THE

SYSTEM

Getting Started Guide

Take the Guesswork out of Growth
and Build a Business You Love
 Table of Contents

4 What Is the EntreLeadership System?

6 How to Work the EntreLeadership System

6 Phase 1: Commit to Yourself

8 Phase 2: Onboard Your Team

13 Phase 3: Grow Your Business

14 Slow and Steady Wins the Race

The EntreLeadership System: Getting Started Guide
Take the Guesswork Out of Growth and Build a Business You Love

Running a business and figuring out It's the small-business road map that
hard stuff is a lot of fun when you're takes the guesswork out of growth.
growing and helping a ton of people
along the way. But man, it can be tough What business owner doesn't want those
when you're up to your eyeballs in things, right? But how do you get started?
problems that won't budge and you We know Tom Petty said the waiting
have no idea how to get unstuck. is the hardest part, but let's be real.
Many businesses fail because they get When it comes to figuring out new
stuck for too long and don't have a systems, getting started is the hardest
proven business system to guide them. part. This guide solves that. To get the
But that doesn't have to be your story. most out of the EntreLeadership System,
just follow the steps in this guide.
You can stop winging it and start winning
by following the EntreLeadership System.

The EntreLeadership System

will help you:

Grow your business with

Know what to focus confidence and peace.
on to drive your
Get clear direction for business forward.
your stage of business.

Let's go!

The EntreLeadership System: Getting Started Guide 3

 What Is the EntreLeadership System?
The EntreLeadership System is a road map for business
growth that Dave Ramsey and the EntreLeadership team
developed. It’s based on decades of coaching small
businesses and Ramsey Solutions' own history of growing
from a card table in Dave's living room into a national brand.

The two main components of the system are:

The 6 Drivers of Business The 5 Stages of Business

Think of drivers as the things you need to do to make

progress and stages as the result of working the drivers.
When you apply them together, you'll always know
where your business is and how to drive it forward.

Drivers & Stages:

You’ll work every driver in
every stage, but you’ll give
certain drivers more attention
at certain stages to solve
your key challenges. So
in the Treadmill Operator
stage, you’ll focus heavily
on the Personal, People and
Profit drivers to help you
get better at delegation,
time management, hiring
and budgeting. Then
you’re on your way to
becoming a Pathfinder.

The EntreLeadership System: Getting Started Guide 4

Deep Dive Here’s what we mean: If you’re a Treadmill Operator,
Articles your key business challenge is that too much of the
EntreLeadership: What Are
the 5 Stages of Business?
business relies on you. You’ll know you’re overcoming
What Are the 6 Drivers
that challenge when most of your business results are
for Business Growth? generated by your team members—without you.

The thing is, usually there's a gap between identifying your

key challenge and knowing how to conquer it. That's when
you're probably tempted to just shoot from the hip to try
to solve business problems. But that rarely ends well. Let's
keep the hips out of it (unless, of course, your business is a
dance studio). Instead, focus on the 6 Drivers of Business:
Personal, Purpose, People, Plan, Product and Profit.

What's next? Follow these action steps and work through

this guide to recharge your business and see it grow.

1 2
Take the free
Ask yourself these
Stages of Business
two questions:
Assessment

Does the key challenge for your stage

sound right? Why or why not?

Does the What Winning Looks Like statement

excite you? Why or why not?

The EntreLeadership System: Getting Started Guide 5

How to Work the EntreLeadership System
Now comes decision time. Are you ready to use the
system to help your business succeed? Here are
the three phases you'll need to work through:

Phase 1: Phase 2: Phase 3:

Commit to Onboard Grow Your
Yourself Your Team Business

Let's dive deeper into each phase.

Phase 1: Commit to Yourself

You may be familiar with Ramsey's 7 Baby Steps to get
out of debt and grow wealth. If so, you already know that
financial progress takes time, energy and small, consistent
steps forward. The same is true of business and personal
growth. As Dave puts it, "You have to live like no one else
so later you can live—and give—like no one else."

So Phase 1 is where you decide "I'm all in." Then

you'll back your decision with two steps.

Step 1: Say yes to implementing the EntreLeadership System.

Now ask yourself these questions so you're clear

on the importance of using the system:

•W
 hat's my why for my business? Why does it matter
whether my business succeeds or fails?

