67. From VA to Exit Strategy: How to Build a Sellable Service Business with Adriana Richardson

What if selling your business was the ultimate scaling move? In this episode, I sit down with Adriana Richardson, a Business Process Consultant and technical writer who transitioned from running a VA agency to specializing in streamlining processes for sustainable growth and exit strategies. Adriana shares how she accidentally scaled an agency, why she decided to pivot, and how she now helps entrepreneurs document and optimize their businesses for long-term success.

We talk about building systems that work for you, avoiding the trap of scaling in the wrong direction, and how Adriana discovered the power of SOPs and licensing. She also opens up about the challenges of listening to too many outside opinions, finding clarity in what truly feels aligned, and her plans to sell her business within the next few years. If you're a VA, OBM, or service provider looking for new ways to scale, this episode will show you an entirely new perspective on growth.

Key Points Covered:

✨ How documenting SOPs & systems can help service providers scale with ease

✨ The biggest mistakes VAs & OBMs make when trying to scale their businesses

✨ Why selling your business is an option most service providers don’t consider

✨ How to structure processes so your business runs smoothly—even without you

Connect with Adriana:

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LinkedIn

Instagram

Threads

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Andrea Elibero: Andrea here, your host and passionate business coach and scaling strategist for Soulful Service Providers and Coaches. Welcome to another episode of Soulpreneur Scaling Stories. Have you ever wanted to look behind the curtain of your fellow entrepreneur's business to see what actually went into scaling it?

[00:00:22] Well, you are in for a treat because that's exactly what we are doing here. In each episode, we will be uncovering the truth the lessons and the stories behind what it truly takes for solepreneurs to scale their businesses intentionally. I'm hoping that their stories will help you to unlock the true potential of your business so you can create your own soulful, abundant, and aligned laptop lifestyle through intentional scaling.

[00:00:46] So whether you're just starting out on your scaling journey, or you're a seasoned entrepreneur seeking inspiration, this episode has something incredible in store for you. Are you ready to rise, grow, and create? Create a business that fully supports your dream life. Well, let's [00:01:00] dive in before we begin, make sure to hit that subscribe buttons.

[00:01:03] You never miss an empowering episode filled with real stories and soulful insights.

[00:01:11] Okay. Hello, everybody. And welcome to a Soulpreneur Scaling Stories. I am so excited to be here with Adriana Richardson, who is a business process consultant. Welcome, Adriana. 

[00:01:22] Adriana Richardson: Thank you so much for having me on. I'm excited. 

[00:01:25] Andrea Elibero: Yay. And so can you please tell us a little bit about what you do, introduce yourself, what's going on?

[00:01:31] What does your business look like today? 

[00:01:32] Adriana Richardson: Okay. So just starting for today right now, I have pretty much stripped away my team and everything. So like, I am kind of starting over. My goal is to sell my business within the next. Two to three years. So right now I'm just going flushing out everything, but backing up.

[00:01:50] I'm Adriana. I'm a business process consultant and technical writer. What I do is help businesses streamline and document their operational processes to scale and exit. [00:02:00] So I am kind of like testing out certain things for myself just to see how that goes. 

[00:02:04] Andrea Elibero: Ah, that's so interesting. So So I have not yet talked to somebody who wants to sell their business.

[00:02:09] So I really want to get into that piece of it because I think this is super fascinating. And okay, so this is where you are now. When you started your business, when was it? What were you doing? What did that look like? How did that go about happening? 

[00:02:22] Adriana Richardson: Okay. So I started my business in 2018. Um, I honestly did not want to be a business owner.

[00:02:29] I became one out of circumstance during that time I was working with a local non profit and the founder of that non profit actually pushed me to start a business because at that time I was looking for like a job to work evenings. I had my health science degree so I was like I want to do something in health and at that time like all the jobs just did not pay well.

[00:02:48] I had a little one. I had to pay for daycare and all this stuff. So it's just having a business theme. useful. So I was just like, you know what, I'll just give it a go. And I ended up doing pretty well. It was virtual assistant, by the way, virtual assistant [00:03:00] business. And in 2019, I actually scaled that and started an agency with that.

[00:03:05] And that kind of led to where I'm at now because 2019 scale, that's an agency. And by 2020, I was completely over it. Like I hated. I love the people I worked with, but I hated what I built. Like we were making a bunch of money, had a bunch of women working with me. They were amazing. It was just, I built the business, surrounded myself and kept myself trapped.

