Ep 170: Design Your Business To Match How You Think | Expert Guest Pamela King

Book a Booked-out Blueprint here.

We break down how solo consultants build simple systems that match their brains, document on the fly, and hire without chaos. Pamela shares a step-by-step approach to roadmapping, capturing SOPs, and finding the right people at the right time.

• defining what to keep in your zone of genius
• mapping workflows into automations, templates, and personal touches
• creating roadmaps for clean hand-offs and onboarding
• documenting as you go with Loom, Scribe, and AI notes
• hiring before the red zone and setting expectations
• contractor versus employee trade-offs for small teams
• interviewing for communication, learning style, and culture fit
• building a living library of SOPs to reduce rework
• taking small weekly steps that compound

If this episode made things feel a little more doable, I'd love to help you take the next step with the booked out blueprint. It's a practical, low pressure session to clarify your offers, your marketing, and what actually moves the needle. You can book yours through the link in the show notes. You don't have to figure it out alone.

Pamela King

Pamela King is a Small Business Optimizer who helps ambitious entrepreneurs replace sticky-note systems and late-night chaos with operations that actually run. Think of her as a temporary fractional Chief of Staff who rolls up her sleeves and works inside the business, not a consultant who drops a plan and disappears. She helps founders reclaim time, streamline teams and tools, and build systems that stick—without killing the creative spark that got them here. The result: fewer fires, clearer decisions, and growth that doesn’t come with burnout.

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Chapters

• 1:23 Show Purpose And Guest Intro
• 3:01 Workflows That Fit Different Brains
• 4:03 Keep Your Genius And Map The Rest
• 7:06 Roadmapping And Confident Hand-Offs
• 11:28 Systematize What You Keep
• 14:02 Hiring Before You’re Drowning
• 18:02 Capture As You Go With Tools
• 21:54 Scribe vs Loom: Practical SOPs
• 24:31 Finding The Right People

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:36

I'm Serena Off Block. This show is made for solo consultants who want to get booked out without burning out. If you've ever thought, I just want this to feel easier, you're not alone. Around here, we focus on simple, sustainable growth that actually fits into your life so growth feels doable instead of overwhelming.

SPEAKER_01: 0:55

I'm Pamela King and I'm a small business optimizer. So think about as like a short-term fractional chief of staff. So what I bring to the table is part operations, part communication, um, some staff training and development, and just some of that other housekeeping behind the scenes kinds of things. I was actually a public school history teacher for 15 years. So I'm most deeply trained in working with a variety of learners and building systems that help people succeed based on their brain and their approach to things instead of them bending to my way.

SPEAKER_00: 1:31

I love that. I think that's the biggest problem that a lot of us have is that like there's these systems, these frameworks, these templates that we're meant to follow, but we all think a little bit differently. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01: 1:46

And that's it. So, you know, I love operations and workflows, but to me, a workflow is how you get from beginning to end. So can it be a tool? Absolutely. But it's also just habits and systems and, you know, sort of setting yourself up for success and finding what works for you and your specific brain. 72% of entrepreneurs either have a neurodivergence or a mental health condition. So it is a large percentage of people. And so finding ways to support them and give them the tools they need is what is really I'm so passionate about. And to me, that's what's exciting, rather than once again, uh following a template, following a framework that they, you know, buy from a, you know, a third party. And it's like, once I buy this planner, my life's gonna change. And we all know that's just not the case.

SPEAKER_00: 2:35

Yeah, that's the same way with like a notebook. Like I just got the perfect notebook. Oh, I'm gonna be the A plus version of myself, man. That's it. That's it.

SPEAKER_01: 2:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 2:47

Um, okay, so let's talk about, we're gonna talk specifically in terms of small teams and solo entrepreneurs. Now let's first talk about what system do like how do entrepreneurs who are working either alone or with a VA build out systems to work better for themselves. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01: 3:11

