore”.

Among a host of benefits, I’ve also built relationships with two incredible absolute freaking systems pros - Josh and Peter - and both are business operators & engineers.

Here’s my podcast episode with Joshua Schultz (Link).

Here’s my podcast episode with Peter Lohmann (Link).

Fortunately for me, I was able to get Peter and Josh to accept me when I told them that I:

  • Used to play Magic the Gathering (Agro player)

  • Went to chess camp - and still play daily (Caro Kahn)

  • Love to do magic tricks (Close-Up)

How in gods name did me, a “sales guy,” end up talking about systems and processes with really smart dudes like Peter and Josh?

I don’t have an MBA.

I don’t have an engineering background.

I’m pretty much self-taught.

My best qualification?

I am fantastically, legendarily, & proudly…. lazy.

I like to think of it as “Strategically Lazy” or, more generously, I’m “Energy Efficient”.

I have an allergy to doing things that are low leverage more than once or twice.

This allergy sent me down the systems and offshore rabbit hole, and I’ve never looked back.

Fast forward a few years - and after piles and piles of mistakes and wasted time - I feel like I’ve got some experience to share with the world.

A few weeks ago, I spoke at my friend Codie’s mastermind group.

Besides Hawaiin shirts and an incredible mustache - what value can I bring to an audience filled with successful business owners?

I was there to talk about “systems” for small business owners.

SNOOZE FEST - am I right?!

I can hear you already

“But Jon, I’m DEEEEEALS guy… I’m a visionary… I can’t do this… systems are boring”.

Do you want to know what’s NOT boring?

  • Having a highly profitable business

  • Not being pushed around by highly skilled employees who you are afraid to fire

  • Having a business run with a team that is happy to be there instead of settling for a crappy/overpaid/local team

  • Filling job postings quickly instead of scraping the bottom of the barrel

  • Not having to answer your cell phone, ever

  • Being able to buy companies no one else can touch, at killer prices, because you know you can systematize them

  • Spending a ton of time with your kids

  • Taking long sabbaticals and not having to check your email

Systems and offshore are a FEATURE, not a benefit - and are what enables all of the above. Behind every chilled-out, profitable business owner is a well-systematized company.

That’s why I got good at systems & offshore, study constantly, and love helping people do the same.

  • I don’t love Notion because I’m a “systems & offshore guy” - I love it so that my team can find answers without calling me.

  • I don’t love offshore because I’m a “systems & offshore guy”- I love it because it lets me scale companies in highly profitable ways.

  • I don’t love no-code software because I’m a “systems & offshore guy” - I love it because it lets my companies grow without me having to be so involved.

Make sense?

An old mentor of mine taught me a wonderful line “Be yourself, and if that doesn’t work, be somebody else”.

It’s such an empowering quote - and to me - challenges me to develop myself into what my companies NEED, not just what I feel like doing.

Your company needs you to build systems, leverage offshore, and create a badass way of doing business. 

It’s time to get started.

So, I hope this email was a call to action.

A challenge, perhaps.

Or, maybe just a reminder.

Spend 2023 learning how to use systems + offshore - and watch your businesses and opportunities skyrocket.

Yours in Outsourcing,

Jon