- Insight: Be visible to gain opportunities and don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. In Adrienne’s case she found success with social media and close contacts.
How She Started: What’s Run Like Clockwork’s story?
Adrienne Dorison: My journey in this business stems from my experience in the manufacturing sector, where I utilized Lean Six Sigma principles within the context of a large corporate environment. I found I was much more passionate about working with small businesses. I began adapting the tools and concepts I had gleaned from my corporate background to better suit the needs of smaller enterprises. I was consulting under that Adrienne Dorison brand for about three years. During this time, I was introduced to Mike Michalowicz, who is now a partner in the business. He wrote the book Clockwork which serves as the cornerstone of our approach.
In the process of writing the book he was seeking someone who had Lean Six Sigma expertise and was applying it to small businesses. One of our mutual friends told him “You need to talk to Adrienne.” He started interviewing me for the book. After many interviews, he told me that I should run the company.
HSS: How did you acquire your first customers?
AD: I started the Adrienne Dorison brand by putting myself out there on my own social media platforms. I was still working in corporate, and I was running my consulting business on the side. I would try to connect with people from my past whether that be my sorority sisters, my family, anyone who would listen. I told them “This is what I'm doing now. If you know anyone, please put them in touch with me.”
After that, I was just going to bars and restaurants that I knew were notable names. Groups that had 15 to 20 restaurants. If I got in with one food and beverage person, I could get in with all of them. When I was selling to larger places I would tell them this is how much it is per oz to use the crappy stuff you're using, and it's only like 3 more pennies to use what I'm using. But you can charge way more and you're going to have way happier customers that will buy more cocktails because they're going to taste better.
I actually started doing work for free at the beginning so that I could feel more confident, have some results, and hone my skills. Then referrals started coming in and I started to become confident enough to charge. I did the same as I began under the Run Like Clockwork brand.
HSS: How do you retain your customers?
AD: Very high quality service. We are adamant about getting clients results. We have a proven system that works and it’s taken years to continue to refine and improve. I don't want to make money for the sake of making money. I want to make money because people are getting results and I feel good about the exchange.
HSS: How do you handle the competition?
AD: I like to say I don't really have any competition, because this business is second to none in terms of the level of support that we provide. We’ve found our niche in being the sole program that is specifically designed for small business owners around the idea of operational efficiency.
My background is in Lean Six Sigma. It’s a methodology that typically caters to corporations and large businesses, which is where I used to work. I made the connection that these tools could be really helpful for a small business. We're so niche in our small business space and we also had a first mover advantage with the specific lens of efficiency.
We’ve actually had almost the opposite problem the sheer volume of small businesses seeking our services has prompted us to reevaluate our business model. As a result, we are in the process of transitioning to a certification-based framework, allowing individuals to attain proficiency in our methodology. We’re looking at a train the trainer model. We have our first group of business owners who are becoming proficient in our material, and they will soon work directly with other small business owners.
HSS: What is your growth strategy?
AD: The certification model is definitely the next step in terms of growth. One of the pieces that I’m most excited about is that certified partners will be able to specialize even more into like their specific industries.
I would love to have different brand extensions like Clockwork for Medical Spas. I’m excited for Clockwork partners to make it their own and add even more specificity that I may not have identified or had the resources to target. With these partners, they'll be able to offer the system in a ton of different ways.
In the ideal model, if you want someone to come out to your office, or if you want someone to work with you one-on-one every single week and hand hold you through the system, we'll be able to offer that. I'm just excited about the variety that it will provide to the marketplace.
HSS: Where do you see Run Like Clockwork growing?
With small businesses they don’t need the robust toolkit that Lean Six Sigma provides because a lot of it is not applicable for a small organization. I would like to see Run Like Clockwork become the Lean Six Sigma of small businesses.
Since we focus on efficiency, we're not industry specific. We have customers from lawn care companies to restaurants to medical spas to lawyers etc. The industry roster will continue to expand as Run Like Clockwork expands and specializes. Another facet of growth I’m looking toward is expanding to different languages. I want to eventually have partners who for example can teach Run Like Clockwork in Spanish because there are some cultural differences that don’t translate well when there is a language barrier.
My ultimate goal is for Run Like Clockwork to be something that clients of our customer demand. I want Run Like Clockwork to be a certification that businesses attain, and our seal will indicate that the business has hit efficiency standards that will translate to significant cost savings. I want it to provide a feeling of consistency and operational sustainability.
HSS: What are your lessons learned so far?
AD: Don’t rest on your laurels. Success is constantly evolving, and you have to continue to improve. You can't really think “Oh, I've made it” and hope that things continue to work out. There will always be shifts in the economy or Black Swan events that will disrupt business either positively or negatively, so staying on your toes is important.
The other one that has always been imperative is investing in relationships. You should invest in colleagues, mentors, and of course customers. Instead of perceiving these relationships as mere transactions, it's vital to invest in them genuinely. Spending the extra time to connect with people is important. It's how I've gotten all of my opportunities. If you even think about the origin story of Run Like Clockwork, the only reason that I connected with Mike is because I was connected to someone else who introduced us.
HSS: Do you have any additional advice for female founded businesses?
AD: Connect with other female founded businesses. There is this community out there that wants to support you, but we need to know who you are. We need to connect with you so that we can support you, I love mentoring people. I love connecting with people. It's so rewarding when you're in it, but in the beginning, it can feel really overwhelming. Women typically don’t have a lot of the same privileges or opportunities that men have in the industry, so connecting with other females will help support you.
- Insight: Be visible to gain opportunities and don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. In Adrienne’s case she found success with social media and close contacts.
- Insight: Ensure you are invested in the mission of your business. In Adrienne’s case she ensures great results for her customers in terms of operational efficiency.
- Insight: Find a market with a large TAM.
- Insight: Identify valuable markets to specialize in and find a way to scale those specializations.
- Insight: Have a clear vision of what you want your brand to represent and identify methods to scale. In Adrienne’s case she’s creating a certification program to balance scale and specializations.
- Insight: Always seek to continuously improve.
- Insight: Invest in relationships because you never know what opportunities will be available to you.
- Insight: Find a support system.
I messaged Adrienne and we scheduled a time to meet.
I've always been passionate about women helping other women. I created this blog to tell stories of successful female-founded businesses. Hopefully, these stories will help inspire more women to found their own businesses.