[00:03:27] And I just, it's just like, I don't like the fact I like dreaded going on the computer, just, I was just like, no, I'm over it. 

[00:03:33] Andrea Elibero: Okay, let's dig into that for a second. So when you built the agency, was there a plan or was that also accidental? I asked this because I did the same thing and it was kind of accidental and then I was like, what?

[00:03:45] Then it was like, wait, one day I woke up. I was like, why am I doing this? This was not something I really wanted to do. So I'm curious how that came about for you. 

[00:03:53] Adriana Richardson: Okay. So yeah, it was pretty much accidental. It was just kind of like one of those things like, Oh, like it's growing. Let's see how [00:04:00] far I could take it.

[00:04:01] But, um, I started my business. Well, I didn't know I was pregnant, but about a month into my business, I found out I was pregnant. So like, I already had to like, kind of get into the mindset of I'm going to have other people with me. So finding subcontractors to take over. for my clients when I took my maternity leave and things like that.

[00:04:18] So like since then I was just like, you know, this skill, she has a really good skill set that I don't have. So I was like, why don't I just see how far we're growing? Cause like I'm still getting clients even though I'm on maternity leave. So I'm just like, you know what, let's just go like see how that goes.

[00:04:31] And 

[00:04:31] Andrea Elibero: yeah, 

[00:04:32] Adriana Richardson: didn't enjoy it. 

[00:04:35] Andrea Elibero: How did you know? Was it the dread when you like is that was that your first indicator that this wasn't for you? 

[00:04:42] Adriana Richardson: Yeah, it was just like just waking up like. Thinking like, why am I waking up at like 3 or 4 a. m. doing all this stuff when I originally started this business to kind of be like a supplemental thing in my, um, in my life so I can [00:05:00] still spend time with my kids and stuff.

[00:05:01] But like at that point I was working so much, like I wasn't fully enjoying what I actually wanted to do. Like it wasn't supposed to be. what it was pretty much. And I was just like, uh, yeah, I'm not digging this at all. 

[00:05:15] Andrea Elibero: Yeah. I hear this story a lot. This, and it's so interesting because I think it just comes from a place, especially when you're a VA, uh, it comes from a place of, Oh, I'm getting all these clients.

[00:05:25] Oh, I'm successful. And there's not a lot of information out there about the different directions you can actually go in your business and all the cool things that you can do. So a lot of newer. VAs think that, oh, well this is how I scale, period. Mm-hmm . I want a mission to change that . So I'm glad you're here with me to help change that.

[00:05:44] So I'm curious, okay. Once you got to this point of like, okay, I don't wanna be doing this, then what happened? How did you decide where to go next? What was the internal process that was happening there? Okay. 

[00:05:55] Adriana Richardson: So I was like, I know I still wanna run a business and I still wanna help people, but I was [00:06:00] like.

[00:06:00] Let me dig into like why everyone was hiring me. And I noticed like a lot of times people were hiring my agency, but like there would be times like we would sit there for like a couple of months with certain clients not doing any work because they didn't have anything to delegate out or they were just kind of like scrambling.

[00:06:15] I was like, okay, there's something there. And I pretty much just use that time to pretty much just kind of strip away the agency. Like I still had it and I kept a couple of clients on just during that time. But I was like, I want to help. I was like, I want to be. I really want to dig into, like, why people are hiring and, like, why there's such inconsistencies when they bring us on.

[00:06:36] And that's when I discovered, oh, processes, like, a lot of people didn't have them, especially documented and stuff. So I was like, there's something there and I want to dig into it more. So that's when that transitional phase started. 

[00:06:46] Andrea Elibero: Did you know that that was something that you, before then, were you like, oh, I love doing this?

[00:06:51] Did you have an idea about like, oh, processes are my thing? Or was it something you discovered during that sort of discovery process, I'll say? Yeah. 

[00:06:59] Adriana Richardson: I'll say it was kind [00:07:00] of a mix. It's like, I've always been like the person, like, I love lists and everything. So like, I've always been known to be the one, like doing like the admin work for stuff and like creating, you know, let me back up a little bit.