Um, and I I will tell you, a lot of people who work with me, that's the conversation that we first have. Or I've met people who say, Oh, I tried to have a VA and it didn't work. Chances are that means there wasn't enough framework or training behind it. Um, so typically when I work with somebody, again, because I want everything to be really custom and fit you and your ways, I ask people, what do you want to keep? And I think that's important. So often people start with what they want to pass off or give away. Maybe, but I think it's more important to focus on your zone of genius. So keep those things that light you up, the stuff that's really exciting, the stuff that really moves the needle. Then those other things that kind of weigh you down. That's where we can kind of work together. And first step of working with me is always building out a roadmap. From there, we kind of roadmap out what you want to hand off. And then we can create whether it's a checklist, a template, uh, an SOP, a video, any of those things so that you can confidently hand that off. Because that's what happens is when people feel they've done the training or they've showed somebody all the I've already showed them that. Did it get captured? Do they feel confident asking questions? Is there something they can refer back to? That's usually the gap that happens and really um the difference between a really successful onboarding and one that maybe doesn't work out.

SPEAKER_00: 4:39

Okay, I want to start from the top. Since the first thing that you go over with them is what do they want to keep? When they decide what they want to keep, is there some do you work with them to figure out how do we systematize that thing that I want to keep so it works more efficiently? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01: 4:59

And so, you know, we'll drill down on what are those pieces like I I have a master's degree in curriculum and instruction, which is the scope and sequence. It is map it. So whether that's a pacing guide, a curriculum for a classroom, or how you want to run your business. So it is all about breaking things down, drilling down to what can we systematize, what can we automate, what can we make a template? And then what are the pieces that maybe needed to be a little more personalized? Or what are the parts that light you up and you want to really customize and lean into? And so once we have that framework, then we can step out and say, well, if these are the things that you're ready and willing to pass off, who do we give that to? And then we kind of build out an ops map of, okay, well, maybe I need a graphic designer. Well, maybe I need an accountant. Well, maybe, and then you can kind of figure that out because so often people wait till they're drowning and then they say, Well, I'm I'm hiring a VA and you just kind of throw things at them. Yeah. But that may not be in their skill set, or maybe you bring somebody on from like Fiverr or something, but what's in their skill set, what that they think is in their scope versus what you think is in your scope. Those are all those disconnects that if you don't have that framework first, you're gonna make it clunky and challenging for both of you, all of you. Baby girl, I've done that. All of us have, so many of us have. It's just, and it's, you know, it feels so natural, and that's what it is. It's like, I can't keep my head above water, I've got to get this off my plate. And I understand that. But whether it's successful and smooth and really sets you up for success, or if you still have to do a million check-ins and a million follow-ups, or say, don't send it till I've looked over it, are you really making your life easier and better?

SPEAKER_00: 6:52

That is such a good point. I have been in multiple positions where like I hired early and I was good to go because I had the time to onboard them and bring them in just like piece by piece. And those were the best engagements. And then I've had situations where I ended up getting a lot of clients at one time like, oh shit, and I needed to hire fast. And those always ended up being chaotic because I didn't have the time to properly onboard them. Sure.

SPEAKER_01: 7:25

Well, and and you know, that's what's so hard. And then people get in their head when they say, Well, I'm not ready yet, or things, I've got to get stuff sorted. I would say part of what that should be is capturing as you go. So if you are in a season of growth and you're bringing somebody on, you know, maybe use scribe, maybe use a make a loom video, you know, what use your AI note taker, whatever it is, to capture things as you go rather than waiting and saying, well, someday down the road when things calm down, I'm gonna document all this or I'm gonna get it all, you know, or people are like, I got it all up here. I hear that so often. And you gotta get it out of there.

SPEAKER_00: 8:11

Yeah, you're gonna get stuck if it stays right here.

SPEAKER_01: 8:16

Absolutely, and for so many reasons, you know, whether that's the ability to successfully uh document and hand it on, or if it's, you know, you get sick or something, or if you ever want to try and sell your business, you gotta get it out of there. So once you get it on paper and you've got it properly documented, that reduces that friction. Then, you know, your staff can go back and re-watch the video or go back through the steps instead of them having to ask you or say, hey, I spent four hours in there and I couldn't figure this out. Meanwhile, you're like, four hours? You know, like that that disconnect happens more than we, you know, care to admit. And it doesn't have to be that way. So as you're going, as you're explaining, make sure you're capturing. Don't just rely on somebody to take notes or being or just you saying, like, you with me? Okay. You know, like people will say yes, especially because they're new and they want to please you and they want to seem like they're really successful. And doing that extra at the beginning and documenting it whether you ever need it or not, is better to have it than not have it.

