Unified Theory of Studio Operations

"A company can seize extraordinary opportunities only if it is very good at the ordinary operations."

-Marcel Telles

Too often we can be distracted by the urgency of today, and not invest in preparing for the future. At Sparkbox, I have to spend a ton of time trying to solve for the ordinary—studio operations. I’ve found that understanding the relationship between business development, finance, and delivery has the potential to unlock a world of new possibilities.

Let's spend some time talking about taking operations to a higher level and being strategic with the information we already have available to pave the way for the extraordinary.

Transcript

1. Rob Harr Unified Theory of Studio Operations February 24, 2021
2. In the next 18 months work will be easy to find.
3. Should we grow?
4. Is your studio ready to grow?
5. Let’s come back to this question.
6. Forecasting is at the center of operations at Sparkbox.
7. Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Weekly Breakfast TimeSheets due at 9:30 am Projects Stand-up Prepare and Send Invoices MicroCash updated Future P&L updated $$ Meeting Humans Meeting Late Invoices Sales Report Director 1:1’s All-Team Demo Forecasting updated
8. Month Close Client Strategy Meetings Director Team Meeting Monthly Coffee Hour Month
9. Estimated Taxes Semi-Annual Tax planning Quarter
10. Year End Close Staff Retreat Owner Retreat Year
11. Repeatable & predictable systems are table stakes.
12. “A company can seize extraordinary opportunities only if it is very good at the ordinary operations.” -Marcel Telles
13. Good Operations is everyone’s job.
14. Success is a designed output of well-designed systems and habits.
15. YMMV!!!!
17. Business Development Delivery Finance
18. People Business Development Delivery Finance
19. Business Development ‣Sales Pipeline ‣New Opportunities ‣Qualifying Leads ‣Targeted Marketing ‣Proposals & Contracts ‣Tools: Pipedrive & Google Docs Uni fi ed Theory of Studio Operations
20. Delivery ‣Forecasting of current work ‣Accurate reporting of time ‣Repeat Business ‣Managing givebacks ‣Estimates ‣Delivery Process ‣Tools: Harvest & Forecast Uni fi ed Theory of Studio Operations
21. Finance ‣Financial Statements ‣Book Keeping ‣Reporting ‣Ensuring the company can be pro fi table ‣Invoices ‣Tools: Quickbooks & Excel Uni fi ed Theory of Studio Operations
22. People Business Development Delivery Finance
23. People Business Development Delivery Finance
24. Capacity to sell.
25. Opportunity with new clients.
26. Start dates.
27. Estimates.
28. Estimates, but not pricing.
30. People Business Development Delivery Finance
31. Forecasting data.
32. Forecast vs actuals report.
33. Project Profitability.
34. Givebacks.
35. People Business Development Delivery Finance
36. Pricing Conversations.
37. People Business Development Delivery Finance
38. People Business Development Finance
39. Opportunity with new clients.
40. P&L Forecasting and Reporting
41. Negotiation.
42. Focused on the results.
43. Power in data.
44. Data points are cool, but trends are powerful.
45. Biz Dev Analytics.
46. Asking better questions.
47. Business Retrospectives.
48. You can’t change the past. All we can do is not repeat the same mistakes.
49. Step 1: Measure Step 2: Predict Step 3: Adjust
50. 5-Why's
51. No wammies.
52. Good periods and bad periods.
53. Stop averaging zeros.
54. How should we grow our studios?
55. Winning in the studio business is when our capacity for sales is bigger than our capacity to do the work.
56. We have to start by growing our business development capacity first.
57. BIZ DEV FIRST!
58. Simple math.
59. Tracking New Opportunity Created ‣Goal: $10 Million in Revenue ‣Fact: 75% of lasts years revenue will repeat from existing clients ‣Fact: We close 30% of Quali fi ed Leads Uni fi ed Theory of Studio Operations
60. $2,500,000 30% = $8,333,000 $10,000,000 X (1 - .75) = $2,500,000 $10,000,000 New Opportunity Created Goal =
61. This will be hard for you.
62. Success is a designed output of well-designed systems and habits.
63. When we give capable humans the data they need, we enable them to be amazing. Rob’s Unified Theory of Studio Operations
64. Uni fi ed Theory of Studio Operations What we Learned
65. Invest in the human relationships. #1
66. Trust Commitment Healthy Con fl ict Accountability Results
67. Beware someone wearing multiple hats.
68. Intentional Coaching.
70. Humans need time together.
71. Process and systems are for people.
72. You have to fight for simplicity. #2
73. Complexity is the natural direction of things.
74. We have to choose simplicity.
75. This is the work.
76. “Don’t confuse simple with easy.” -Dan John
77. Better focus on the right prospects. #3
78. We are not order takers.
79. You have to learn to say NO.
80. We can define how we want our clients to engage with us.
81. “We add the most value when our clients engage with us like ……”
82. “It is not my job to convince you to hire us, but here is why others have”
83. We have stopped selling scope and started selling availability.
84. Common Language.
85. 🦀 🐟 🐋
86. Bait for the right clients.
93. Let’s take a breath.
94. What if we started again now?
95. What if we could ditch our baggage?
96. What would we change? ‣Business model ‣Positioning ‣Pricing ‣Mind Set ‣Goals ‣Something else? Uni fi ed Theory of Studio Operations
97. What is stopping you?
98. Is your studio ready to grow?
99. In the next 18 months work will be easy to find.
100. Is your studio ready for month 19?
101. Uni fi ed Theory of Studio Operations Thanks! @robertharr rob@heysparkbox.com