By O.L./Sway Buckley
April is here.
As the 2nd Quarter of the year, it's a great time to dive into Alignment and Automation as Marriedpreneurs.
As a couple in business, they both work best when used together (versus individually).
In short, what good is automation if you need to be aligned on what and how to automate?
And likewise, with automation, it loses some gas when it isn't paired with automation.
Alignment: a position of agreement or alliance.
In college, I drove a Nissan Maxima, which was in excellent condition when I first purchased it. If needed, I could momentarily take my hand off the wheel while going, and the car would remain in a straight line. As time passed, however, I noticed how quickly the car would drift out of a straight line. It wasn't a fast drift (initially). It was a slow drift. But the drift became more and more drastic until it was aligned.
It's interesting how a car needing an alignment could impact the wear on the tires and other parts of the car too.
Likewise, the same for marriage and business.
We create alignment by creating a Marriedpreneur Vision Statement. It encompasses both our marriage and business goals in one quick phrase.
Automation: a term for technology applications where human input is minimized.
We used to budget for our home and business using an excel spreadsheet.
Yes, we got many arguments over it. But we overcame it.
We discussed different parts of the budget that we liked and disliked the most. Over time, we tried various apps and gadgets to support our needs until we finally landed on an automated process that took out most of the manual work.
This process only requires our input, and we can see where we regard our financial goals at home and in business.
However, we don't leave the automation to itself. We oversee it in our daily legacy meetings to be sure things are on track (and stay that way).
These are quick examples of alignment and automation (there are many). Throughout this month, we will share insights to support you all in getting more aligned and automated. In the meantime, if you want extra support, start with our free Marriedpreneur Checklist right here.
Here's to living purposefully, powerfully, and profitably in sync,
O.L. & Sway
O.L. is a former banker turned real estate consultant and entrepreneur. Sway is a former CEO of a staffing firm she started on her dorm room floor to pay for college. Together they co-own Marriedpreneur Life Consultancy, equipping married entrepreneur couples with high-level systems to scale without strain. They're the co-hosts of The Marriedprenuer Life Podcast, which was praised as one of Wedding Wire's top relationship podcasts.