Ep 126: There’s A Process For That
13 Essential Systems Every Creative Business Needs
SUMMARY
Most creative professionals are drowning in chaos because they're trying to wing it in areas where successful agencies have bulletproof systems. The difference between agencies that scale smoothly and those that burn out their founders isn't creativity—it's having documented, repeatable processes for everything they do on a regular basis.
You don't have a talent problem or a creativity problem. You have a process problem.
Why Creative Businesses Need Systems
According to Harvard Business Review, companies with well-documented processes are 67% more likely to successfully scale their business. The creative industry is not exempt from this—it's just been slower to adopt it because we feel like systems constrain us. But they don't. They free us to have more time and mental energy to be more creative.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
⚡️ Start with your biggest pain point: Where do you find yourself repeatedly answering the same questions or fixing the same problems? That's your first process to document.
⚡️ Use the "next person test": Could someone else follow your documented process and get the same result? If not, it needs more detail.
⚡️ Build in small batches: Don't try to systemize everything at once. Pick one or two areas and build, test, refine, then move to the next.
NOTABLE QUOTES
💬 "The difference between agencies that scale smoothly and those that burn out their founders isn't creativity. It's having documented repeatable processes for everything they do on a regular basis."
💬 "Systems don't constrain creativity—they free us to have more time and mental energy to be more creative."
💬 "When you and your team know exactly how to onboard a client, manage revisions and deliver projects, then you can focus your mental energy on doing great creative work instead of figuring out logistics."
EPISODE RESOURCES
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TRANSCRIPT
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Most creative professionals are drowning in chaos because they're trying to wing it in areas where successful agencies have bulletproof systems. Today, we're exploring the specific processes that separate thriving creative businesses from those that are constantly fighting fires. And I'll show you exactly where to start building your own. Let's get into it.
Taking creatives from chaos to clarity. Welcome back to Creativity Made Easy, the podcast for creative professionals who want to scale their business without sacrificing their sanity. I'm your host, Dustin Pead, and I help creative professionals know themselves, their processes and their team so that they can move from chaos to clarity. Whether you're a freelancer, agency owner or leading a creative team, this show is about building systems that free your creativity instead of constraining them. So let's dive in.
I've had countless discovery calls with talented creative professionals over the years, and there's a pattern that I see again and again. They are incredibly gifted people who can create amazing work, but every day feels like they're having to reinvent the wheel. Client onboarding is different every time, project kickoffs are chaotic, and their teams are constantly asking, "What's the process for this?" And their response is usually some version of, "Just figure it out, I guess."
Here's what I've learned: The difference between agencies that scale smoothly and those that burn out their founders isn't creativity. It's having documented repeatable processes for everything they do on a regular basis. You don't have a talent problem or creativity problem. You have a process problem.
Today I want to walk through several key areas where every creative business needs processes and I'll give you some starting points for each one. So let's dive in.
Let's start from the very top of onboarding a client. A client onboarding process is super important because first impressions set the tone for everything. Your process should feel personal but be completely systematized because you want it to be able to fire off without using your brain energy just for client onboarding. From contract signing all the way to the project kickoff needs to be a documented process that you use every single time.
Next one: a project briefing and kickoff process. This is where scope creep gets prevented or invited in. Clear expectations, roles, deliverables defined up front. You can use the DO versus DUE framework. When you brief properly, you can set realistic DO dates before the client's DUE dates. This is an opportunity to lay out all the logistics and having a process for this is super important. My clients and I recently have been using an AI process for project briefing that I would love to share with you if you hop on a call with me.
Next one: a client journey process or a client journey defined. A lot of creatives lose their clients at about the 80% mark. They're really good at starting and they get a lot of really good energy all the way through until about the 80% mark of the project or the life of the client. Then it starts to fall off really quickly—their energy and their deliverables. Understanding each next step in your client journey, knowing where it's going next is going to be super important. Every touchpoint to take them from just a one-time client to a loyal advocate.