The EntreLeadership System: Getting Started Guide 6

• What's my big-picture goal for my business? (This could
be as simple as enjoying a certain salary and lifestyle
or as big as solving a problem for others or handing
the business down to your children someday.)

• How do l see the EntreLeadership System

helping me achieve my goals?

• Will I commit the next year to implementing

the EntreLeadership System?

Got your answers? Great! It's time to get someone to keep

you on track. So tell a person you trust—a spouse, friend
or business mentor—you're using the system and ask them
to check in on how you're applying it from time to time.

• Who will hold me accountable?

The EntreLeadership System: Getting Started Guide 7

 Pro Tip Step 2: Make time to work on your business.
Not sure how to find an
hour each day? Check If it's not on your schedule, it probably won't happen. So
out the Ultimate Guide
to Time Management prioritize at least one hour a day to work on your business
(not in it). What do we mean?

ELITE Focus first on getting up and running with the EntreLeadership

The fastest way to System. Once you've got a handle on the resources and tools
work the System
Paid Membership in the system, you'll use them with the personalized action
Digital Course
plan for your stage of business to tackle your key challenges.
Communication
Time Management
Video Training
Phase 2: Onboard Your Team
Communication is Key:
How to Talk to Your Team
Now it's time to rally the troops—starting with your key
Get Control of Your Time
leaders, then the rest of your team. This phase requires
the most grit. But once everyone's all in, you’ll gain
serious momentum. On the tough days that will come,
chew on this piece of wisdom from Dave Ramsey:

"The enemy of the best isn't the worst. The enemy of

the best is just fine. Never settle for just okay."

In other words, keep pushing. You've got this!

Step 1: Get your leaders on board.

Implementing the EntreLeadership System will only work if

your leaders believe in and champion it too. Don't have a
leadership team yet? No worries! Go through this process
for yourself, but think about who you could include down
the line. Raising up a few leaders will help you go faster.

The EntreLeadership System: Getting Started Guide 8

Deep Dive Here’s how to get your leaders on board:
Articles
Vision Casting: •D
 evelop leader buy-in.
7 Reasons Why It Matters
How to Communicate Start with a leader meeting to lay out your plan to use
Effectively the EntreLeadership System. Share what you worked
Your Guide to Strategic through in Phase 1 regarding why your company exists and
Planning That Boosts how you see the system helping your business grow. The
Your Business
more plainly and passionately you communicate your vision,
the more trust you'll earn and buy-in you'll get. Follow up
with one-on-one meetings with your leaders. Allow them
to ask questions and give input so you stay aligned.

•E
 stablish regular communication rhythms.
Those initial meetings for buy-in will lay the foundation for
the regular meetings with your core team. You'll use these set
times together to get on the same page and build unity,
clarity and strategy.
Warning: No matter how busy you are, you can't afford to
bypass regular meeting rhythms. Why? Because you'll cause
frustration and waste time later backtracking and putting
out fires caused by confusion. So if you don't have leader
meetings in place already, schedule these pronto.
ELITE Weekly leader meeting: You'll use this time to focus on the
The fastest way to big decisions for the week ahead and actions like budget
work the System
Paid Membership review, goal setting, strategic planning and team changes.
Tools
Weekly one-on-ones: Every leader who reports
Leader Meeting
directly to you should get 30 to 60 minutes with you each
1-on-1 Meetings
week. You'll use your one-on-one meetings to set expectations,
give direction, allow time for questions, and give feedback
to help your team members level up.
Quarterly planning meetings: This is a half to full day dedicated
to planning and setting goals for the next three months. Even
if you don't have a leadership team, don't skip strategic
planning. It gives you a snapshot of where you're winning,
losing and primed for growth—and it helps you stop flying
by the seat of your pants.
The EntreLeadership System: Getting Started Guide 9
ELITE Annual planning: This is a lot like a quarterly planning
The fastest way to
work the System
meeting, but you're looking further out. During annual
Paid Membership planning, you'll create a Desired Future Dashboard to
Tools guide your business decisions for the coming year.
Desired Future Dashboard
Daily Top 3 • Create clarity.
Weekly Reports Clarity is the secret to keeping you and your leaders from
overstepping boundaries and focusing on the wrong areas.
When your leaders have clarity, they know what you expect
and how their work impacts larger business goals.
These actions will help you create clarity.
Daily Top 3: At the start of each day, list what needs to be done
that day. Then you’ll choose the three most important things.
These are your Daily Top 3. Encourage your leaders to create
their own lists. This will help you all prioritize your daily task.
Deep Dive Key Results Areas (KRA): A KRA is a super practical
Free Downloads role description that nails down everyone's responsibilities
KRA Template and clarifies what winning looks like in their positions. Create
Mission Statement Builder a one-page KRA for yourself and work with your leaders to
EntreLeader's Guide create theirs.
to Business Finances
Mission, Vision and Values: If you don't already have these for
your business, establish them now with your leaders. Creating,
refining or revisiting your mission, vision and values could be the
sole focus of several weekly leader meetings.
Budget: Yep, you need a budget to gain clarity around what
you're saving and spending in your business. We're not talking
about a profit and loss statement. That looks backward at
what's already happened. A budget looks forward. So start with
setting a budget for just a few months, but work toward creating
one for 12 months out.
Weekly reports: A weekly report is a one-page report your
leaders complete to share their high and low plus a handful
of other updates on morale, workload and stress level. Set up
and review these reports every week and respond. You'll learn
plenty about what each person is working on and where they
feel productive and stuck. You'll also build trust with your team.
The EntreLeadership System: Getting Started Guide 10
Deep Dive Step 2: Get your team on board.
Articles
11 Productivity Tips for Now that your leaders have bought in to the plan and
Small-Business Owners you’ve got some wind in your sails, let's get your team on
How to Create a Basic board! You'll notice some overlap with the work you did
Business Budget
in Step 1 of this phase, but that's not your cue to skip over
anything. Both steps, in this order, are vital to your success.

