The Leveraged CEO

mattdart21
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For business owners who want to stop being the bottleneck. Matt Dart breaks down the systems, automations, and mindset shifts to build a business that runs without you.

  1. 2d ago

    Ep143: Stop Writing SOPs: Do This Instead

    Most owners know they need SOPs. Almost none of them have any. That’s because they sit down to type out a 40-page manual, give up halfway through page one, and everything stays in their head. In this episode I break down why you should stop writing SOPs, and the 5-minute method we use instead to build a full handbook in a couple of hours. Here’s the thing. If every process lives in your head, every new hire learns by watching and guessing, and you end up training every person yourself. You can’t step back, and you definitely can’t sell it. A business that needs you isn’t an asset, it’s a high-paying job. Here’s what I cover: -Why nobody actually writes SOPs. One cafe owner we work with has no SOPs and no manual. With the turnover in hospitality, he spends most of his time training new staff, doing the same thing over and over again. Another cafe owner wants to exit, but new hires were thrown into a 120-hour week with no training. The coffee quality dropped, customers complained and staff kept missing checklists. You can’t hand over a business like that. -The 5-minute method. Don’t write it. Record a 3 to 5 minute Loom of yourself doing the task and talking it through, even if it’s making a coffee. Grab the transcript, drop it into Claude with your SOP template and a prompt, and it formats the whole thing for you. Each SOP takes 6 to 10 minutes max. -What every SOP needs. The outcome, who’s responsible, the purpose, the step by step, the video, a definition of done, the key mistakes people make and how to get past them, and who to go to with questions. That last one matters. If the answer is always you, the whole team keeps coming back to you. -Turn your SOPs into an AI bot. We helped an allied health clinic in Canberra turn all their SOPs into a manual, then set up an AI bot in Google Workspace so the team could just ask it how to do things. The team kept going to the manager, the manager had no time for manager stuff, and the owner got dragged back in. Not anymore. -SOPs are only step one. Keep it low tech: Google Drive for the masters and printed binders on site. No fancy software. Then turn your SOPs into checklists, like end of day checklists or sales reports. Add a weekly rhythm so things actually get checked, and an onboarding process so every new hire learns the same way. Timestamps: 00:00 Intro: stop writing SOPs 00:41 Why nobody actually writes SOPs 00:54 The 40-page manual nobody finishes 01:19 The cafe owner stuck training every new hire 01:42 The cafe owner who can’t exit 02:08 Why a business that needs you isn’t an asset 02:32 The 5-minute method 03:01 Record a Loom, let Claude write it 03:42 What every SOP needs 04:14 The mistake that sends everyone back to you 04:30 The clinic with an AI bot for its SOPs 05:03 Keep it low tech 05:36 SOPs are step one: checklists and a weekly rhythm 05:57 Onboarding so everyone learns the same way 06:54 Summary: film it, don’t write it 07:11 How to grab my SOP template If you’re a business owner doing $250k to $2m a year with a team, and everything still lives in your head, book a free Leverage Audit with me. We’ll go through your systems and processes, work out what to automate, delegate or delete, and get your SOPs and checklists sorted so your team stops coming back to you. Want my SOP template? Send me “SOP” on Instagram or Facebook. Link’s in the description. Find out how to get 20 hours/week back -https://leveragedceo.com.au/getyourtimeback2

