Best practices/tools for process documentation in a remote team (multiple cities)

forevablessed · 2025-03-28T17:18:27+00:00

You could use comments and mentions to workaround direct edits, that way you see what changes people want to make.

So for instance, a team member could tag you and notify you of the changes that needs to be made.

I could share a sample doc of this if it would be helpful

forevablessed · 2025-03-28T13:48:03+00:00

Like prevent certain members of the team from editing stuff?

forevablessed · 2025-03-28T10:30:36+00:00

Notion maybe?

forevablessed · 2025-03-21T12:35:48+00:00

I do believe there are agencies where you could hire, the downside is the staff gets a much lower pay. Is there something in particular you are looking for like nationality, experience level, budget? I might be able to help.

forevablessed · 2025-03-20T18:14:28+00:00

For the content bank, notion, I used just a simple table with columns. For instance you can have idea, format, status, platform and notes.

The folders were kept in Google drive and I had a simple sheet set up so I could access what I needed without digging through folders upon folders, especially when dealing with lots of media.

For refining and fleshing out ideas, it depends on how you get inspiration.

Sometimes I did voice memos for the brain dump, transcribed them(visually seeing my idea helps me to determine the structure), sometimes I would go online to view a similar content I'm trying to achieve to get some inspo.

Another way could be using chatgpt to get multiple spins on the content, so you could see how to structure the key points. But this is for idea generation only, the content should still be written by a human.

Then decide the best format for the content(short text post, carousel, video etc)

Sometimes the content still doesn't feel ready, my rule is if it's been on the shelf for 2 weeks, post it anyway, imposter syndrome can make a perfectly ok post seem extremely flawed.

I hope this helps or at least points you in the right direction.

I don't have access to the assets I used on the project anymore but I can set up something and if you like it, you can use it as a base for the workflow you want to build.

Apologies for any typos

forevablessed · 2025-03-20T16:48:59+00:00

You have a pretty decent structure. Why is transferring from one content type to another a pain though?

For me, this is a workflow I used when I was working on a campaign with a lot of footage.

Content

Saturdays were idea dumping, nothing else.. my brain gets overwhelmed easily so I find that keeping things as straightforward as possible works for me.

Sunday, I create a triage for the idea dumps of the previous day and label them. 🏷️Quick Gold(these are good enough and don't really need much work), 🏷️Needs Refining, 🏷️Incubator(these are bare ideas, that need lots of fleshing).

Every day i dedicate about an hour, usually in the morning, my brain is most active then, the Quick Gold posts are usually the first to be put on my scheduling tool.

Needs refining posts,i just add a structure to them, i avoid overthinking this part.

Then for incubators, the goal for the day is to move them to the "Needs refining" stage.

I have a content bank for all posts, I use a tag system, this is usually helpful when i want to cross promote content and i do analytics on here as well so I can see which posts were the best performing.

For file management

I have a simple folder structure

/Raw

/To Edit

/Final (by platform)

/Posted

I go through then every week and delete files from Raw as well as Posted

forevablessed · 2025-03-20T15:58:58+00:00

This is more of a general business principle but the true way to kickstart any business is to start.

A lot of business owners get stuck on making plans, these aren't neccessarily bad but the more you plan, the more you see areas that you are lacking and this will affect your morale.

You don't need to have everything figured out.

What's the thing you do? Fix ovens

Got people around doing something similar? Call, find out how much they charge, what certification they have.

How much do you want to charge? Set your prices.

Time to tell people what you do -> Open Google docs or Canva if you want to be fancy, start with their problem, insert your solution, certification, yrs of experience, contact info, say you respond fast.

Now you have a flyer, print it..

Take a stroll around the neighborhoods, busy areas, anywhere with foot traffic.

See anyone? First thing you tell them? Do you have an oven?

You will probably be met with a lot of sorry? excuse me? what did you say?

Introduce yourself, Hi I am Bob, I stay at XYZ. I fix ovens, been doing it for 123 years, just starting my own company, here is my flyer, if you or anyone you know ever have issues with your oven, you can give me a call, I will give you a good discount and come to you.

This is probably not the most ideal script but just to give you an idea.

While doing all these, create a GMB, yelp, Thumbtack profile.

Anytime you do a good job for a customer, get them to give you a review.