Depending on the size of your team, you'll complete this step over
the course of a few weeks to over several months. Here's all you
need to do with your team to get ready to roll with the system:

•D
 evelop team buy-in.
Just like you cast the vision for using the EntreLeadership
System with your leaders, you'll cast it with your whole team
now. Schedule an initial meeting to introduce the system
and why you're using it. If time allows, you may want to
open the floor to immediate questions when you're done.
Regardless, let them know they'll be getting a one-on-one
meeting invitation so they can ask their leaders questions.

•E
 stablish regular communication rhythms.
These two essential meeting cadences will build unity
and strengthen communication with your team.
Weekly staff meeting: This is your time to celebrate victories,
mourn losses, and share what's going on in the business. Even if
your team is all over the country or world, you can meet virtually
and prioritize some in-person gatherings.
Weekly one-on-ones: Any team leader with direct reports
should block 30 to 60 minutes with individual team members
to touch base every week. This gives team members a
chance to share personal and work wins and challenges,
set work priorities, and ask questions. What do you do if
you're the only leader and stretched thin? Still have regular
one-on-ones, but schedule them every two weeks.

The EntreLeadership System: Getting Started Guide 11

 • Create clarity.
Good news! You've already done the heavy lifting by creating
clarity with your leaders. Now, you'll just build on your
momentum with a few adjustments for your team members.
Deep Dive Key Results Areas: Have your leaders work with their direct
Articles reports to create KRAs for each team member.
How to Create Role Clarity
Using Key Results Areas Mission, Vision and Values: Remember that mission, vision and
How to Write a Company values work you did with your leaders in Step 1 of this phase?
Mission Statement Now you get to share it with everyone. Splash your mission,
What Is a Vision Statement vision and values on your walls and website. Talk about them
and How Do I Write One?
during staff meetings and one-on-ones. As you talk about them
What Are Company
Values and How Do over and over again, your team will start to own them—and
You Define Them? probably even recite them in their sleep.
Weekly reports: You'll want to give your team members a simple
weekly report process just like you did with your leaders. This
will give them a chance to consistently share with their leaders
where they're winning and where they're struggling.
Why is a well-designed, properly used team member weekly
report so important? Because it's a two-way communication
tool and trust builder. When used regularly, weekly reports
will transform the way you and your leaders understand and
communicate with your team.
Pro tip: The more your team members know you
really read their reports and care, the more
they'll trust you and communicate openly.