  2. Oct 27

    Ep142: Your Org Chart Is Just Your Name in Every Box

    Most owners working 50 to 60 hours a week reckon they just need to work smarter. The real reason is simpler. Your name is in too many boxes. In this episode I break down the org chart test we run with every client, and how to take yourself out of roles one by one until the business can run without you. Here’s the test. Write down the six departments in your business: sales, marketing, operations, admin, finance, and client success or delivery. If you’ve got a bigger team, add people and culture. Then write down who’s in charge of each one. If your name’s in three or four of them, that’s why you’re doing 60 hours. The fix isn’t working harder. It’s making yourself redundant from the roles you don’t need to be in. Here’s what I cover: -The six departments in every business, and the test that shows exactly why you’re working so much. Pause the episode, grab a pen and do it with me. -Make yourself redundant, one role at a time. Week by week, month by month, we take founders out of the roles that drain them or that they don’t need to be in. Admin is first. No business owner doing over $250k a year should be doing admin. -The agency team that was burning out. The ops lead and the admin person were both stuck doing client success. One team member was drowning in the inbox. The founder was doing client delivery too, and 44% of his time was draining work. We mapped the current org chart, found the two roles they were missing, and hired a dedicated client success person. Now ops does ops, admin does admin, and the founder does what he loves and what he’s best at: sales. -How to hire a GM using profit share. The founder needed time off for his health, so we brought in a GM. They start 3 days a week, go full-time after 3 months on a salary of around $100k, then get a profit share once the business covers its costs and the founder’s wage. The GM is rewarded for growing the business, and the founder gets out of the day to day. -The real test. Can you switch off your phone completely and not be needed? This agency owner is taking December off, and I’ll be working directly with his GM while he’s away. That’s why we work with the whole team, not just the founder. The team gets their time back too, so they can take more off your plate. Timestamps: 00:00 Intro: your org chart is just your name in every box 00:17 My day in the life of scaling to $100k a month 00:57 What an org chart actually is 01:12 The six departments in every business 01:31 Why you’re working 50 to 60 hours a week 01:55 The test: who’s in charge of each department? 02:37 Making yourself redundant, one role at a time 03:07 Why no owner doing $250k+ should be doing admin 03:18 The agency team burning out 03:49 Mapping the current org chart 04:30 Hiring a dedicated client success person 04:51 Letting the founder do what he loves 05:15 Hiring a GM before taking time off 05:56 Paying a GM with profit share 06:50 The real test: can you switch your phone off? 07:13 Why we work with the whole team, not just the founder If you’re a business owner doing $250k to $2m a year with a team, and your name is still in most of those boxes, book a free Leverage Audit with me. We’ll map out your org chart, work out what to automate, delegate or delete, and take you out of the roles you don’t need to be in so you can get your time back and put those hours into growing. Link’s in the description. Find out how to get 20 hours/week back -https://leveragedceo.com.au/getyourtimeback2

  3. Oct 20

    Ep141: You’re Not Busy, You’re Disorganised

    Most owners reckon they know where their time goes. They don’t. In this episode I break down the time audit every client does when they start with us. You track every 15 minutes for two weeks, then make decisions on real data instead of gut feel. Here’s the thing. People think they’re not scrolling their phone much, or that their meetings are all necessary. Then they track it and the reality is completely different. One client just finished their audit and found 12 hours a week of unnecessary meetings. Once you’ve got the data, you can see exactly what’s wrong and fix it. Here’s what I cover: -How the time audit works. Track your time in 15-minute blocks for two weeks. Tag each block by category: admin, operations, sales, finance and so on. Then mark it as energising, neutral or draining. We get the whole team doing it, not just the owner. -The founder spending 44% of his week on draining work. Nearly half his time. He’d slipped back on the tools while building out systems. Now we’re redoing the org chart, because multiple people were doing the same jobs. -When people are in the wrong seat. His ops manager was spending 30-something percent on draining work, doing client success for marketing when his background is operations. The content creator was spending 29% of her time on admin. If she just did content, the ops manager could do ops, and the owner wouldn’t have to. You can see how it all flows. -Find the biggest bottleneck first. For this client it was onboarding. For you it might be payment processing, basic automations, your GHL setup or sales. Fix the biggest one, then claw back more time week by week. Automate it, delegate it or eliminate it. -One person, one role, and fewer meetings. Have someone specifically for admin, finance, marketing and client success, so they get really good at one thing. In my business I have two meetings a week: 10 minutes with the whole team and 20 minutes on client results. That’s it. Timestamps:00:00 Intro: you’re not busy, you’re disorganised00:33 Why every client starts with a time audit00:56 What you think you’re doing vs what you’re actually doing01:05 The client wasting 12 hours a week in meetings01:28 How the time audit works01:50 The founder spending 44% of his time on draining work02:15 Redoing the org chart02:30 The ops manager in the wrong seat02:59 The content creator spending 29% on admin03:36 Finding the biggest bottleneck04:16 Automate, delegate or eliminate04:52 What owners do with the time they get back06:01 One person, one role06:26 My two meetings a week If you’re a business owner doing $250k to $2m a year and you’ve got no idea where your week actually goes, book a free Leverage Audit with me. We’ll go through your systems and processes, find your biggest bottleneck, and work out what to automate, delegate or delete so you can get your time back and put those hours into growing. Link’s in the description. Find out how to get 20 hours/week back -https://leveragedceo.com.au/getyourtimeback1