[00:07:11] So like, I've had history of like creating programs and like documenting things. So it was just one of those things. I didn't realize it was a skill set I could use and I didn't realize it until I started working with clientele. So I'm just like, Oh, like. They need this like I remember this during my time to create these programs like people need this stuff so they can train Whoever or hire whoever for that.

[00:07:32] So yeah, it was just like a mix of like my past life and just working with them Mm 

[00:07:37] Andrea Elibero: hmm And okay So let me ask you this because I often find that when people are really good at something and they really love it They don't realize that other people are not good at that thing You know what I mean? Yeah.

[00:07:51] And so it makes it harder for somebody, and I call this your unique magic, like your zone of genius, this type of a thing, right? Something that you love doing that comes easy to you and people [00:08:00] don't realize that it doesn't come easy to everybody else. 

[00:08:03] Adriana Richardson: Mm hmm. 

[00:08:03] Andrea Elibero: So. And that's exactly what 

[00:08:04] Adriana Richardson: happened. 

[00:08:05] Andrea Elibero: Yeah. So tell me about that.

[00:08:06] So how did you discover, like, wait, oh, like these people don't, like, why aren't they doing this? This is so simple. 

[00:08:12] Adriana Richardson: Yeah. Okay. So again, I'm sorry, with my agency, like. Yeah. I knew I was supposed to have standard operating procedures. I knew I was supposed to have documentation. And when I was bringing subcontractors on to complete work, I had them, but like they weren't processes I was actually like following to a T myself.

[00:08:29] So like I was delegating things out and I was giving them standard operating procedures, but they weren't, they weren't standard inside my business. So like it was inconsistent. So I'm just like, okay. I had to learn from my mistake with that. And then when I started talking to clients and stuff, and I realized if they did have it, I would ask them the same thing, like, Hey, like, by the way, is this something that you're actually doing?

[00:08:50] Or is this something that you just want someone else to do? And usually just like, Oh, I want someone else to do it. So it's just like, this is where the disconnect is starting to lie at. So like, I kind of just started digging into that [00:09:00] and. And when it came to doing that type of work, I figured all of us knew it.

[00:09:04] Like we just kind of had to like take a breather and stuff. And I didn't realize how many people just didn't document anything inside of business. So I was just like, you know, let me figure out a way to make this attainable for everybody. 

[00:09:16] Andrea Elibero: Ah, how interesting. And then what was your shift after that? So what did you actually start doing or what direction did you go down?

[00:09:22] Adriana Richardson: Um, so I, like, I started shutting down the agency in 2020, and that's when I was just like, you know what, I'm going to become a standard operating procedures person. Because, like, I would go on Google just to kind of like see what templates they have for, like, small business owners or solopreneurs. There was like nothing at that time.

[00:09:36] Like, everything was just for, like, manufacturing or, like, really big companies. I'm just like, okay. 

[00:09:41] Andrea Elibero: Wait, can I pause you for a second? Yeah. You literally loved it. Documenting, like creating SOPs. This is what you love doing. It makes me laugh so much because this is, for a lot of people, this is not a fun thing that they love doing, right?

[00:09:58] It's like the actual documenting [00:10:00] of step by step, this is how we do each of these tasks and making the doc, you know, like doing all of that. That is hilarious to me. I love it. I love that you love doing that because it's so needed. Like, this is my cup of tea. You're like, let me 

[00:10:12] Adriana Richardson: write down all the things.

[00:10:13] And it's funny, I tell people because I used to do like ghostwriting stuff for blogs for other people and like standard operating procedures, not of course, not the same thing, but like it almost is, it's like I'm like piecing things together. So like, if it doesn't make sense, like the plot or something, so it's just like, let's fix that a little bit.

[00:10:26] So I see it as that. So that's why people look at it. But yeah, 

[00:10:30] Andrea Elibero: yeah, like a puzzle. And you're like, Oh, could somebody else follow this and actually know what they're doing? Yeah. How funny. So this is what you focused on was the SOPs. Wow, and what are you off? Is this what you do now? You still continue to focus on SOPs?

[00:10:45] Adriana Richardson: Yeah, I've managed to I was doing way too much like that 

[00:10:48] Andrea Elibero: time. Oh, okay. So so, okay Let's talk about that because I really want to talk about so now you're like, okay I found my thing right like my thing is SOPs amazing I'm so excited SOPs like give me all the feels [00:11:00] and Now you have to figure out how am I going to actually make an offer out of this?