The EntreLeadership System: Getting Started Guide 12

 Phase 3: Grow Your Business
Congratulations! You've worked your tail off, and now you're
all set to go full throttle with the EntreLeadership System. You'll
continue to develop your team and grow your business, but
with an edge called the Momentum Theorem. What's that?
Dave Ramsey explains the Momentum Theorem like this:

"Momentum isn't a random lightning strike. It's actually

created. The formula is this: Focused intensity, over time,
multiplied by God, equals unstoppable momentum."
Here's how to leverage it.

Deep Dive Step 1: Work your stage of business action plan.

Articles
How to Delegate to If you still haven't taken the Stages of Business
Your Team (With Red-
Hot Confidence)
Assessment, do that now. This will clarify which stage
you're in and give you a tailored action plan to follow.
Book
Delegation Quick Read
What's an action plan? It’s the key activities you’ll focus
on—like delegation, communication and strategic planning­—
so you can level up to the next stage of business.

Step 2: Work the 6 Drivers of Business.

Remember: You’ll work every driver in every stage,

but you’ll give certain drivers more attention at
certain stages to solve your key challenges.

You're not just checking off a list of tasks so you can level up.
You're continually getting stronger in the six key areas every
leader needs to focus on to drive their business forward. In
fact, Ramsey has cycled through all six Drivers of Business at
least five times over the past three decades to advance from
the Treadmill Operator stage all the way to Legacy Builder.

The EntreLeadership System: Getting Started Guide 13

Slow and Steady Wins the Race
Ever read the fable “The Tortoise and the Hare”? The
tortoise wins the race even though the hare is faster. So as
you compete with a culture of hares—aka people chasing
quick success—just stay focused. You’re building for the
long haul—focused intensity over time wins the race.

As the EntreLeadership System becomes

second nature:

You'll attract more

Your purpose
high-performing team
will get richer.
members to your mission.

Your systems and Your products

processes will become will be bigger and
more sophisticated. better than ever.

And the best part? You’ll achieve your big-picture

goal as you grow and make more profit so you
can do more good in your community.

The EntreLeadership System: Getting Started Guide 14

Your Business Will Only Be as Strong as
Your Team
Once you’re all in with the EntreLeadership System, the most
important thing to tackle next is developing your team. Why?
Because when it comes to growing your business, people are
your biggest blessing and your biggest pain in the butt. The
good news is, you don’t have to tackle your pain points alone.

EntreLeadership Elite will help you develop your leadership

skills and build a team that cares about your mission as much
as you do. What’s Elite? It’s a digital product that helps
business owners apply the EntreLeadership System. When
you become an Elite member, you get these resources:

• Team-empowering tools and templates to help you

save time, communicate better, and support your team

• Leadership training and coaching through

on-demand courses and live sessions

• L ike-minded community with other small-business owners

who will encourage you and keep you accountable

Build an all-star team with EntreLeadership Elite.

The EntreLeadership System: Getting Started Guide 15

The EntreLeadership System: Getting
Started Checklist
Need a handy guide to stay on track with the EntreLeadership
System? Use this Getting Started checklist.

Phase 1: Commit to Yourself

Say yes to implementing the system.
• Answer the questions on Pages 5–7.
Make time to work on your business.
• Prioritize one hour a day to work on your business.

Phase 2: Onboard Your Team

Get your leaders on board.
• Have a leader meeting to share your plan
to use the EntreLeadership System.
• Schedule a weekly leader meeting.
• Set up weekly one-on-one meetings
with your direct reports.
• Schedule a quarterly planning meeting.
• Put an annual planning meeting on the calendar.
• List your Daily Top 3 every day.
• Create KRAs for you and your leaders.
• Write down your mission, vision and values.
• Create a budget.
• Have your leaders regularly complete weekly reports.

Get your team on board.

• Introduce the EntreLeadership System in a staff meeting.
• Schedule weekly staff meetings.
• Have your leaders set up one-on-one
meetings with their direct reports.

The EntreLeadership System: Getting Started Guide 16

 • Have your leaders work with their direct reports
to create KRAs for each team member.
• Share your mission, vision and values with your full team.
• Have your team members begin submitting
a weekly report to their leaders.

Phase 3: Grow Your Business

Work your stage of business action plan.
• Clarify which stage of business you’re in. (Take the Stages
of Business Assessment if you haven’t already done so.)
• Start following the action plan for your stage.
Commit to continually growing in
all six Drivers of Business.

The EntreLeadership System: Getting Started Guide 17