Season 2 Episode 003
Adi Klevit
Adi has spent over 30 years helping entrepreneurs step out of the daily grind and into the freedom they actually started their businesses for. If you feel like your business would crumble if you took a two-week vacation, this conversation is your wake-up call.
Episode 065
"If you are giving your clients the greatest service, then you're always gonna have money."
Adi: My job was to do time study and, um, figure out the process before the software engineer was able to come in and create the software. There is no difference between then and today. Today we have, we call it AI.
Alice: Good morning everyone. I am Alice Tank with Women’s Million Dollar Conversations, and today I’m so happy and thrilled be connected back with one of my wonderful girlfriends who have similar background because both of us are immigrant,but from different country. Her name is Adi Klevit. If you look at the news about business, you see her name flying all over the place.
I’m so honored today to have Adi. Welcome, Adi.
Adi: I’m thrilled to be with you, Alice. It’s so good to see you and so good to be here again.
Alice: Tell us a little bit about the work that you do, Yes, so my company is Business Success Consulting Group, and I’m a process consultant and I have a team that works with me. And what we do is we create. Document, optimize and implement processes and procedures for fast growing companies. And we also conduct knowledge transfer. So the knowledge in people’s heads, the founder, the top leadership.
Adi: We extract that information and systematize it and put it into well-documented processes and procedures, and then we help implement those.
Alice: That’s awesome. So Adi, I, am curious when you’re working with your clients or customers, what specific points does the founder’s personal magic become the bottleneck of their million dollar growth, and how do we systemize that intuition?
Adi: I feel that the point is when we reach the point where we reach a ceiling, we all know what that ceiling is. For some of us it can be, it’s a burnout. I can’t do it anymore. I never hit that point. But what I did hit was the point where I looked at my calendar at my available time and what I wanted to accomplish and I said, I can do it. Because there is so much more that I wanna do, but there’s only one of me and I’m not gonna be able to accomplish that. And I also made a decision that I wanna grow because I see the need for my services.
So it was two twofold. There was the external demand for my services that I knew that I was not able to supply by myself. And there was also the internal of, I’m doing as much as I can, I can’t do anymore. At that point, I decided I’m going to hire, I’m going to delegate, I’m going to take my own medicine that I’m telling my clients to do, and I am going to systematize my business so then I can delegate correctly and pass things on to someone else. And my first hire was about seven years ago. I was definitely a few years into the business. And it was an assistant, and now we grew to the point where we have an office manager, we have a marketing and sales manager, we have a production manager. I have consultants, I have technical writers, and we all work together. So it’s a group. However, I started by delegating those actions and those activities that I knew were very important for the business to succeed, but it didn’t have to be me.
Alice: That’s so beautifully said. when you take your own medicine, not only internal and external are both in peaceful mode. Actually, you’re a great example because how many clients would ask, what have you done for your business? Why are you still a one-man band? Or instead of, a collaborate, group of people who’s helping to push it through. Now, uh, we often talk about system for efficiency, but you have hinted that they are actually the key to freedom. Can explain how documentation is actually the ultimate self-care for a female woman founder?
Alice: Now, uh, we often talk about system for efficiency, but you have hinted that they are actually the key to freedom. Can explain how documentation is actually the ultimate self-care for a female woman founder? Well, if you do not have things documented, how are you ever going to pass it on to someone else? It’s impossible because you probably, if you are anything like me, you will run into this situation. looking at my calendar and I have 10 meetings, and then I’m looking at my calendar tomorrow and I have, many other actions, and now you also want me to hire somebody and find time to train them.
Adi: It’ll never happen. So my solution was I’m not gonna hire. Then I’m gonna continue doing my meetings and my this and my that, and somehow wish and hope that things will change. So if you are there, if you’re listening to us and you feel that catch 22 or you’re in that rut, well you have to say “That’s it.” I gotta delegate something and the best way to delegate is to document what you are doing. Then you can hire somebody and tell ’em, okay, here you go. Those are the instructions. Do this for me. Know how I got started. By delegating, I would basically record myself answering my emails for two weeks. I learned from somebody else. It wasn’t my, bright idea, but I thought it was a bright idea. So I did it and I actually would record myself answering my emails. This is this person, this is that, this is what I do here. This is what I do there. And I gave it to an executive assistant that I hired at the time. And then she was able to figure out how to answer my emails, and then I didn’t have to do it anymore. It was like, oh, such a relief. And then you all of a sudden, free that time. But the key thing is to fill the time intentionally. Now know Alice, you are so intentional with what you do, you are an inspiration and the queen of keeping the time allocation. You’re freeing things up on your calendar, so you can fill it in with intentional activities.
Alice: Oh, that’s so awesome. I still remember the first time I, borrowed the idea of color coding my calendar, because let’s say I wanted to get more clients, and, put it in green color because green means money. So if I look at my calendar, everything is every color except green. What am I doing when I say, ‘I want to do more, business development. I’m not seeing anybody.’ Everything else is, other colors.
Adi: I use that. I mean, I learned that from you. and my
Alice: really?