[00:11:04] And this is my like So I love figuring this piece out. So I would love to dive in with you and kind of go through like, okay, what you started with and where you are now in terms of actually creating an offer around the thing that you love. 

[00:11:17] Adriana Richardson: Okay. Yeah. Okay. So like I said, I was getting rid of the agency.

[00:11:22] And at that time I was like, you know, I'm kind of operating as like an operational manager. So I was like, I'm going to go with that or OBM, I guess this was the online term. So I was like, I'm going to operate as an OBM, but. My focus is going to be standard operating procedures. And at that time I still had a few subcontractors.

[00:11:37] Cause like we still had some clients left over from when I was kind of like stripping away stuff and passing my clients on to other people. So I was just like, okay, I'm going to do that. I'm going to focus on standard operating procedures. So I was like, how can I make this? Like a thing people care about because like when I first announced it, like, Oh, that's cool.

[00:11:55] Turning my head. I don't care. Like, I don't care about that. 

[00:11:58] Andrea Elibero: Right? Like, okay. [00:12:00] Yeah. 

[00:12:01] Adriana Richardson: Oh, good. Good for you. Okay. So clearly this is something that needs to be like explained a bit more. So I was like, I want to kind of take it from. A teaching side. So I'm like, yes, you need to write down your process, but like, this is why during that time, I didn't do a good job with explaining it.

[00:12:18] Like I had like some coaches telling me like, Oh, maybe you should take it from like a coaching aspect. I had too many people in my ear at that time. So it was just, I was all over the place, honestly. Like, even though I did get clientele from that, it was just, they still like me thankfully. But like, it was just like, when I think back, it just wasn't a good, it wasn't a good like thing.

[00:12:39] Now knowing I know that this wasn't a good. It was good for the time being, but 

[00:12:43] Andrea Elibero: yeah, but what was it that, that made it not a good thing? What was it that made you now you're looking back like, Oh, like, you know, kind of cringing about it. So what was it that felt. I 

[00:12:53] Adriana Richardson: felt like I was forcing them to do certain things.

[00:12:55] Like, like I didn't really dive into like, why [00:13:00] we're creating standard procedures. Like, yes, it's a standard of business, but like, why does this process? Why do you make this particular process inside your business as SOP for someone else and not other things? And like, I kind of was just telling people, Oh yeah, just document this and that be that, or like, you need the steps for this.

[00:13:16] But like, they were doing it, but they didn't understand why. And you have to understand like why you're doing something. Otherwise, it's not going to. It's not going to stick. Right. No, this is true. 

[00:13:26] Andrea Elibero: And I found this also, so, so for coaching, I still have OBM client, a couple of OBM clients, but online business manager and it's true whenever you create systems, when you build something and click up, when you'd make these processes, when you document things, if the client doesn't, if it doesn't kind of like jive with them, then it's for nothing.

[00:13:47] So you create it, but they're not going to use it after you're gone. And that's. That's not the purpose, right? Like, you want to do things that are long lasting, that are going to improve the business that they're going to stick with. So it's interesting. So you were still able to sell your offer [00:14:00] of creating SOPs and people were like, okay, great.

[00:14:02] But there was something missing there for you. 

[00:14:06] Adriana Richardson: Right. 

[00:14:07] Andrea Elibero: And what was the offer? Was it just like, I'm going to create a bunch of SOPs for you? Pretty much. Like, 

[00:14:13] Adriana Richardson: a lot of people like the PDS, like booklets and stuff. And then during that time I was kind of like experimenting with not experimenting, but like being more inclusive too.

[00:14:23] So 

[00:14:24] Andrea Elibero: like, 

[00:14:24] Adriana Richardson: I was just like, okay, like we do this, but if you do that, make sure you have like larger print for people that may not be able to see what you're off, like little things like that, but like, it just wasn't. As uniform as it needed to be like, it's just only because I know better now. So it's just like, I 

[00:14:41] Andrea Elibero: know it's always I know.

[00:14:43] Don't worry. This is a universal experience. At the time, we're like, oh, this is great. And then you look back and you're like, what was I doing? My poor clients. But it was helpful for them at the time. The other thing I'm curious about that you said that there are too many people in your ear telling you what to do.