  4. Oct 13

    Ep140: Your $2 Million Business Might Be Worth Less Than a $500k Business

    Most owners judge their business on revenue. That’s the wrong number. If you’re turning over $2 million and barely making a profit, you haven’t built a business, you’ve built a job you can’t leave. In this episode I break down why margin matters more than revenue, and the margin audit we run with every client to find where the money is actually going. Here’s the thing. When you sell a business, it’s valued on a multiple of profit, not revenue. A $5 million business profiting $50k is worth a fraction of a $500k business profiting $250k. And if you’ve got 500 customers making you the same money as someone else’s 5,000, you’ve got less overheads, less team and way more room to move. Here’s what I cover: -What margin you should be aiming for. Online businesses should sit somewhere between 50 and 70%. Brick and mortar should be aiming for 30%. Every business is a bit different, but at a bare minimum we get clients over 30%. -The $500 a week that halved a client’s profit. His fixed overheads jumped $500 a week out of the blue, locked in for two years. His profit went from about $2k a week to $1.1k overnight, and none of it was in his control. That’s exactly why you need a buffer. You’re the one taking all the risk. -The agency doing $60k to $80k a month with no profit. They hired the team before they fixed the systems. Everyone’s double handling and doing things manually, so the margin is gone. It’s a fine team without the right processes behind it. -The tradie call-out fee making 20% margin. When we ran the numbers, the call-out fee barely covered the time and fuel. Three of their four services made 70% plus. So drop the call-outs and put all your energy into the services that actually make you money. -How much to raise your prices, and how many customers you can lose. We map out the margin on every service and every type of customer, then forecast what a price rise does. Maybe your one-on-one sits at 50% and your group at 80%. Either do more group, or price the one-on-one up to match. Then work out how many customers you can afford to lose and still make the same profit. Timestamps:00:00 Intro: your $2M business might be worth less than a $500k one01:06 Why profit matters more than revenue01:47 The margin you should be aiming for02:12 How businesses actually get valued02:41 The $500 a week that halved a client’s profit03:38 The agency that hired before fixing systems04:41 Know your margin, then forecast04:57 How our margin audit works05:24 The tradie call-out fee making 20% margin06:22 Margins by customer type: group vs one-on-one06:45 How much to raise prices and who you can afford to lose07:39 500 customers vs 5,000 customers08:07 The three pillars: time, margin, revenue08:32 Podcast views have doubled, send me your feedback If you’re a business owner doing $250k to $2m a year and you’re working flat out but not seeing the profit, book a free Leverage Audit with me. We’ll go through your systems and processes, work out what to automate, delegate or delete, and run the numbers on where your margin is leaking. Want the margin audit template? Send me a DM on Instagram or Facebook. Link’s in the description. Find out how to get 20 hours/week back -https://leveragedceo.com.au/getyourtimeback1

  5. Oct 6

    Ep139: Stop Spending Money on Marketing

    Most owners reckon they need more leads. A lot of them don't. They need to stop losing the ones they've already paid for. In this episode I break down why pumping more money into marketing is often the wrong move, and where the real leaks in your business are. A tradie I spoke to this week is spending $6k a month across three websites and getting 600 leads a month. He can only answer the phone for half of them. Each job is worth $25k. Even if he only converts 20% of the ones he's missing, that's $1.5 million a month walking out the door. Marketing isn't his problem. Systems, processes and not having enough team is. Here's what I cover: -The maths on 300 missed calls a month. 300 unanswered leads, 20% conversion, $25k a job. That's 60 jobs and $1.5 million a month he's losing while still paying for more leads. He probably only needs one of those websites at about $2k a month. -Slow quotes lose clients. Someone else I spoke to has contracts worth $150k to $200k a year, but it takes them up to a week to get back to people. If someone has an urgent need, they're not getting 15 quotes. Get back to them fast, get the quote out within 24 hours, and there's a really good chance you win the job. -The two real fixes. First, the systems and processes, including AI agents that pre-qualify leads and reply to enquiries within minutes. Second, enough team to handle the work. Keep pushing leads in without them and the quality of your delivery drops. -Can you afford not to hire? Say you're missing $500k a month at $25k a job. That's 20 jobs. Put someone on a $5k a month base plus commission to call, chase and follow up. 2% is $500 a sale, or pay a flat $250 to $500 per job. You're paying a few hundred bucks a week to get tens of thousands back. It's just maths. -Find your own leaks. How many leads are you not getting back to? How long do your quotes take? If you closed half of what's already coming through, what would the business look like? Do the maths before you spend another dollar on ads. Timestamps: 00:00 Intro: stop spending money on marketing 00:29 The tradie spending $6k a month on leads 00:57 600 leads a month and he can't answer half 01:25 Doing the maths on the missed calls 02:21 Why marketing isn't the problem 02:38 The business taking a week to get back to people 03:18 Why speed to lead wins the job 04:05 The two real fixes: systems and team 04:14 Why he doesn't need three websites 05:14 Slow quotes lose clients 05:24 The opportunity cost of not hiring 06:13 AI agents that respond instantly 07:26 Where are your revenue leaks? 08:06 Working out the hire: base plus commission If you're a business owner doing $250k to $2m a year and you're losing leads because you can't get back to people fast enough, book a free Leverage Audit with me. We'll go through your systems and processes and work out what to automate, delegate or delete to plug the leaks. Then we'll look at marketing. You get your time back and put those hours into growing. Link's in the description. Find out how to get 20 hours/week back -https://leveragedceo.com.au/getyourtimeback1