SPEAKER_00: 9:20

Yeah, that's really smart. And I'm glad you brought up like your AI note takers will do a lot of the lifting for you. If you're recording yourself doing the thing, it usually will write down action steps for you, a summary of what you did, a transcript. So it becomes a lot easier. The best tutorial that I created was when I was trying to train my son on a how to edit my podcast. Oh, cool. So my 12-year-old was asking questions in the video, and I was going through it. So then it really was like, well, now explain it to me like I'm five. You know that phrase? It was exactly like that because I was explaining it to a kid. Yes.

SPEAKER_01: 10:05

And that's it. And and that's a great point, too, is when you're doing that and capturing it, over-explaining, being extra specific really helps. So if you say, here in the left corner, you'll see this shape rather than clicking move on to next, you know, like because it it is like you said, explain it like you're five. And once you have those things captured, you can always update them, add to them. But building that out and having that library of tools is only going to serve you well, especially because, you know, companies grow and change, things change. Maybe that person gets promoted, somebody else is taking on those tasks. Um, you know, there's a lot of reasons why you don't just say, oh, well, we've already done that. Well, we already have that training, or that person already knows how to do that. That's relying a lot on one person, assuming that there aren't changes.

SPEAKER_00: 10:53

Yes. Okay. So I just want to recap what we've gone over so far. So the first thing is to figure out what it is that you want to keep and systematize it wherever you can. The second piece is figuring out what is it that you want to hand off to someone else and kind of mind mapping what kind of people would need to take that on, who would the hired need to be, or what skill sets would they need? And then as you're going, as you're doing the thing that they'll need to do, record yourself. And you can use tools like Scribe, Loom, your AI note taker to be able to record it, but also map out the steps that you're doing. Now, is Scribe one of those um like op specific ones that creates the SOP for you? I know there's tools out there that do everything.

SPEAKER_01: 11:49

It does, it does. And I like that one, you know, because I like keeping costs low and you can be scrappy. There are different levels. There's a free version, there's a more expensive version, depending. But um it, you know, it depends on what you're going for. But if it's something you're keeping in-house and you don't mind if it's watermarked with their things, you can use the free version and that'll you'll get a lot of mileage out of that. And then yes, it does, and it'll it makes um screen captures too. So like it'll say, like, click here, type this here, and it'll do the screen grabs with the instructions.

SPEAKER_00: 12:20

Okay, that's awesome. I haven't used it, but I remember seeing the ad. I was like, I must find a use for that.

unknown: 12:26

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00: 12:27

I'm a tech junkie. I will test everything that I run across.

SPEAKER_01: 12:31

That's awesome. And and it's and that's great, but not everybody likes to do that. And I'm not and some people are like, well, and they're like, I just learned this one. Why am I doing this one? So uh I would say, Lilum, if you're more video, um, I like Scribe personally because I do like screen captures and written-out instructions. And I think that is so universal and something you can give to somebody.

SPEAKER_00: 12:56

And if I really ideally you would capture a video while you're doing that to have to ask, does it record the video too and do the other pieces? Um, scribe does not, at least not as of right now.

SPEAKER_01: 13:08

You know, things update, you know, in six months from now it may have that capability, but uh no. So okay.

SPEAKER_00: 13:16

Um, okay. So we know how to figure out what to keep, what to give away, how to onboard them. How do we find the right people?

SPEAKER_01: 13:28

That challenging part. I will say I wish I had a magic wand for everyone. I believe so deeply in the power of networks. I think, you know, sometimes we're just out here and we're trying to keep costs low. And so we're just kind of looking. I I think that can be good, but you can also make some missteps or have some negative experiences. Uh, like I know of a good friend who just had to switch video editors because of, you know, that kind of relationship. So I would really work your network, talk to the people you know, put those kind of things out there on, you know, obviously we met through LinkedIn. I think there's something to be said about where you get to see the person's personality and know who you know in common, reach out to them because and and I would have conversations because it's it's two parts, right? You know, we've all heard that adage that, you know, you can train skills higher for personality and attitude. And and I think that is true because you want a person who um is a good fit, is culture fit. But at the same time, if you're not a teacher, how much time are you gonna set aside to train this person? Or do you want somebody who can pick up those skills and take it and run with it? Or can do something that you can't do? So, like you said, video editing. Do you want to have to master video editing and teach it to somebody? Or do you want somebody who can take it and run with it?

