Could EOS transform you and your business?

Vistage event What the heck is EOS? (The Entrepreneurial Operating System) took place in late May, hosted by Certified EOS Implementers Jason Green and Brandon Harris. During the event, they talked us through what EOS, how it works, and the Six Key Components™ of every business that must be managed and strengthened to turn a good business into a great one. 

If you missed the event, don’t worry. We caught up with Jason to learn more. 

“I was too involved in too many parts of the business”

“I’ve been an entrepreneur most of my life”, says Jason. “I’ve had a few successes – but I’ve also had some companies where things didn’t go quite so well”.

The last company he ran was an IT managed service provider, and Jason admits that while revenues were growing, he was struggling with the business. “I was failing to scale because I was involved in too many parts of the business”, he says. “I was frustrated with my staff, with my vendors, with my family, and we just weren’t making enough profit for the time and effort we were putting in”. 

With somewhat fortuitous timing, Jason received a gift from a friend: a copy of Traction by Gino Wickman, which explains the concept of EOS. “I was sceptical at first, but I read it and thought, ‘Jason, what the hell have you been doing?’”, he admits. 

As a result, he implemented EOS in his business, went down to three days a week and sold the business four years ago. It was then that he decided to focus his efforts on helping other entrepreneurs. “A lot of the time, entrepreneurs just fall into the entrepreneur role”, he says. “We discover that we’re good at something and decide to start our own business. But nobody teaches us how to do that. That’s what EOS is: a way for entrepreneurs to run and grow a successful business”. 

The three things every great entrepreneur needs

Jason strongly believes that every entrepreneur needs three things to run a successful business and live their ideal life. 

The first is a supportive peer group.

The second is an encouraging business coach. 

The third is EOS. 

“EOS is essentially a way of managing the human energy in your business”, he says. “It’s a set of simple, real-world, practical tools – simple concepts that have been around for years – that help you to orchestrate and harmonise all the moving parts of your business”. 

He describes the three things that implementing EOS will help business leaders and their teams to improve on: 

• Vision: Ensuring the whole leadership team is on the same page in terms of where you are going, and how you’re going to get there.
• Traction: Instilling discipline, focus and accountability throughout the organisation so that everyone is focused on the vision. 
• Healthy: Creating a cohesive, functioning leadership team that enjoys spending time together. 

EOS is focused on the leadership team, but the rest will follow. “We ultimately find that as goes the leadership team, so the rest will follow”, says Jason. “You get everybody on the same page with your vision, executing that vision with discipline and real accountability, and working as a harmonious team that loves spending time together”. 

The key benefits of EOS

Jason describes a number of ways in which implementing EOS can benefit a business. Between them, these benefits create a company that is profitable and growing, and a happy, harmonious leadership team with a better work-life balance. 

“Ultimately, EOS helps you to generate more profit and enjoy greater growth”, he says. “It helps you to gain control of your business so that you’re running your business, instead of your business running you”. 

Jason also explains that EOS will help you to live your ideal life…but what does this actually mean? 

“It’s doing what you love, with people you love”, he clarifies. “It’s about making a huge difference, about being compensated properly, about having time for other passions, whatever passions they may be. It’s about liberating the business owner, creating a sustainable, valuable business that doesn’t need them involved in absolutely everything”. 

Is EOS right for my business?

EOS, says Jason, is for those who want to turn a good business into a great business. It’s also ideal for those who have hit a ceiling and are struggling to scale as a result. 

“Businesses go through periods of evolution and revolution as they grow”, he says. “During that revolution phase, they have to break the ceiling to evolve further”. He uses the example of a startup with a very small team and plenty of energy, passion and drive. “Once you hit turnover of £1m, you can’t carry on in the same way if you want to keep growing”, he says. “You need structure, discipline and focus. And that’s where EOS comes in”. 

He describes the system as perfect for those who have got a little bit stuck, have lost their mojo or feel like they’re simply in a hamster wheel. “It’s specifically designed for companies with between 10 and 250 staff”, he says. “When you get to 10 people, things often become more chaotic and complex. EOS helps you to simplify, structure and harmonise those moving parts to enable you to break through those ceilings that your business will inevitably hit”. 

EOS is one of a number of business operating systems that exist. Choosing one, says Jason, is vital. “Without an operating system in place, leadership teams spend all their time arguing about how to run the business rather than actually running it”, he says. “It’ll transform your life. It transformed mine”. 

To learn more about EOS, visit their website. For additional insights that can take your business to new peaks, check out our blog.