  6. Sep 29

    Ep138: Your Staff Aren't Lazy, You're Just a Bad Boss

    Most owners reckon their staff are the problem. They're lazy, they look busy, they don't follow the process. But nine times out of ten it comes back to the owner. In this episode I break down why your hires keep failing, and what needs to be in place before you bring the next person on. A farmer who just joined the program is paying $220k a year across two staff who aren't getting the job done. There's no checklist, no SOPs, no onboarding and no real hiring process. The work is simple and repetitive once someone's trained, so finding and training the right people should be easy. It isn't, because the system isn't there. You can't judge someone against a standard that only exists in your head. Here's what I cover: -The hire, fail, fire cycle. You hire someone, they fail, you fire them, you jump back on the tools and hire again. Same result every time. A roofer I spoke to this week has been through four or five people in 6 months. That's stressful for everyone and it's not good for business. -Donkeys and stallions. Donkeys are good to have in the business. They'll do the task, but only if the system and process is there for them. Without it they do nothing, which is exactly what was happening with the farmer's team. -Map the outcome before you hire. Write down what you want this person to achieve, what they're responsible for and what they'll do each day. Then check the systems and processes are ready before they start. If they're not, start there, otherwise you're setting them up to fail. -The 30-day onboarding road map. Take them through the vision, the purpose and the mission of the business, then train them on the job. By day 30 they should be fully handed over and you're out of that role. From there it's just checking in. -Money isn't enough to keep people anymore. People can move around. If you want them to stay long term they need to be connected to a vision and a purpose, otherwise you've just got a revolving door. Timestamps:00:00 Intro: your staff aren't lazy00:38 Three new clients and my $100k/month tracker01:18 The farmer paying $220k for staff who don't deliver01:51 Why it always comes back to the owner02:07 The hire, fail, fire cycle02:21 The roofer who's been through 5 people in 6 months02:43 What a hiring playbook fixes03:14 Donkeys and stallions03:54 Map the outcome before you hire04:21 The 30-day onboarding process05:31 Why money isn't enough to keep people06:31 The recap: outcome, SOPs, onboarding, check-ins07:10 How to grab my hiring docs If you're a business owner doing $250k to $2m a year and you keep hiring people who don't work out, book a free Leverage Audit with me. We'll go through your systems and processes, work out what to automate, delegate or delete, and get the hiring and onboarding sorted so your team can run without you. Then you get your time back and can put those hours into growing. Link's in the description. Find out how to get 20 hours/week back -https://leveragedceo.com.au/getyourtimeback1