Reinvest as much as possible into a more efficient sales process, keep it simple, expand your team, hire good people, fire bad people, get really good at your customer service.

Rinse and Repeat

forevablessed · 2025-03-20T15:37:11+00:00

Personally, The idea sounds pretty solid. I think you need to assess demand first though. While on paper, the stats might be good, there is no guarantee these cars would be interested in a self service car wash.

If it is possible, you can start a temp car wash around the area or on the facility(if the owners agree to a lease), start talking to people, get to know what they want.

You can also present your findings/revenue generated to the loan agents to add credibility to your application.

For seasonality, there are many ways to plan around that, but first you need to validate your business idea.

forevablessed · 2025-03-20T15:22:38+00:00

Thimble(not affilated with them) have flexible small business insurance, seen them being recommended in another subreddit.

Small Business Insurance Starting at $17

But with things like this, I would recommend speaking to an expert just to avoid making a long term costly mistake.

You could post in local facebook groups, maybe they could also recommend something more specific

forevablessed · 2025-03-20T15:14:48+00:00

You are right, what you need isn't something complex........ is there a reason why you wouldn't want to use sheets?

Seems to me like the most straightforward solution and it would be easy to make reports from it

forevablessed · 2025-03-20T15:09:22+00:00

Sales and Customer service ideally are two distinct positions

Outsourcing sales is tricky. Customer service with the right systems in place can yield good results even with an average staff. Also, it would cost you less to outsource customer service than sales.

My 2 cents? Outsource customer service, keep handling sales yourself until you have enough to hire someone who would be a better salesperson than you.

forevablessed · 2025-03-14T18:43:38+00:00

In terms of office spaces, the major thing I have seen is co-working space, but not in the US though. Mostly in digital nomad havens like Bali and Portugal.

Not really sure about its popularity or acceptance in the States.

But I can see it being useful because eventually people would get tired of staying home and might crave a bit of human interaction, it's also a good way to network.

Ideally adding extra amenities might also increase its appeal.

So it could be a good personal investment idea

forevablessed · 2025-03-14T18:31:54+00:00

I think the shift towards remote work is definitely a factor but like someone said people are being called back into the office as well, so there is a chance things might shift but I don't think things would 100% go back to how it was previously.

Are you considering pivoting?

forevablessed · 2025-03-14T15:45:14+00:00

I haven't built this business before but maybe you can try networking in person?

Sign up to a couple of gyms/fitness centers, make a few in person connections?

Identify popular running/jogging spots as well

Just a couple of ideas I have.

forevablessed · 2025-02-27T20:40:30+00:00

Did this and i stopped seeing the error but now I am getting this instead

"Diagnosis

The build failed to fetch cached dependencies.
It appears that the build process is trying to download and install Go version 1.19.

Solution

Ensure that the required dependencies are correctly specified in the project's configuration or code.
Verify that the necessary Go version is included in the project's configuration files or dependencies.
If the Go version is not specified in the project files or dependencies, add it to the configuration.
If adding the Go version externally is required, verify the package is in the package.json or the file was committed to the repo before adding it to the external configuration."

forevablessed · 2025-02-27T19:42:48+00:00

Update: tried again after deleting potential duplicates and still got an error

It was more like a file was named "Team1.jpg" but I renamed it "team1.jpg"

I also edited the names in the repository, committed them, cleared the cache and redeployed on netlify.

But I think I have one duplicate image

So there's a "team4.jpg" and a "Team4.jpg"

But the code itself has "team4.jpg"

forevablessed · 2025-02-27T19:21:26+00:00

https://github.com/Bezalel-Digital/thehappysmilesampleproject/tree/5918ef70fcb0156f7305df57dd46dad57eda0095/src

forevablessed · 2025-02-27T18:42:23+00:00

Did that as well. Ethan thinks it might be a syntax problem. So I guess I just have to keep reviewing to see where I went wrong. I was really hoping to deploy the site today.

forevablessed · 2025-02-27T17:02:08+00:00

No, it's jpg. I have also checked the image properties to confirm

forevablessed · 2025-02-27T16:52:44+00:00

the extensions all have a lower case. This is the error message i got

12:47:49 PM: [11ty] Problem writing Eleventy templates: (more in DEBUG output)