SPEAKER_00: 14:53

Yeah. And while a larger team or corporation might be willing to do that, a solo entrepreneur or a small team, they don't have the budget usually or the capacity to want to train someone into that.

SPEAKER_01: 15:11

Absolutely. Absolutely. And so, you know, that's what I joke. So often I hear that when people are working with me. They're like, oh, well, she's lovely, but like maybe they even have an existing team member, but that person's not competent with new tech, or that person was hired for a certain role. And as things have grown or changed or evolved, maybe they don't feel as competent. There are there are ways that we can help with that gap. And I definitely love helping with that, the staff training and development piece. But if you're early days and you are making hires, it is you want that 50-50. You want to find somebody who's got a portfolio, who's got some skills, who's got some good um, you know, recommendations and also has that personality piece. Because if you just hire for one or you just hire for the other, you're gonna find yourself in a deficit.

SPEAKER_00: 17:02

Yeah. Yeah, that's fair. It's it you need to find, like, especially if you have a team already, you need to find someone who will be a personality fit. So they aren't like going against the grain with the rest of the team and changing the vibes.

SPEAKER_01: 17:23

Absolutely. And honestly, that should be part of your onboarding. Those should be the questions. It should be a conversation because they should be able to ask you too. But things like what's your preferred method of communication? And, you know, obviously, like if you're working with a freelancer, you can't expect them to have nine to five availability in the same way, um, you know, as if they were an employee. So, you know, having those things, asking about their learning style, are they more visual? Um, you know, kind of talk about, well, are these check-ins? Does this feel like micromanaging or does this feel like I care? The more you do that at the beginning, that's gonna make clarity instead of A, you're not gonna have to wait for mistakes or gaps. And you can always over-communicate in the beginning and then you can kind of roll it back. But I would set your expectations of do you have in-person meetings or do you have, you know, it's more emails? Do you want, do you expect them to be available? Do you need Slack or not? All of that, that, you know, as Brene Brown tells us, right? Clear is kind. The more we can communicate that as part of the interview process, you can also see, like, are they gonna fit? Here's what they're expected. Any, and they get to decide if they want to work with you, which is, you know, the other half of the equation.

SPEAKER_00: 18:38

Yeah, that makes sense. Let's take it back one step pre-hire. Sure. So, how does an entrepreneur know that it's the right time to hire someone?

SPEAKER_01: 18:52

Oh, well, the answer is don't wait till you're in the red zone. So many of us wait till it is, you know, we're not sleeping, we're hanging on by our fingernails, we're missing deadlines, or work's getting produced, but it's not quite at the quality we want. Ideally, you don't wait till that point. Usually, especially if that person is, you know, you know, well, I would say taking it as further step back, even from that, as we talked about, once you start mapping those things out, you can design your job posting better because you'll have a true, clear understanding of what you want that role to look like and what skills you need. Then kind of put that out there. And if that person is really successful, they're gonna free up enough time for you. You should be able to, you know, get that income. You should be able to close more clients, have more conversations, do more networking, send more DMs, whatever you're doing, those income generating things. So I so many people wait because they're scared that they won't be able to sustain the hire or that the budget isn't gonna always be there. If you set that person up for success, they're gonna free up enough time that you should have no problem making that income in other places and they more than make up for themselves.

SPEAKER_00: 20:10

Yeah, I think that fear comes a lot when you're doing when you're hiring like part-time, an internal employee rather than a contractor. So that brings my next question. When should you hire someone as like a true employee versus having a contractor or a freelancer?

SPEAKER_01: 20:35

Well, I mean, that's gonna be a really case-by-case basis. I don't have a magic answer. And honestly, probably a conversation to have with your accountant because there are so many, you know, like the tax implications and the expectations of a salary, payroll. Um, are you gonna then be, you know, an S Corp versus an LLC? Like there's a there's a lot of pieces that I can't speak to, but those are conversations to have. But I think it's important to have those conversations on the earlier side, just even have it in the back of your mind rather than waiting to the point where you're bursting at the seams.

SPEAKER_00: 21:12

Yeah. I have had those conversations with my uh accountant, and she said, as long as possible, keep them contractors.