[00:14:58] And can you talk about that, because [00:15:00] this is, and I love that you said that, because this is another one of my, like, I'm going to stand on my soapbox and be like, wait, you know, like, please listen to this, because for, for, okay, so I'm going to let you talk and then I'm going to come back to my soapbox afterwards.

[00:15:13] So tell me your story about having, being not, not feeling really good about what you were doing. I would love to hear that. 

[00:15:22] Adriana Richardson: I'll say during that time, like I was, I was pretty much listening to everybody, like saying like, you need to be in a community so you can do this, that, and the third. And it was helpful.

[00:15:33] Like I learned a lot from everybody, but I don't know if it's because I have ADHD too. So like when I hear certain things, I get super excited and then I'll just, I implement really quickly for certain things. So like when I had like someone telling me, oh, you should approach from like a coaching aspect, or you should be on social media teaching like this, things like that.

[00:15:52] It just, It didn't come out as well as I hoped and being the person that does process and everything. It was just like, had [00:16:00] I just sat down and wrote out everything that I had in my mind anyways, like it would have flowed a lot better. And I felt like I was kind of like all over the place. I'm just like, I want to make sure I scale and these people were in places that were.

[00:16:12] And like, they were in places I wanted to be at, so I was just like, obviously I'm going to listen to them. And it just didn't work out for me what I was doing. 

[00:16:20] Andrea Elibero: Yeah, but you know what? That's really common as well. And so, okay, so I'm getting back on my sub box, so hold on. Here we go. Is that I find that I talk to, when I do these interviews, I talk to a lot of people, especially service providers who work with coaches, who have never been service providers, because a lot of them don't understand the difference.

[00:16:43] And on top of that, it's A lot of, oh, well, you should do this. You should, you should, you should, and that is different than here are your options. Let's talk about which one feels good to you and talk through why. [00:17:00] Because if you're doing all of these, you should, you should, you should, it's not a thing that it's going to be sustainable because you're not going to stick with it because You're not feeling it.

[00:17:10] You know what I mean? Like, you're not, it doesn't mean anything to you. Now, there is a time and a place for playing around. You have no idea. Let's play around and see, right, and like, see what happens. But I get really caught up on this and I get really upset that these people are like, do this, do this, do this.

[00:17:25] Without giving people, and also it's building the trust, like, when you, So if you are working collaboratively with a coach or with somebody, right, and they're helping you to figure it out, then you're the one who is figuring it out with the guidance and with the support of somebody who's helping you to think through it.

[00:17:41] So in this way, that's a skill that you're carrying with you in your business and life, you know, forever and building that self trust and building all of these things and the critical thinking skills. So it really bothers me when it's like, do this, do this, do this, do this without any deeper thought. I'm going to get back on the ground now.

[00:17:58] I am done. 

[00:17:59] Adriana Richardson: I love it. [00:18:00] Like, I feel like if I had someone like just shouting that, I feel like I wouldn't have made so many like little mistakes. Like, I'm thankful for them, but like, I wish someone would just be like, Hey, like, what are you doing? Right. What are you? You don't have to listen right now. 

[00:18:14] Andrea Elibero: Right.

[00:18:14] And this is all part of the journey as well. I think this is like, it is so part of the journey until you get to a point where you're like, wait, like, and you're like, hold on a second. So okay, so let's get to that point. So now you've grown, you're involved. Okay. You have this offer, you're doing all these SOPs.

[00:18:27] So what was kind of the next phase for you after that in your growth journey? 

[00:18:32] Adriana Richardson: Okay. So like the next phase at that point, I was doing pretty good with that. And that's at the point where I was working with more, I don't want to say like, there are huge companies, but like, there are definitely more than I'm used to, like solopreneurs, I'm used to working with people that have maybe like five team members or something like that, to like go into people that have like 30 or like 45 that way.

[00:18:55] That's where the technical writing piece came in, because they call it technical writer, like doing all that, the [00:19:00] standard pre procedure. So like, that's where I kind of fell into doing that. And with those type of projects, I hired some subcontractors. I was like, this time around, I was like, I'm not gonna make a full blown agency here, but I will have some help with some of these projects in doing that kind of thing.

[00:19:14] So I ended up doing that for a while, and I was hitting a point again, just like, This is not making me super fulfilled either. I was just like, I like the work that I'm doing, but I was like, something is still missing here. So that's when I was just like, you know what, I need to like really sit down. I left, like that was end of 2022, actually.