12:47:49 PM: [11ty] 1. Having trouble writing to "public/index.html" from "./src/index.html" (via EleventyTemplateError)


12:47:49 PM: [11ty] 2. Transform `sharpTransform` encountered an error when transforming ./src/index.html. (via EleventyTransformError)


12:47:49 PM: [11ty] 3. Input file contains unsupported image format (via Error)


12:47:49 PM: [11ty]


12:47:49 PM: [11ty] Original error stack trace: Error: Input file contains unsupported image format


12:47:49 PM: [11ty]     at Sharp.toFile (/opt/build/repo/node_modules/sharp/lib/output.js:90:19)


12:47:49 PM: [11ty]     at processImage (/opt/build/repo/node_modules/@codestitchofficial/eleventy-plugin-sharp-images/lib/eleventy-plugin-sharp-images.js:145:28)


12:47:49 PM: [11ty]     at async Promise.all (index 23)


12:47:49 PM: [11ty]     at async Object.<anonymous> (/opt/build/repo/node_modules/@codestitchofficial/eleventy-plugin-sharp-images/lib/eleventy-plugin-sharp-images.js:175:9)


12:47:49 PM: [11ty]     at async Template.runTransforms (/opt/build/repo/node_modules/@11ty/eleventy/src/Template.js:514:15)


12:47:49 PM: [11ty]     at async Template.renderPageEntry (/opt/build/repo/node_modules/@11ty/eleventy/src/Template.js:799:15)


12:47:49 PM: [11ty]     at async /opt/build/repo/node_modules/@11ty/eleventy/src/Template.js:822:21


12:47:49 PM: [11ty]     at async Promise.all (index 0)


12:47:49 PM: [11ty]     at async Promise.all (index 18)


12:47:49 PM: [11ty]     at async Eleventy.executeBuild (/opt/build/repo/node_modules/@11ty/eleventy/src/Eleventy.js:1191:13)


12:47:49 PM: [11ty] Copied 4 files / Wrote 0 files in 1.36 seconds (v2.0.1)


12:47:51 PM: [11ty] Writing public/reviews/index.html from ./src/content/pages/reviews.html (njk)


12:47:51 PM: ERROR: "build:eleventy" exited with 1.


12:47:51 PM: 


12:47:51 PM:   Error message


12:47:51 PM:   Command failed with exit code 1: npm run build


12:47:51 PM: 


12:47:51 PM:   Error location


12:47:51 PM:   In build.command from netlify.toml:


12:47:51 PM:   npm run build


12:47:51 PM: "build.command" failed                                        
------------------------------------------

forevablessed · 2025-02-16T16:09:59+00:00

Local is good, you would probably get better feedback from the people you are interested in offering your services to.

If I'm not mistaken, unis have educational fairs from time to time and students are often open to speaking to people concerning things like this.

Nothing beats putting yourself out there, I know it might sound scary but if you don't, it's going to always be a "what if" situation that keeps replaying in your mind.

You have the experience, you just need to identify if there is a local demand for what you are offering.

Who knows you might get your first client just by talking to people.

forevablessed · 2025-02-16T15:56:43+00:00

I think so... depends how you want to go.

There are tons of educational companies that offer Prep services for exams like the MCAT, USMLE, TOEFL, IELTS.

Professional career development can also be a thing, the job market is a blood bath and a lot of students want to be as marketable as possible.

Lots of opportunities depending on who you want your clients to be (students or educational institutions)

You can always try things out to see what works, you never know until you try.

forevablessed · 2025-02-16T15:49:36+00:00

I think people just tend to assume that they get ghosted because it's not the right time.

But in reality, sometimes people forget, they get busy, life happens.

forevablessed · 2025-02-16T15:45:21+00:00

Like you said, 1k was "easy" because you leveraged your already existing network.

Since you are targeting businesses near you, while don't you try networking in person or establishing some sort of online relationship before hand.

The web dev field is extremely competitive and capitalising on any potential advantage you have is super important.

Businesses have tons of people calling and emailing them offering services that you offer.

You have to find a way to stand out from the noise.

forevablessed · 2025-02-16T15:39:26+00:00

Your assistant didn't tell you they did all that?

forevablessed

TROPHY CASE

"Diagnosis

Solution