From working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, to going on
surprise dream vacations while the business ran itself.
‘I started signing one client after another. That was the dream… which quickly turned into a nightmare.’
– Stirling Gardner
THE DREAM House
Stirling Gardner is the CEO of Stackt Digital. A successful Facebook Ads Agency, Stirling Gardner has helped grow his clients’ sales to over $20 million.
His unique approach is due in part to his background. As a former actor and screenwriter, Stirling is very creative. He admits most days he can have 20 great ideas by lunch.
When he founded Stackt Digital with the intention of becoming an elite Facebook Ads agency, demand for his services quickly increased.
‘We got a client. We got a huge win for him and word spread. Then another client. And another one. I thought to myself, ‘This is the dream! I am building an empire.”
THE Money PIT
As Stirling put in more and more hours to service all these new clients, he became obsessed with over-delivering and driving revenue for them. But every agency owner’s dream was quickly turned into a nightmare for him.
‘I didn’t have a proper system in place to onboard these clients’ he says. And client management was haphazard. The work was getting done, but there was a lot of back and forth each time. As a result, I was working 10-12 hours a day, 7 days a week. I was either tied to my computer or my phone.
This had an extremely negative effect on Stirling’s health. He was constantly tired, anxious and could barely sleep. He thought he was building an empire, a dream house, but instead, he was completely trapped in a money pit.
The future of the agency depended on Stirling continuing to sacrifice his health and his family time. Something had to give sooner or later. He knew the structure was unstable and it would all come crashing down on him.
THE Failed RENOVATION
Stirling assumed that hiring an online business manager and virtual assistants would quickly improve the situation. To his disappointment, this actually increased his workload and made the situation worse. No processes or standard operating procedures were put in place. As a result, the new help did not know what to do or was doing the work wrong.
‘I was desperate. I knew something had to change,’ says Stirling.
He was
- frustrated OBMs and VA were not working out
- exhausted from working inefficiently
- struggling with anxiety that he did not have control of his business
Stirling made the weary decision to turn to Erin Persinger and her team. It was his last shot.
Call The Architect
An architect designs buildings using the right materials and proven practices. Every building needs a rock-solid foundation to withstand the weight of expansion and external forces.
Erin is a Business Process Architect. After speaking with Stirling and learning about his concerns and desires, she kindly explained OBMs and VAs would not work if there were no systems and processes in place for them to work from. She and her team then immediately started to implement their highly innovative F4 System Blueprint.
F4 is an extremely powerful set of processes and problem-solving tools designed specifically for businesses that know they need help to systematize. It stands for Forensics, Foundations, Flows and Freedom.
First, the team moved on to Step 1: Forensics.
They used their extensive accounting and technical expertise to conduct a comprehensive business and systems audit. This identified where revenue was delayed or lost due to inefficiencies in the day-to-day operations of Stackt Digital.
The completed audit clearly highlighted where money was being lost to unnecessary hiring and spending. It highlighted how time and duplication in onboarding could be drastically reduced, customer management automated and back-end processing simplified. For Stirling, this was a revelation!
Step 2 is Foundations. All buildings that are meant to last need strong foundations. Based on the results of the forensic audit, Erin’s team then developed the detailed processes, procedures and systems needed to build new foundations for Stackt Digital.
All six work together to create an incredibly strong base. As the business grows and expands, the foundations are designed to support it. These systems and processes now carry the strain of the business, not the business owner. Stirling began to realize what this would mean for him.
Step 3 is FLOW Architects make buildings “flow,” meaning that everyone in the building can move from space to space in a way that is consistent and makes sense. Once the systems were built in stages, the team provided extensive training to Stackt Digital staff on how to work with the new processes and systems to make everything flow.
This meant that new clients moving through the new Stackt Digital processes had a first-class, highly consistent experience.
Campaigns, reporting and billing were all managed in a fully automated way and access to all required assets and documents was possible at any time. This drastically reduced the workload for the Stackt team while simultaneously increasing revenue flow as clients could now be signed up, serviced and billed with minimal effort. Each new employee followed the same process, which meant that Stackt was able to maintain a high level of customer service without adding unnecessary work. As the business grew, Stirling could now hire new staff without worry.
THE NIGHTMARE House IS NOW A DREAM CASTLE
Stackt Digital’s workflow was completely transformed.
The agency now had a rock-solid, pillar-like foundation. Unnecessary expenses were cut. Revenue flowed through the business without bottlenecks.
As a result of implementing Erin’s F4 System Blueprint
- $3000 per month was saved on unproductive labor.
- Stirling went from working 70-80 hours per week to just
- Revenue increased by 33% as new clients were brought on seamlessly.
In essence, he was now making significantly more money while working a lot less.
That’s the power of the final step of the F4 System Blueprint, Freedom.
Erin’s team developed the processes and also intentionally built an exit for Stirling. He could now go on vacation, work on things that needed to get done, or stay in his zone of expertise and do things that really excited him.
So when Stackt Digital became a finely tuned automated machine without the need for constant intervention, Stirling did the unthinkable. He went on vacation and relaxed for the first time in 5 years! He felt happier, much less anxious, and was enjoying life again. And his delighted wife felt as if she had got her husband back.
Stirling says: ‘Erin and her team were fantastic from day one. The F4 System Blueprint is simply brilliant and the impact it has had on my business is huge. My clients love the seamless experience and my team is more confident and happier.
But more important is the impact it has had on me. I cannot thank them enough. I feel like I have gotten my life back. If I had laid my foundation before I grew, everything would have been a lot less stressful and exhausting for me. My only regret is that I did not hire them sooner.
‘ Only Erin Persinger and her team, with their unique blend of business experience, accounting expertise and technical acumen, are able to turn your business around in a way so that it serves you, not the other way around.
You got into business not to be tied to your computer or phone, but to serve people and make a difference. But it was never part of the deal that your health and relationships had to be sacrificed for that.
We are changing that… for good.
Get the freedom you want with our proven F4 Blueprint. We give your business a forensic audit, create diamond-hard foundational processes, and bring everything into a harmonious flow.
And finally, we build in an exit door for you to use when you need it.
A business has to be able to function without you, otherwise, it’s just a side hustle. The sooner you step up into the role of CEO, the better for you.
Ready to break free from a business with no foundation? Want to be able to put your phone away? Free yourself up from anxiety and fatigue?
We can help you do that with F4. It just works. Period.
So when you’re ready, so are we.
The first step is to schedule a conversation with us so we can get to know you better. Just visit us here and let us build a better future for you together.