[00:19:35] End of 2022, like I pretty much like left every community I was a part of. I kind of like went a little silent on social media. I was just like, okay, I am just. I just need to figure out like what exactly I want to do here. What direction am I trying to go in? Who do I want to work with? All that jazz. So kept like a couple small projects here and there, but like, I was just like, this is my time of focus.

[00:19:58] And in 2023, [00:20:00] honestly, some of last year too, it was just like, when I was really like, okay, I'm doing process, like consulting, I like looked into like what kind of skills like I'm doing. Where it measures up, that's what's in our process consulting. 

[00:20:11] Andrea Elibero: Okay, so go, so talk about what that is during this time. So it was a big transitional period.

[00:20:17] Yeah. And it sounds like you went from the doing the implementer to now we're moving obviously more into the consultant role. And I'm curious what you were doing. The inner work or like what you were researching the what was going on in order for you to discover This is the thing they like. Oh, I want to do this thing 

[00:20:35] Adriana Richardson: Okay, so I was like I still like doing technical writing But I was like I want to do more of like the I guess thinking piece Like I'd like telling people what to do, but like yeah, I want to make sure it's coming from an informed place so I was like What does that look like?

[00:20:50] I was like, I'm not just a technical writer. And I was like, at that time, I was still kind of doing OBM projects too. And I was like, I like [00:21:00] managing certain things to an extent, but I was like, I'm not fully like management material. So I was just like researching different things, like on LinkedIn and Google.

[00:21:07] I was just like, okay. I have these skill sets or like I've been using these skill sets, but I want to do this. And that's where I found process and process consulting. It's just like, Oh, okay. Never heard of that. Didn't know this was like a thing. So can you define 

[00:21:22] Andrea Elibero: that? What is 

[00:21:24] Adriana Richardson: someone that literally just works with operational processes?

[00:21:27] Like they just help people look at the big picture and find the processes that match. So that's where like succession planning stuff comes in, like the exit planning, everything came in just like, Oh, okay. Like I've had some experience with things I sold one of my um, not well, I didn't know that process either But so one of my companies a while like years ago So it's just like I had some understanding of that kind of stuff So I was just like I want to dig into this more.

[00:21:53] So it's That's pretty much where that came from. I was like, I'm going to start crafting my services to match what [00:22:00] a process consultant does. And I started doing little projects that way. I'm just like, this feels a lot better. And I was like, I want to do this a lot more. And I was like, how can I get more people to realize?

[00:22:11] what a process consultant is and how they fit into businesses, especially for like small businesses or solopreneurs, because like they can still benefit from it too, depending on what their exit strategy is. So yeah, just been doing that kind of work and here I am. 

[00:22:25] Andrea Elibero: Here I am. Is your focus, are you really focused on the, how do you build up and get all the processes there so somebody can sell their business?

[00:22:35] Pretty much. Yeah. Ah, this is fascinating to me. Okay. So can you talk about what this means? Like, what are the things that you actually kind of set up? And who your clients are, because you said it really could be anybody. And I feel like a lot of, because I feel like a lot of solopreneurs don't think about selling their businesses, right?

[00:22:55] So I'm like really curious about this whole, this whole thing. So tell me all the things. 

[00:22:58] Adriana Richardson: Yeah, of course. Okay, [00:23:00] so I blended a lot of my skill sets. So like process consultant, of course, there's someone that looks at the big picture and develops strategies that way. I also was operating as an OBM or online manager.

[00:23:16] So like I took some of like the day to day skill set too for that. So I will throw out the disclaimer. Like I blended a lot of these services. So it's like process consultant only do a particular thing, but I do a little bit more than that because I did technical writing everything. So what I do for the day to day or like for our clientele, I document.

[00:23:35] I create like the shell of their business. I got the shell or I called the skeleton early. I don't do the skeleton of the business. So like, we'll go over things like, okay, you are here. I have everything broken down by like levels. So like, if you're just starting out, this is what's going to look like. I like to tell people to think of what they may do for like exit strategy, just so we can work out [00:24:00] that.

[00:24:00] So once we figure out like the skeleton down to like the exit. The next step is to look at, like, what kind of processes they need based on where they're at. So, like, again, someone that's newer, they're going to need to focus on marketing and sales, things like that. So, like, we break it down by that. And because technical writing, I do the documentation for them.