You're going to identify where clients typically get confused or frustrated or have the most questions. Those are opportunities for you to checkpoint in with them every step of the way. So build the processes to address those friction points.
Part of that client journey is client onboarding like we talked about, but the other part of the client journey is offboarding. Are we asking for feedback? Are we asking for a referral? What is it that we're asking of the client at the end of our journey together? A lot of you hope that there is no offboarding process because you don't want to be offboarded. But having a really solid offboarding process increases the likelihood that that client returns and that that client refers you to other potential clients as well. How you end matters just as much as how you begin. File handovers, final invoicing, relationship maintenance, getting feedback, referral processes—all that stuff. Setting up the potential for more business from that client is super important. That's why you need a client offboarding process.
The 4D creative process is a big one too. Now you don't have to use these 4Ds, but somewhere along the journey of how you actually create needs to involve these four. I'm not going to go super deep into it because I've done several episodes and blog posts about it before. But the 4D creative process is basically saying every creative process needs to have a moment that you define the problem, that you dream about solutions, that you design those potential solutions, and then you develop the actual solution to your problem. Every creative process needs to have those four parts, whether you name them something differently or not.
It gives structure to the inherently massive creative journey. When you're like, "I got all these ideas and I don't know where to go next," that means you're in the dream phase. The next thing you need to do is to design. You're like, "I've got the design and just don't know what to do next." What you need to do next is actually put in the work. And this is where the grunt work comes in. That's the development part. Each phase has specific deliverables internally for your team and approval points along the way. Having that defined process will keep you moving from start to finish.
Next thing you need is not only a content creation process, but a review process. All of us as creatives, we're creating some kind of content. We're creating audio content, video content, visual design content, whether it be for us internally, for our business, and most importantly, for our clients. But who creates what and when do they create it and how do they create it? And what are the review cycles to get clear feedback? What are your protocols centered around? "Hey, this is going to be our first draft, then we're going to review it." What does that review look like? How long does it take? Who's involved in it before a first draft ever reaches the client?
So content creation process, but more importantly, a content review process. The next one is a part of that as well for feedback and revisions. Think about Pixar and how they would get together and they would poke holes and ask questions throughout their process of writing a story. They call it their brain trust meetings. So how feedback gets collected, how it gets consolidated and how it gets implemented are super important things to have consistency throughout.
If you have a team under you, even if they're just contractors, if you don't have a system for this, you're going to burn them out because they're going to get super frustrated that it's different every single time and they can't anticipate your needs. Every creative wants to be able to anticipate the needs of who they're working for, whether it be their boss or their client. This prevents the whole "death by a thousand cuts" revision cycle where we're just constantly, constantly editing. We don't know when to finish painting. This feedback and revision process will help you understand—you, your team, your clients—it'll help everyone understand fully when is this process done. Paint "done" for your projects and how you get to done matters most.
Let's talk creative asset management. This is file structure. It could be digital assets, it could be physical assets, but having a straight file structure with the way that you name your things, you name your files, your naming conventions that everyone follows will make it easier for you to find the file that you're looking for when you're looking for it. It'll make it easier for you to upload to the correct place, make it easier for you to find where to download. Having version control and backup systems are super important. So what does that look like for you?
You may be thinking, "Well, I just kind of throw it up there and hope that I remember the way that I named it or hope that I can find it when I need to." You're wasting brain energy when you're doing that. Whether it be a digital asset like file types and things like that, or it be physical assets—maybe you're a video agency and you have all sorts of equipment that comes in and out of your office or your basement or your garage or your studio space constantly—having some type of inventory of how those things are going in and out. Who has them? When does the proper maintenance need to be done on those things so they don't break down on you in the middle of a shoot? Do we have SD cards on this shoot or do we not? Little things like that go a long way. So having a creative asset management system in place is huge.
Next is team and I would also add client communication protocols. When are we using email versus text versus Slack versus a project management tool? How are we communicating? What are our meeting cadences and how do we actually set an agenda for that? We don't have to have this full-on documented agenda for every meeting, but there needs to at least be three or four bullet points sent in a Slack message where people know they can go and go, "Ah, this is what I know we're going to be talking about." You can add it even to the calendar notes section of that meeting.
