Ep. 15 – Andrew Edwards – Focus
5 Minute Rants by THE a.m.
A podcast predicated on the journey of business and life.
Ep. 15 – Andrew Edwards – Focus
Andrew Edwards shares his current focus in business: building processes, and why that’s important for the team, businesses and clients.
Andrew and Michael are co-owners of and12.
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Andrew Edwards shares his current focus in business: building processes, and why that’s important for the team, businesses […]
June 28, 2023
Episode Transcript
Michael Abernathy 0:00
Hey what’s up everybody? Welcome to Abernathy Media. Welcome to 5 Minute Rants. I’m your host, Michael Abernathy and I got a special guests here, Andrew Edwards.
Andrew Edwards 0:20
Hey!
Michael Abernathy 0:21
What’s up, bro?
Andrew Edwards 0:22
Hey, man, happy to be here doing great. How are you?
Michael Abernathy 0:25
I’m doing really good. So Just to give you guys some background on This. Andrew and I are business partners. We’ve done a lot of life together, and I told you guys, I’d have him on the show. So He’s finally here.
Andrew Edwards 0:36
Yay.
Michael Abernathy 0:36
So I’ve got a question for you, Andrew.
Andrew Edwards 0:38
Cool.
Michael Abernathy 0:39
What is your current focus?
Andrew Edwards 0:42
So current focus is building out the different businesses organizations were a part of, specifically, we’re heavy on marketing right now, and we are J=just really in a grind with building out process. So that’s kind of my two main focuses, I would say. Correct me if you think I’m missing anything, but I think that’s probably that’s probably my my focus right now. What would you say?
Michael Abernathy 1:09
No, that sounds pretty good, man. Let me ask you a few questions about that, too. Why… why are you focusing on building out processes currently?
Andrew Edwards 1:18
Yeah. So basically, in our journey in business, we found that efficiency comes from process, process removes the need for technical experts. So we don’t want to be constrained and limited to people who are highly skilled, and we want to basically bring that down to where anybody can do a job. So you think a place like Chick fil A or even McDonald’s is a famous example with streamlined process, where people could flip burgers real fast, and it was an incredible model. And then Ray Kroc came and bought it, because he saw the value of how efficient they were, anybody could come in and work the system. So we have, you know, we drive, our driver is to do that. and everything that we touch and create we’re efficient, anybody can come in, and succeed and win. And that’s really our goal is for our team to win, us to win as a business, our clients win.
Michael Abernathy 2:10
So what you’re saying is the whole reason for process is to really build out the tool sets and guidelines for the team to win and be successful.
Andrew Edwards 2:18
Yes, yes.
Michael Abernathy 2:19
Cool. What in your journey, how has that looked? and what does that look like currently, where you’re at?
Andrew Edwards 2:26
Yeah, for sure. So like starting out, we didn’t have process. I mean, nobody does, I guess, but over time learning what a process is and isn’t. So at first, I thought it might Just be a checklist, or I tend to be more drilled down. So I’d make a checklist of here are the 42 things you have to do to build this part of a website or something technical like that. and then learning it’s like, no, that’s not what I’m talking about. That’s not what we need. And Michael is really helped me a lot with this. And we’ve worked through this a lot over the years, to where we really have to give principles and guidelines. And you said that, and I think that’s really a good way to say it. When we say process, it’s kind of synonymous with that. It’s kind of like bumper rails on bowling. If you go bowling and the bumpers come up, you can succeed. If you throw the ball a little too left to right, it’s going to bounce in, you’re going to hit the pins. and that’s what we want for anybody who comes through our system to work with us is to have that success. So that’s what we mean by process. Does that answer your question?
Michael Abernathy 3:23
No, that totally answers my question. And real quick, too, because we’re almost out of time. We’ve only got a minute and a half left, believe it or not.
Andrew Edwards 3:31
Yeah, believe it.
Michael Abernathy 3:32
What what do you think our team and the people that you’re leading find valuable in those processes?
Andrew Edwards 3:40
Yeah, I think clear expectations. That’s probably one of the biggest things clarity with what winning really looks like. You think about an English rubric like English class you have your teacher has a rubric to grade your English paper. That’s actually really cool and a powerful thing in school because you know what you need to get the points on your paper. What if business is the same way? What if your job is the same way where you can measure yourself and know that you’re doing a good job and know what it takes to get to the next level in your job? Now, it’s kind of like a video game or something where it’s very clear, and that excites me. So that’s empowering to the people that are running the offense or running the process.
Michael Abernathy 4:17
That’s cool. That’s cool. So it actually gives them a clear vision goal. It gives them a clear roadmap, from how to get to point A to point B.
Andrew Edwards 4:25
100%. well said.
Michael Abernathy 4:27
Wow, wow. Let me ask you one last question. As we close out, in terms of that, and in terms of building the process real quick, what is the most important thing you think in order to build out processes?
Andrew Edwards 4:39
Yeah, I think you said vision earlier. That’s really the word I would say. A vision. What’s purpose is another word. I’d say purpose, vision. Somewhere in that area. What’s… what’s really the problem? It’s solving and are you are you solving that?
Michael Abernathy 4:53
Cool, cool. well, man, I appreciate you coming on ranting with me for five minutes. All right, everybody. We’ll catch you guys on the flip side. Peace!