Adi: Yes, it’s color coded. So for me, green is actually, um, delivering to clients, I use yellow for business development. So I tell my team, “Hey, I don’t see enough yellow on my calendar. I wanna do more yellow this week.” We have like, the podcast is Salmon pink and podcast on others is orange. So I say, I don’t see enough orange. I want more orange. And it’s very easy to see whether you are executing your strategy because you can see where your time is being consumed. So that is one of the things that I learned from the Great Alice Tang.
Alice: Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. I mean, um, I borrowed that wisdom from someone else,
Adi: Well, thank you. That someone else, whoever you are, thank you. Because Alice and myself are really managing our calendars accordingly.
Alice: That’s right, that’s right. Now, um, as we were talking about calendar, you know, online, there’s a lot of things technology is providing us. With the rush towards AI tools, many founders are layering high tech automation on the top of broken processes. What is one question a founder can ask or should ask before they integrate AI tools?
Alice: Yeah,this is such a hot topic. I just got an email from, a colleague of mine, and he wrote a whole article, about that in terms of one of his clients. He’s a productivity consultant and one of his clients invested $500 in an AI automated tool for his calendar, but it just created a bigger mess because it wasn’t there to begin with. I just wrote an article and it got published on Forbes in terms of the AI, and you have to have processes before you actually can implement the AI. And Alice, this goes back, you know, my background is industrial engineering.
Alice: When I started as an industrial young industrial engineer in Salem, Oregon. The Mitsubishi plant in 1996, My job was to do time study and, figure out the process before the software engineer was able to come in and create the software. There is no difference between then and today. Today we have, we call it AI. artificial intelligence, but software that just works faster, better, you need less code. So the coding itself is different than it was then, but it’s the same concept of using technology to automate or to help with a process. Process first, technology then second. But you gotta have the process documented, at least outlined, because if you do not have a process on how you schedule, how you vet your prospects, how you, um, get the right people on your calendar, then the AI is not gonna know that.
I sometimes feel that, like we talk about AI agents, like those aliens that come in and they will, they just know what to do and they will just go in and night and do it. It doesn’t happen. I’ll give you an example. Here’s a true story. So we were working with one of our clients, he’s a CPA and He wanted to automate his lead intake. We created the process and then what we saw is we saw the passive of list resistance, meaning you have those people that are gonna call, they’re gonna answer the questions that are the right clients, they can be captured and on his calendar, he’s a tax strategist. The system worked for them. It didn’t work for all the others that had questions that started arguing that weren’t qualified. So we needed to really tighten it up so only the qualified ones will end up on his calendar. Because what happened is that he ended up with many more appointments, but there were waste of his time because there were not the right client. I said, okay. So let’s say you have a hundred people and five of them are your clients. The high net worth individuals, you know, they want a tax strategy, you wanna work with them. They basically already select themselves onto your calendar. The other ones, we need to make sure that they do not end on your calendar, because now you’re just gonna be busy, but you’re not gonna be productive. Therefore, we have to have a process, and the AI has to imitate the process, to just get the qualified ones on your calendar. So when he saw that, it made total sense and now he’s getting his qualified leads, but he also understands his process because if he left it without gates, he can end up with 50 appointments on his calendar, and 45 of them are not really his clients anyway.
Alice: And you feel so tired and so burnt out, so overwhelmed at the end because. Nothing much has accomplished at the end of the week.
Adi: That’s right, so if you don’t have your process and you open the gate like that, and you automate it without knowing what you are automating, you can get overworked and overwhelmed as opposed to really getting the clients that you want.
Alice: That’s awesome. Having that tight process is so very important. I assume before that he needs to know who exactly is the perfect client he would like to invite to his practice. Because without that, where do you begin?
Adi: That’s exactly right. You read my mind. ’cause I wanted to say that was the first step is identify who is your ideal client. What questions do you ask in order to identify that that prospect is your ideal client? At what point in the conversation, you know “No”. But you also wanna capture that because you can then create an affiliate or a referral partnership with someone else because maybe the CPA down the block, that’s what they want. They want only simple, easy, fast, tax returns and great. So let’s funnel that because you still capture those identities. Let’s funnel them to that person, and then they will send you the referrals or the tax strategies, or as the businesses that they serve are growing, they will need your services. So then you create that symbiotic relationships and that’s what, what it means to think outside the box, right? So the process doesn’t just end with you. You have a more of a collaborative process that everyone benefits from.
Alice: I think a lot of entrepreneurs, especially when they started, you and I have been there. I mean, looking back many years, there were some moment that we are fearful that if we let go of this not so right match person, where do I get my next, at least I generate some income. But the moral of the story that you just painted was, let go of those who are casually fit, but not the right fit. It is very true. And when you talk about your network is your net worth, and if you look just outside your periphery, outside your own world, you have a family of other businesses that are part of your ecosystem.
Adi: If you cannot service that person, then take the next step of finding somebody that would. Surround yourself with other professionals that that person is going to be their perfect ideal client, and then you are also giving, and that ecosystem will just grow and things will, come back to you as well.
Alice: That’s awesome. You’re speaking my language.