When do we email a client or when do we email internally? When do we use Slack? When do we use text messages? For example, I always tell my team we use Slack for business and we use text messages for personal things. So if I text you a business-related question, you are more than welcome to haze me for sending you that and remind me to send the message on Slack and not on text because it's work-related. But if someone sends a message in Asana or Monday or whatever tool you might be using, how do you know to check there? Understanding when and where and how to check those communication pieces is going to be vital not only for your team, but for your client as well.
Next up, let's talk about project management. This is where I see creatives get the most stuck. They get super excited about the project. They dive headfirst in. They get all the way through probably the first three phases of define, dream and design. And now it's time to develop. And we don't know what's supposed to be what. We don't know where things are happening, when things are actually supposed to be DUE versus DO. So you need a consistent approach regardless of the project size.
Some people are like, "Oh, this is just a quick little thing." You need to have a consistent approach because if you start scaling back off that approach, you lose consistency. You lose consistency, you begin to lose excellence. You lose excellence, you start to lose clients, which means you start to lose money. So we all want to get better at our project management process. Status updates, milestone tracking, resource allocation, the integration between tools and team workflows—all super important things to remember.
Next up, since we're talking about our teams here as well, how about performance review process? How often are you regularly getting with your team or if you just have contractors or even volunteers? How often are you getting with them regularly to give feedback cycles, not just to give them feedback, but to get feedback from them as well? We're not talking about just annual reviews here. If the only time you have a one-on-one with someone that you lead, whether it be a paid team member, a paid contractor, or a volunteer, if you're only doing that annually, you're missing out. You're missing consistency. You're missing the opportunity to be able to grow throughout the year instead of just every January.
Clear expectations should be a part of it. And what are the growth pathways for both sides? How can we grow as a business? How can you grow as a part of this team? Documenting that protects both you and the team so that if things work out, you can celebrate it. And if things don't work out, you can point back to it and say, "See, we talked about this. This is why we have to move on to another situation."
Speaking about our talent and people that we work with, how do you acquire talent? How do you hire? How do you bring on new contractors? How do you decide who to work with and who you don't? There needs to be a systematic approach to finding and not just finding, but also integrating great people. Do you have an onboarding process for a team or for a contractor?
You've sent messages out there: "Hey, we're looking for an editor. We need a junior copywriter. We need a production assistant." Whatever the case is, you put it out there. But how do you know that you're onboarding them and you're setting them up for success? Because those first 90 days for any position—volunteer, paid contractor, doesn't matter—are super important. So what's the process for onboarding them, setting them up for success? Because when you set them up for success, you set your business up for success as well.
I would highly encourage you if you're like, "Well, I don't have a ton of money to do that," look for apprenticeship programs in your area for you to be able to help develop talent, but also get some really affordable labor as a part of that as well. It's a win for everybody. They're getting experience. You're getting the help that you need at a fraction of the cost.
Let's talk invoice and payment collection. This is definitely more of a financial process and I'm more in the operations. But if we don't have a process for this, then how do you know you're gonna get paid on time? We all get to the end of the month and there's a reward. We all get to the end of the money and there's more month left.
Creating some automated systems are really huge. How you can automatically send out the invoicing and payment collection would be a great thing. I know many people are already using that, but just make sure that they're consistent and that they're being updated regularly as much as possible. Clear payment terms. Make sure you have your sequences to have follow-up processes. How long are you going to give them to pay? Are you going to charge late fees or not? All of that needs to be up front, because if you talk about it up front and you set those processes in place for invoice and payment collection, then you can avoid all those awkward money conversations with clients in the future.
You also need to have systems in place for your marketing strategy and lead generation. Now, I'm not the expert when it comes to these systems, but you do need to have a systematic approach and you need to build the process and then trust the process for every single one of these things. So content creation, relationship building, networking, referral systems—all of that will help you get predictable pipeline instead of the feast or famine cycles that you may be stuck in. We can help build those systems for you alongside some really good sales coaching and we can make sure we set that up for you.