[00:24:16] So, like, they just tell me what they want or, like, what ideally what they want to do. And I just turn that into their policies and processes. And with that. Yeah, so you're 

[00:24:27] Andrea Elibero: documenting basically how their business runs A to Z, so that way they can hand that off to whoever they're selling it to and they can just run the business following this process.

[00:24:37] Oh, fascinating. Yep. Very cool. And then, okay, so, so, in stepping into this, let's talk about how are you getting your clients? And how do you talk about that? I'm so curious about that piece. 

[00:24:52] Adriana Richardson: I will say a lot of my clients come through like speaking engagements or like doing like podcasts. I do [00:25:00] LinkedIn lives every so often need to be more consistent with that, but like a lot of them came from hearing me speak about it because a lot of people don't know what this is.

[00:25:08] So 

[00:25:08] Andrea Elibero: yeah, just 

[00:25:09] Adriana Richardson: me outright talking about like I post on social media and stuff just exist, but they mainly come from, um, speaking, speaking and just referrals and everything. 

[00:25:20] Andrea Elibero: Okay, yeah, that doesn't surprise me because it sounds like a thing where you do have to. Educate people and kind of like open up their mind to be like, oh, this is a thing.

[00:25:31] And guess what? Like, you can sell your business and make money, you know, like this can be a cool thing that you do. So let me help you do this. So ah, super interesting. And okay. So with all of that, how is this applicable to your business? So you're talking about how your goal might be to sell your business.

[00:25:48] So can you talk about what you're thinking about, what the process might be, and then what happens after you sell it? 

[00:25:55] Adriana Richardson: Okay. So for myself, I just, because I've had [00:26:00] some experience with selling a business before, and now I know what, what makes it more. Profitable this go around. I'm planning on I'm still like on the fence.

[00:26:11] I told myself i'm giving myself until june to like really hard like settle on something But like i'm going two different ways The first way is of course like hardcore selling like selling my trademarks to whoever like all of my assets Just selling all of that to somebody and they go that way Or I may keep it and I'll just put someone else in place.

[00:26:30] And I kind of stand back as creative director and just take a percentage. I'm still debating what that looks like. But like I said, by summertime, I should have like a concrete, like path for me, what I want to do. And all that is, I'm just going through like the same thing. I tell my clients, like document different pathways, have things kind of like set to the side, standard procedures.

[00:26:49] So they know what I'm doing, how to do the services I'm doing. If I decide to sell it to somebody. Yeah, I'm just kind of taking the same steps, making sure I follow my own documentation, because I am known [00:27:00] to document for everyone else and not do my own. So I am not doing that. This going around.

[00:27:06] Andrea Elibero: Interesting. And do you find that, or have you seen in your experience that service providers, it's a viable option for, for done for you service providers? 

[00:27:17] Adriana Richardson: Yeah. And I think a lot of people don't realize like a lot of stuff that they have is. People want it because people don't want to create from scratch.

[00:27:25] So like, just, I usually encourage people to like, look into licensing. Like you can license out like certain frameworks and stuff. Like if you get that, get it protected first, like seek a lawyer and stuff. Do that first. But like, once you have that set. You can, um, sell that off to somebody else. So that way they don't have to start from scratch and like more people can be successful and stuff.

[00:27:43] But yeah, it's just a matter of like knowing what's available and like knowing different pathways. Cause I feel like we get stuck in like, Oh, either I can scale with the team or do that. That's just like, there's so many different ways you can do. And I realized working with some of my clients, they were using [00:28:00] licensing to scale their businesses and they weren't building out these huge teams.

[00:28:03] It's just. Linked out their name, like, it's common with, um, memberships and everything, or like the networking groups you may see, like it's common in that group, and I've worked with a couple of them. Yeah, they use licensing, but it's just like little things like that, like we don't realize what's available.

[00:28:18] Andrea Elibero: No, but that's so cool to have other options, because exactly like we were talking about at the beginning, when you start out as a VA, and you're like, okay, well, I can only build an agency, like, period. And now look at where this conversation has shifted, like you can license your business out. Yeah. Exactly.

[00:28:31] Yeah. How cool is that? You know, there are so many options out there. And I think it's amazing that people like you are here to spread the word about that. So people know that there are different options and different pathways that they can take that they might not otherwise have considered. So it's really, really cool.