Alice: That’s awesome. You’re speaking my language. How has the value of money and your relationship with money changed since our first interview?
Adi: I don’t think it changed much. I don’t remember what I said then, but It’s really delivering a topnotch service, and I know that since then, we definitely evolved because we grew and we needed to tighten up our systems because that’s also answering your first question about the owner being the bottleneck. So I knew that when I service the clients, you know, they’re gonna get topnotch service because I give everything that I can in order to make it happen. I needed to replicate that where my team does the same and that’s what we’ve been working on very successfully. I even hire somebody who is a success managerbecause I needed somebody to oversee and overlook and check with our clients. Are you getting more than we promise, right? I always want to over deliver. Are you doing that? Working with our team, do you need any help? Do you need coaching?Now, how does that answer your question? The relationship with money. Money is an exchange for something. So if you are actually giving your clients the greatest service, then you’re gonna always have money. And that also I learned from you and I’ve seen it in action with you, Alice, because you care about your clients, but you also care about your connections and you are always there looking outwards. You never look here and say, what is it in it for me? Are you getting compensated for it? I sure hope so, and I know you are and you should. But it, it is a secondary action to being out there and contributing and talking and explaining, educating, helping, and then it comes back to you.
Alice: When you do the right thing, the money will come.
Adi: That’s exactly right, and I learned that from you as well. If you are prudent and you know what you’re doing, then you don’t, just don’t worry about it because as you said, it’ll come.
Alice: How has the value of money and your relationship with money changed since our first interview?
Adi: I don’t think it changed much. I don’t remember what I said then, but It’s really delivering a topnotch service, and I know that since then, we definitely evolved because we grew and we needed to tighten up our systems because that’s also answering your first question about the owner being the bottleneck. So I knew that when I service the clients, you know, they’re gonna get topnotch service because I give everything that I can in order to make it happen. I needed to replicate that where my team does the same and that’s what we’ve been working on very successfully. I even hire somebody who is a success managerbecause I needed somebody to oversee and overlook and check with our clients. Are you getting more than we promise, right? I always want to over deliver. Are you doing that? Working with our team, do you need any help? Do you need coaching?Now, how does that answer your question? The relationship with money. Money is an exchange for something. So if you are actually giving your clients the greatest service, then you’re gonna always have money. And that also I learned from you and I’ve seen it in action with you, Alice, because you care about your clients, but you also care about your connections and you are always there looking outwards. You never look here and say, what is it in it for me? Are you getting compensated for it? I sure hope so, and I know you are and you should. But it, it is a secondary action to being out there and contributing and talking and explaining, educating, helping, and then it comes back to you.
Alice: When you do the right thing, the money will come.
Adi: That’s exactly right, and I learned that from you as well. If you are prudent and you know what you’re doing, then you don’t, just don’t worry about it because as you said, it’ll come.
Alice: That’s right, that’s right. you and I, has received a lot of gifts different mentors and role models, um, your next chapter, how you’re planning to pass along that the next generation.
Adi: I actually was, um, a, uh, instructor in three different community colleges in my early twenties or late twenties, and I also had a little tutoring business. And I feel that that’s my passion and my call is to educate. So the first thing that I give back is by educating. By doing seminars and workshops so other entrepreneurs, other business owners can learn. By putting content out there, by explaining, by, always willing to talk, always willing to share. That is how the legacy gets forward. And I also surround myself with people that wanna give back. I was just, in New Orleans a few weeks ago for Enterprising Women event. It was beautiful. There were many of us, but it was a collection of women that what they do is that they are giving back. They’re giving back by,volunteering in high schools and teaching young girls, and women in stem, you know, in science and technology.So I definitely surround myself by people that have the same purpose of giving back and wanting this world to be better.
Alice: That’s so awesome. We are so grateful to be with you today.
Adi: I really want to acknowledge you and thank you for the connections that you connected me with, for your friendship, for your mentorship, and for always being there, and that’s who you are. I think it was over 10 years ago that we met, I see this super successful woman here, and you invited me to have lunch. I was so grateful for that conversation, for reaching out for your mentorship, but never in an overbearing way. And that gracefulness and that willingness to share stuck with me. Until today. Oh, so beautiful. I’m grateful for you. Thank you again.
Adi Klevit is the founder and driving force of Business Success Consulting Group, where she transforms the chaotic “day-to-day” into streamlined, million-dollar engines. With three decades of experience as a trained Industrial Engineer, management consultant, and executive, Adi possesses a rare “Inner and Outer Game” perspective. She doesn’t just see spreadsheets; she sees the intersection of refined processes and human potential.
Since founding her firm in 2011, Adi’s mission has been singular: Empowerment through Freedom. She specializes in helping high-achieving entrepreneurs step out of the weeds of daily operations so they can step into their roles as true CEOs. By mastering the vital pillars of personnel, finance, and operations, Adi helps business owners reclaim their time and bring a sense of profound order to their lives.
An international speaker and the host of the Systems Simplified podcast, Adi is a master at making the complex feel achievable. She joins Alice to share how you can build a business that doesn’t just run—but thrives—without you.