Speaking of sales, another one that I make sure that all my clients have in place is some type of offer development or package offerings. You need to be able to clearly say, "This is our standardized service offerings that are not only profitable, but scalable." So when you have a discovery call with me and you ask me, "What does it look like to work with you?" then I'll tell you, "We have four service packages. There's a coaching package and then there's three different consulting packages where we help implement these processes and systems with you." Each one has a price point and it's very easy to identify throughout the way. That keeps the clear scope being defined between client and business relationship, which is going to prevent the dreaded scope creep. When you have these offers and packages easily defined, it makes it even easier to delegate and train your team members on them because they're so defined.
So that's a quick run through of a bunch of different things that I always recommend any clients that we work with—some of the processes that they need to have at their disposal. Let me just tell you this: According to the Harvard Business Review, companies with well-documented processes are 67%—that's two-thirds—more likely to successfully scale their business. The creative industry is not exempt from this. It's just been slower to adopt it because we feel like systems constrain us, but they don't. They free us to have more time and more mental energy to be more creative.
What now? I gave you a lot of different processes and systems to consider, but let me just give you a few next steps that you could take.
Number one: Start documenting what you're already doing really well. If you're like, "You know what, we have a really tight system for this and we do the same thing over and over again," start documenting that. And if you wonder why, it's so that you can develop more team members and more people easier without having to take your time to show them that process over and over and over again. You create a Loom video. You have a simple process document that you say, "Here's how we do it. Let me know if you have any questions." And that's a lot less time on you or your team to have to train that person.
Something else to consider is to identify your biggest pain point. Where do you find yourself repeatedly answering the same questions or fixing the same problems day after day, week after week? That's the first process that you need to figure out and start documenting, because these are things that always happen. If it always happens, there should be a system and there should be a process for that.
Use the next person test. Could someone else follow your documented process and get the same result? If not, it needs to be more detailed in the steps.
Another way is to build in small batches. Don't try to systemize everything at once that we talked about in this episode today. Pick one or two areas that we talked about today and start building that process. When you build it, test it and then refine it and then move on to the next one.
And lastly, get your team involved. If you have a team—again, volunteer, contractor, paid, it doesn't matter—get the team involved. The people doing the work often have the best insights into what the process should be. So be sure to include them in the development of those processes.
I want to remind you, you can get all sorts of free tools for these processes on my website, dustinpead.com/free. The DO versus DUE framework is up there. We have time and energy audit kits on there. Client onboarding, Future You framework—all these things at dustinpead.com/free.
Here's the thing about processes: They're not about constraining creativity. They're about creating space for it. When you and your team know exactly how to onboard a client, manage revisions and deliver projects, then you can start focusing your mental energy on doing great creative work instead of figuring out all these logistics.
I've seen agency owners reduce their stress levels dramatically and increase their team's productivity by more than 30% just by implementing a handful of key processes. More importantly, their clients start commenting on how smooth and professional everything feels, which means more referrals and more business.
Listen, you don't have to build everything at once. Start with one process that would make your life easier this week. Go ahead, document it, test it, refine it, and then build the next one. If you want help identifying which processes to build first or you want to see how other creative teams have systemized their operations, go to dustinpead.com and connect with me also on social media at Dustin Pead. You can book a free call with me and I can talk with you about what you're feeling right now.
Remember, there's a process for that. You just have to build it.
Next week, we'll be back tackling episode 127: "Why Your To-Do List Is Sabotaging Your Creativity." I'll show you how traditional task management fails creative professionals and introduce you once again to our favorite friend, the Focus Funnel, a framework for deciding what actually deserves your attention versus what's just noise. So if you're constantly overwhelmed by your to-do list and can't seem to make real progress on what matters most, that episode's going to be for you. It's going to change how you think about task management forever. Cannot wait to be back with you on that episode.
Y'all have an amazing week ahead. Talk to you next time on Creativity Made Easy.