Today we’d like to introduce you to Ronii Bartles
Ronii, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started my business in 2008 when the economy was crashing. I was the Business Manager for a small marketing research firm. The world was unraveling and the housing bubble was just about to burst. The partners of the firm came to me with the question, “We see what’s coming. You’re the MBA here, what should we do?” Their biggest expense was manpower and the next was rent and there wasn’t anything we could do about rent unless we were filing bankruptcy. So they decided to let people go but I was not one of them. I pitched them my idea for a business where I do everything I did for them full-time in the office just part-time remotely. They said, “That’s a great idea, we’ll be your first client.” And they are still my client today, 17 years later.
Then in 2016 on my 39th birthday, I found myself in the hospital for 2 weeks with a ruptured appendix. Up to that point, I had done all the things I was supposed to do and was “highly successful” because I was so busy. But with one trip to Urgent Care for “food poisoning” I had to cancel everything in my life. I did nothing but lay in a hospital bed for 2 weeks watching Fixer Upper on HGTV. But I made as much money that month as I did the month before working my butt off. Honestly, all I had really accomplished was creating busy work for myself.
Since then I have become a CEO of Simplicity. It’s my philosophy and framework I’ve developed over the years that helps me inventory what needs to get done, identify what’s driving my behaviors, get perspective on the reality of what’s happening, prioritize what’s actually important to me, and streamline the process to accomplish what I want.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Has anyone’s road to entrepreneurship been smooth? I’ve pivoted a lot over the past 17 years. I’d figure out how to do any project if it made money because bills needed to be paid. When I started I worked with small businesses doing business/office management and bookkeeping. Over the years, I’ve worked on projects in marketing strategy, social media marketing, marketing research, branding, human resources, software development, website design, e-commerce retail, you name it, I’ve worked on it. I’d take on projects I probably shouldn’t have but did anyway. I even took on a partner I shouldn’t have in hopes that two people would be easier than one. It’s not, it’s a whole different set of complications. I even got wooed back to a full-time corporate job in 2017 only to get fired because of a pandemic. There were financial struggles and time struggles and imposter syndrome struggles and just when I thought I figured one out, something else would come up. It’s part of being an entrepreneur.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about roniibartles.com?
Over the years I have developed my own philosophy and framework for achieving my goals and generally just getting stuff done. I call it being a CEO of Simplicity. My mission is to get people out of overwhelm and into flow by simplifying and prioritizing their mile-long to-do list so they can focus on what’s important to them and move their business and vision forward.
Simplicity feels like it’s the opposite of what we’re told success is. We measure our success by how busy we are. The more you do the more important you are. So to convince ourselves that we’re important and successful, we create a bunch of busy work. I work with business owners in Strategy Intensives where we put everything on the table, figure out the goal, and then prioritize what has to get done and when. I help clients find simple solutions to an overly complicated business structure.
As businesses grow, I get more involved in the business management side of the company. I’ve been a bookkeeper and business manager for 20 years and have experience in a wide range of different industries from online retail to manufacturing to marketing research services. This diverse background has given me a holistic approach to business so I can analyze the health of an organization through P+L analysis and strategic planning.
So many people go into business because they do something amazing which is not necessarily running a business. I believe business isn’t hard, we make it hard. And I work with clients to make it less hard.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
My advice for any entrepreneur is to not compare yourself to what you see on social media. Lots of people tell me that they saw a colleague on Instagram doing this thing and killing it and that everyone they follow is doing so well but they can’t seem to figure it out. I’m constantly reminding business owners that we are only seeing what people want us to see. It’s curated, it’s not reality, it’s fake it until you make it. Comparing your journey to someone else isn’t even comparable because one, you don’t have the information and don’t know what goes on behind closed doors, and two you are unique and your journey isn’t going to look like anyone else’s. And embracing that uniqueness is what will make all the difference.
Pricing:
- Strategy Intensives are $995
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.roniibartles.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamronii
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iamroniibartles
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@iamroniibartles