SPEAKER_01: 21:22

I I think that is smart, and especially right now, you know, the the economy is kind of fluctuating for all of us. It is. Easier to do that because it is it is huge when you start hiring an employee and there are expectations of benefits, there are expectations of salary, the the time commitment is different. Um, you know, your your taxes change. I would say in general, I would wait, but it really depends on you know those all those other nuances. Some people want to switch to an S-corp very early.

SPEAKER_00: 21:58

Yeah. And I have an S-corp. She still says don't hire. Um the S-Corp is a nice like tax shelter. It it puts you into a different category for taxes. But um I the other thing with hiring is you can't ebb and flow like you would as a typical early to mid entrepreneur. You're you're gonna have a little bit of roller coaster happening, but you're stuck at the same pay rate, whether you have the work or not, if you have that employee.

SPEAKER_01: 22:38

Absolutely. Absolutely. So, you know, it depends. I mean, but the thing is too, sometimes there's talent that wants something more steady. So there's that too. If you find a really great person and you want to be sure you keep them, that could also be part. So that's it. It's a nuanced conversation. And that's what I love about the work I do. Um, and and what I really enjoy is that people bring me on. Typical engagement is like six to eight months because once these frameworks are there, you don't need my help at the same level. So it is kind of looking at that, taking these snapshots, having these deeper conversations, sort of untangling the mess. And then from there, you don't need me at that same level of commitment. And of course, we still do check-ins and you know, we can do little tune-ups here and there. But, you know, I always say it's short-term contract, but long-term impact.

SPEAKER_00: 23:34

Yeah, that makes sense. You're doing a lot of the initial foundational work that they need in order to be able to scale. And then once they get there, they're in a different position. Absolutely. They graduated. Um, is there anything else that you want the audience to know about how to better operationalize their small business?

SPEAKER_01: 24:00

I would say that you can do it in small pieces. I think what happens is people get overwhelmed or they think they'll do it someday when they have time. And as we know, those days never come. So something is better than nothing. Progress is progress. And so even if it is just, you know, once a week capturing something small, making a checklist, a template. If it's three steps or more, I say it should be documented. So it can be something as easy as a post-it, or if you want to play around with, you know, an AI tool or some other way of capturing it, there's that too. But doing those little pieces compound over time. And that's how you ease that burden on yourself.

SPEAKER_00: 24:40

Yeah. I love that first step of just document as you're going. So you have them available for when you are ready to hire. It's there. And it doesn't have to be perfect.

SPEAKER_01: 24:52

It doesn't have to be slick. You know, that's it. Don't get in your head about like, oh, well, if I'm filming it, it has to be this way. That's not the case. Yeah. Have it and whether you update it or you make changes, but start with what you have and don't get in your head.

SPEAKER_00: 25:06

Perfect. So one, who do you work with? How can people work with you and where can they find you online? Certainly.

SPEAKER_01: 25:14

Um, so I am on LinkedIn. I think we're gonna have that in the show notes, which, you know, thank you. I have uh a lead magnet I'd love to share with them. It's a uh time audit where they track their time. And then my gift to them is an hour where they can either they can analyze the data that they've gathered on their own or they can schedule that hour with me and I'll help them look through and find some of those sneaky time thieves and really see when you're like, how where how is it already five o'clock or where did this day go? We really can kind of dig into that. That's awesome. Um thank you. Yeah, uh, I'm on LinkedIn. Obviously, I'd you know love to connect with anybody there. I usually work with entrepreneurs who are either a solopreneur who want to tighten things up operationally so they can stay a solo act, or maybe they have a few people they want to start hiring, or maybe have a team up to let's say five or seven, usually freelancers, contractors, those kinds of things, but they still feel everything's falling back on them. Chances are that's because we're kind of missing those operational background things we've talked about. And uh, I love to work with them in those short-term couple month contracts. We can either do done with you or done for you options.

SPEAKER_00: 26:24

Awesome. And that describes pretty much everyone who listens to this show. So perfect. If this episode made things feel a little more doable, I'd love to help you take the next step with the booked out blueprint. It's a practical, low pressure session to clarify your offers, your marketing, and what actually moves the needle. You can book yours through the link in the show notes. You don't have to figure it out alone.