  7. Sep 22

    Ep137: 3 Ways Your Business Is Bleeding Money Right Now

    You won't find the leak on your P&L. It's not a line item. It's sitting in how the business runs day to day, and most owners don't even know it's happening. In this episode I break down three places money is leaking out of businesses right now, straight from the calls I've been having, and how to fix each one. None of these cost money to fix. They're costing you money because they're not fixed. And the third one is the biggest of the lot, because it's the one expense nobody ever puts a number on. Here's what I cover: -Slow lead response. If you're on the tools all day and you don't get back to a lead within 5 minutes, you're throwing money away. The second someone clicks your ad, Meta shows them your competitors, and the fastest reply wins nearly every time. A concreter I spoke to has a $10k average job and only lands 20% of what comes through. Reply and pre-qualify inside 5 minutes and that's an extra 5 to 10k a week. -The locksmith rule. My son locked himself in the car. I called the first person who could get there and didn't care about the price. That's your customer. They've got a problem right now and whoever answers first gets the job. Fix it with an admin person, a CRM automation, an AI agent, or a commission-only appointment setter on 5% of contract value. -Admin that's late or never happens. 150 emails in the inbox, a couple of days to catch up, and the person who asked for a quote has already gone somewhere else. Rule of thumb: anything that happens more than five times gets a template or an AI agent trained on it. Onboarding becomes a workflow. Invoicing gets automated. A VA or an inbox agent sorts what needs you and what doesn't. -Your hours, the biggest one. 40 hours a week and only 5 of them on anything that moves the business forward. Get 20 back, put 10 into sales, close two extra deals a week at $10k, and that's an extra $80k a month in contracted revenue without changing anything else. Delete, delegate, or automate the rest and watch what happens over 12 months. Timestamps:00:00 Intro: three ways you're bleeding money00:30 Number 1: slow lead response01:01 Why paid ads make speed to lead even more important01:33 The concreter losing 80% of $10k jobs02:13 The simplest fix: someone who just replies03:00 The locksmith rule: first to answer wins04:18 AI agents, CRM automations and chatbots05:01 Commission-only appointment setters05:43 Number 2: admin that's late or never happens06:42 Inbox agents, VAs and the five times rule07:53 Number 3: your hours08:42 The $80k a month maths09:30 How to apply to work with us If you're a business owner doing $250k to $2m a year and you're on the tools all day while leads and admin pile up, book a free Leverage Audit with me. We'll go through your systems and processes, work out what to automate, delegate, or delete so you can get your time back and put those hours into the stuff that actually makes money. Link's in the description. Find out how to get 20 hours/week back -https://leveragedceo.com.au/getyourtimeback1

  8. Sep 15

    Ep136: 5 Signs Your Team Isn't the Problem (You Are)

    Most owners I talk to reckon the team is the problem. Nobody follows the process, everything comes back to them, and they're putting out fires all day. In this episode I break down five signs it's not actually the team. It's the way you've set the business up, and that comes back to you. I'm pulling all five straight from the sales calls I've been having the last few months. Same story every time. Good people, no systems, and an owner who's the only place anything gets decided. Fix the setup and the team just figures it out. They're a lot smarter than you probably think. Here's what I cover: -Every question in the business defaults to you. One owner had run it this way the whole time he's had the business, then wondered why he had no time. There's no ownership because there's nowhere else to go. Fix is a definition of done in the SOP and a "here's what to do if this happens" section. 80% done by someone else beats 100% done by you. -You've got SOPs and nobody uses them. A bloke built the whole set two years ago, then kept changing the process and never updated the docs. Now he's got zero SOPs and everyone's back at his desk. Update the SOP the day you change the system, not two years later. -The AI bot I built for an allied health clinic. Their admin manual was 40 pages so the team just asked the manager instead. We built one-page SOPs for the main tasks and a bot the team can chat to that's read the whole manual. The manager stopped fielding questions and so did the owner. -You're the only deadline. Financial services team knew the BAS was due and did nothing because the only accountability was the owner asking "why isn't it done." If you have to manually tell the team what's due, you're the bottleneck. An automated task list with overdue, due this week, due today fixes it. -You hired and it didn't stick. Spoke to someone an hour before recording whose manager leaves every 12 months. No hiring process, no filtering, no onboarding. Hiring is the answer, you're just hiring the wrong people with no system to land them. Run it like a funnel, add filter questions, then a proper 30-day onboarding before you hand the role over. Timestamps:00:00 Intro: selected for Australia in the LMS World Cup00:49 Five signs the team isn't the problem01:20 Sign 1: every question defaults to you02:42 Definition of done and the 80% rule03:36 Sign 2: you've got SOPs and nobody uses them04:51 The AI bot that answers the team's questions06:09 Sign 3: you're the only deadline07:22 Sign 4: you hired and it didn't stick08:34 Hiring like a funnel and the 30-day onboarding10:32 Sign 5: you feel like you're repeating yourself11:02 Delete, delegate, automate and the two-week time audit11:58 The buyback rate: 25% of your hourly rate If you're a business owner doing $250k to $2m a year and every question in the business still lands on your desk, book a free Leverage Audit with me. We'll go through your systems and processes, work out what to automate, delegate, or delete so you can get your time back and put those hours into growing. Link's in the description. Find out how to get 20 hours/week back -https://leveragedceo.com.au/getyourtimeback1

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About

For business owners who want to stop being the bottleneck. Matt Dart breaks down the systems, automations, and mindset shifts to build a business that runs without you.

Information

  • Creator
    mattdart21
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    144
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © mattdart21
  • Show Website
    The Leveraged CEO