The Hand Up Project
Debra Chantry-Taylor, Founder EOS Implementer
There are people you meet in business who change the way you think. And then there are the rare few who change the way you operate.
Debra Chantry-Taylor is one of those people.
She’s been a client, a mentor, an EOS Implementer, and a friend of Justine’s. Over more than 30 years running and owning businesses, she’s experienced the kind of highs that make it all worthwhile … and the kind of lows that test whether you’re genuinely built for this. She’s navigated grief in the middle of a growth phase, closed a business because of COVID, and rebuilt more than once. She shows up every time, not with platitudes, but with the hard-won clarity of someone who has actually been there.
What makes Debra’s insights particularly valuable isn’t just what she knows, it’s that she learned most of it the expensive way. She was the control freak who had to learn to let go. The expert who had to admit others could do it better. The founder who waited too long to hire and paid for it.
For any founder who is currently the bottleneck in their own business (doing too much, trusting too little, and quietly exhausted by it all), Debra’s insights are the conversation you didn’t know you needed.
What originally inspired you to start your business, and how has that initial motivation evolved?
I originally wanted to help business owners learn from my mistakes in business. I didn’t want them ever to have to go through what I went through. The highs were great, but the lows, well, they were pretty shit!
And I knew that if you could build a better business, you could live a better life.
It hasn’t really changed; just the scale of the number of people I want to help has changed. And the way in which I do it so that I can help more people. And it means that I now have 2 businesses for this purpose.
What problem does your business solve better today than when you first began?
I now have a solid framework (EOS – The Entrepreneurial Operating System) that helps business owners & their leadership teams build better lives through creating better businesses. Much of the stuff in this framework I was delivering before but now I have an even stronger framework and method of delivery that produces even better results.
What operational change or system had the biggest impact on your ability to step out of the day-to-day?
Getting an Assistant and an Integrator for both businesses, plus someone else to lead the Marketing. I thought because it was my background (being a GM of a large business) and before that Sales & Marketing Management, that I was the best person to do this, but of course that meant I was doing everything, and I was exhausted and making shit decisions because of it.
Getting people into the business, letting go and allowing myself to have clarity breaks, means I work on the business not in it. And it turns out that my Assistant, my Integrators & my Marketing person are all way better at that stuff than I was! And even better, they are great at processes too, which it turns out I wasn’t so good at. So, now, even if they were to leave (which they can’t because I’ve written into their contract that they have to die to leave!) then someone else could come in and do their work.
What internal shift or mindset change has most transformed the way you lead?
I had to learn to stop being a control freak! Once I did this and recognised that no one would do things the way that I would, but actually sometimes their way was better and more importantly, even if it wasn’t, it freed me up to do the things I love and am good or great at. Which is where I add the most value to the business. Both businesses have skyrocketed since I changed this mindset!
What was a turning point or decision that significantly accelerated your business’s growth?
Hiring people and letting them get on with it. And hiring them before you need them! Because then they will have time to grow into the role and you will have time to train them.
If you leave it too late, then you don’t have the time to train them, you set them up for failure and then blame them (when it isn’t their fault). If you hire early, you can train them, mentor and coach them and allow them time to come up to speed before they are really needed. Then they will add immense value.
"I’ve learned to trust the process, and to both think strategically and also just do things when they feel right. I know it’ll all add up to steady growth, even if I can’t understand how in the moment."
What challenge did you not see coming, and how did you navigate it?
Two things that were really beyond my control, but had a massive impact.
In the growth phase of my first business, my brother and my Mum passed away within 10 months of each other (and then my Dad a couple of years later). I was grieving, but at the same time I knew that I couldn’t just walk away from the business, so I tried (miserably) to balance both & didn’t do either well.
I try not to have regrets, but I wish I had spent more time with my family.
I learned from the first round and when my Dad passed away. I took time out to get myself sorted before I came back to the business. Sure, the business suffered a little, but it didn’t die. It’s still here today and more importantly, I am pleased that I gave myself permission to grieve and deal with it all. It helped that I had support in the business at that point, so it wasn’t all just me.
COVID was the second one and that forced me to close one part of my business. By this time, I had learned that you can only control what you can, so I just focused on what I could control and moved forward. It cost me a fortune, but you can always make more money! And if you get caught up in the victim mentality or focus on things that are beyond your control, it’s just wasted energy that could be focused on moving forward. Sometimes you just have to cut your losses, regroup and start again!
What role, hire, or support made the biggest difference in how your business operates?
Initially a VA, then an Integrator and then a Marketing person. The VA gave me the confidence to hire full time / more permanent people.
What advice would you give to other female founders working to move from doing the work to leading the business more effectively?
Stop doing $25 per hour work, especially the stuff you hate.
Not only might you not be the best person to do it (trust me, others can do it better than you!), but you are also in a state of grumpiness while you do it, not to mention the mistakes you might make.
As soon as you let go and let someone who loves it, do it, it frees you up mentally and physically to focus on the things that you love. Things that have the biggest impact on the business.
What shift do you believe female founders are uniquely positioned to benefit from right now?
Oh, this is a tough one, I think as women we have always been uniquely positioned to benefit from lots of things. I love men but let’s face it, there are so many things we are better at in business. However, our mindset often holds us back. We think that we can’t grow a big business, or we fall into comparison and try to build what we’re told a good business should look like.
I’ve learned, in my 30 years running and owning businesses, that you can build a company that works for you. And there’s no ‘right way’, it comes down to what you want from business and life, and being able to build that. That only comes from clarity about what you want. Once you have that, then anything is possible.
"Don’t get sucked in by the naysayers and the people who subscribe to a different way of thinking. We are all unique and we can create the life and the business that we want."
However, if you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there. So, remember that clarity creates confidence. And tenacity and consistency will get you to where you want to go.
What’s one thing you wish more founders understood about building a sustainable, long-term business?
A business is not sustainable if it relies on you. It needs to be able to run without you and that requires a Business Operating System. The Right People doing the Right roles, and Systems and Processes for all your core processes.
You want your business to be ‘exitable’ even if you don’t want to exit and the sooner you free yourself up from the day-to-day operations, the sooner the business will grow. The myth that a bigger business requires more work and more of your time is bullshit. If you can remove yourself from the day-to-day of the business, then you will have more time, more money and more freedom!
Finally, your business is not you. Be driven by your passion and purpose, but please make time for other passions, like your family, friends and hobbies. Life is too bloody short!
Get in touch with Debra or find out more about her businesses here.
And if you learn by listening, do check out her podcast: Better Business, Better Life.