[00:28:47] And so I'm so curious. Okay. Um, if I, if you sell your business, what would you do after that? Create a new business? 

[00:28:52] Adriana Richardson: Yeah, I'm planning what I plan on doing. I didn't even answer that. I'm sorry. Um, what I'm [00:29:00] planning on doing is I'm still going to be doing consulting on the side, just like a freelancer role.

[00:29:04] So like if something does pop up, like I'll still do that kind of work. Cause I like doing it, but I've always wanted to like, Not always, but since I've been a business owner, we'll say that since I've been a business owner, I just see so many different. Outlets and pathways that could be built, but either people don't know how to do it or don't want to do it because it's a lot involved because I want to build up more things to sell them.

[00:29:27] So that is my plan for 

[00:29:29] Andrea Elibero: our album. You're like, uh, one of these, like, Silicon Valley people, right? Like, okay, let me build up this business, sell it, build up this business, sell it. Like, the goal is to sell it, you know? 

[00:29:39] Adriana Richardson: Yeah, that's it. It's like, I'm just going to build strictly to sell. Like, I'm not I don't have like desire, like to own anything.

[00:29:45] I have my name like flashing everywhere. Like I'll work behind the scenes and help or something to like collaborate with more people that want to do certain projects, like help them out. Cause a lot of people, again, don't really deal with the documentation piece. And [00:30:00] that's a pretty good, big part of like, if you're selling something, like making sure you have that stuff documented and like proof of content and all that good stuff.

[00:30:06] But yeah, I just building to sell and just consulting on the side and living life. 

[00:30:12] Andrea Elibero: Wow. I love this. Okay. I have such a different perspective and such a fresh perspective. I wasn't, I didn't know all this before we started talking, so thank you for sharing all that. You're welcome. Okay. So I, this is one of my final questions that I ask everybody.

[00:30:28] What is upon your whole journey doing all of this? Somebody wants to grow their business. What is the top scaling tip that you have learned that you want to share with everybody listening? 

[00:30:37] Adriana Richardson: Oh, I am going to always say document your processes, and I always tell people find a path that works for you. So, like, if you're like a video person, you like recording, record it.

[00:30:48] Like, documentation doesn't have to be strictly just writing things down. It can be whatever. However you like learn the best, have some kind of thing. So that way we have to turn it into standard procedures for someone else. You [00:31:00] already have everything. So document. 

[00:31:04] Andrea Elibero: Amazing. And let us know, how can we stay in touch with you?

[00:31:07] Where can we learn more about this? Share all of the things now. 

[00:31:11] Adriana Richardson: Gotcha. Okay. So the, I'm on LinkedIn for starters. I hang out on LinkedIn, post a good bit on LinkedIn, published like a weekly newsletter. So like, if you want to get in touch with me the quickest. Find me on LinkedIn, um, under Adriana Richardson.

[00:31:24] Um, I'm also It'll be 

[00:31:25] Andrea Elibero: linked in the, in the show notes. So don't worry about that. 

[00:31:28] Adriana Richardson: Thank you. Yes. And also, if you're on LinkedIn, please do send me a message. If you found me through the podcast, I will happily give, like, I keep digital products and stuff. I have free resources on my websites. I'll say that.

[00:31:39] But like for digital products, if you listen to the podcast, DM and I'll send you a digital product based on where I feel it would be more useful to you on your journey. So feel free to do that. And other than that, I'm on LinkedIn. I'm on Thread. Like, I'm everywhere, pretty much, under the Lazy Millennial.

[00:31:54] Um, outside of Threads, I'm under that SOP chick, Audrey. But, I'm mainly [00:32:00] on LinkedIn, so find me on LinkedIn. 

[00:32:02] Andrea Elibero: Awesome. Thank you so much, Adriana, for being here, for sharing all of this with everybody. 

[00:32:07] Adriana Richardson: Thank you so much for having me. This was a great conversation. I could talk about this forever. 

[00:32:12] Andrea Elibero: Yay.

[00:32:15] Thank you so much for joining us today. I really hope you found inspiration and insights from today's episode. You know, scaling your business intentionally and from the inside out is a transformational process, but I'm here to support you every step of the way. Head on over to dancingleafsolutions. com slash resources for free tools to help you do just that.

[00:32:41] And thank you again for being a part of the Soulpreneur Scaling Stories community. Your presence and dedication to growth inspire me every day.