Building a team and scaling a business
Today we’re going to talk about building your team, and the steps that you need to take into consideration when you are at a stage when you are ready to scale your business. Because the truth is that most of us started our business as a one-man show. And we continue with that foundation for a little while before we decide to bring on staff, and there’s nothing wrong with being a one-man show. However, when you are at a point in your business, or your mindset when you are ready to scale your business, scaling means being able to support more of your ideal clients in a short space of time.
That is when you want to start to think about bringing on team members, that is what scaling is. It’s not just about how much more money I’m bringing in if I’m bringing in $1,000, this month, or $5,000 next month, it’s also about how am I building my capacity so that I can serve more people without getting burned out. And that’s a key thing.
HOW TO START BUILDING A TEAM
The thing that you want to start to think about doing is building a team. Now, you might be wondering, well,
- Where do I start?
- Who do I bring on the face?
It’s not a one-size fits, and it’s going to be different for everybody. You have to decide on your business model. What are the things that you need the most support in? Do you need a virtual assistant? And then what exactly is that virtual assistant doing?
WHAT TO CONSIDER IN BUILDING A TEAM
A lot of times people say they need help, but they’re not very clear about what type of help they need. And even how often they help. Because you might need somebody to come on a project basis. Or you may need somebody just to work with you a few hours per week. Or you may need somebody who works with you every signal day. As the owner of the business, you first have to get very clear about what kind of support you need. What skill set do you need this person to have? You can decide to hire one at a time or two at a time, it depends on your business. It depends on how you plan to pay them. It depends on your workload. All of these things you have to take into consideration.
CREATE A JOB SPEC
You have to create what we like to call a literal job spec. You have to treat your business as if it’s an international corporation. Not just because it’s you alone running your business means that you want to treat it as a small business you want to treat it as an international corporation. If any international corporation was looking to hire staff, what would they do? They would create a job spec.
First and foremost, they will create a document that highlights exactly what skill set this person needs to have, as well as their responsibilities on a day-to-day basis.
STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES
One of the other things that I would encourage you to do is to also create standard operating procedures.
What that is, is the procedures that you would follow in the day-to-day operations of your business.
So how often do you post on social media?
1. What tools do you use?
2. What type of images do you use?
3. What is your usual call to action?
4. What days do you post certain types of messages?
5. What days do you do a follow-up?
6. What does your proposal deck look like?
All of those great things and more.
I would create this document so that when the new hire joins my team, I have something in writing to give them that they can’t follow. This eliminates miscommunication. This makes sure that the objectives are clearly defined so that they can be measured and they can be met. And remember, this standard operating procedure document is flexible. As your business grows, as technology changes, as new tools come on the market, you may have to switch it around a little bit. The person you hire may come on board and give you a new perspective or a new way of completing a task. Always remain open and have an open mindset when you’re working with people.
Because I always hear people say, you know, I hired, that person didn’t work out. A lot of times the person doesn’t work out, because you, were not clear about the actual duties, the objectives, and the expectations. Having a job description, as well as having standard operating procedures, eliminates that miscommunication. And it ensures that when you’re ready to onboard this person, you are both very clear about what their tasks are, what their duties are, and the expectations. What do they expect from you, as a boss, and what do you expect from them as a team member?
YOUR CONTRACT
The other thing that you want to take into consideration once you start to onboard this person is to have a contract. A lot of times we like to do business with a handshake. And then when things hit the fan, we complain, we complain and we complain.
The contract is another way to protect not just yourself, but also to protect that team member. And it’s an added way for you to be clear about the objectives, about what is expected from each one of you.
You want to have
- a job description, you want to have
- standard operating procedures
- a contract
3 people to hire for your business to grow faster
GIVE THEM GRACE
And then finally, you want to give them some kind of grace period, I always say three months is a good grace period to give anybody who’s joining your team because remember, you’ve been doing this over and over and over. They have to get accustomed to your voice, your rhythm, and how you do business. And within that period, they will have questions. They may even have recommendations of how you can do business even better. That’s why it is important to hire with an open mind because you do not know everything. None of us know everything.
You know what your zone of genius is, and more than likely you are hiring them because they have a zone of genius.
So for example, if I hire a VA, their zone of genius, maybe email marketing, or social media management, or if I hire an accountant, their geniuses in understanding the dollars and cents. And because they are in their zone of genius, and what I may be hiring them for may not be my zone of genius, you have to keep an open mind.
It’s not about being the boss and feeling superior. As an entrepreneur, we are continuously growing and learning from each other, it does not matter. And one of the things I also want to tell you is that when you decide to bring somebody on your team, also be very clear about often you need them.
So for example, I have two virtual assistants, and they don’t work every single day. They work a set number of hours for me per week.
One of them works only two days a week and she’s divided the hours between those two days. And the other one she works every day but she just does like an hour and a half every single day.
You have to make that decision with whoever you’re bringing on because you might not necessarily need somebody there every single day. My accountant and I meet at least once a month, but during the month he’s going through my accounts as I’m updating my account and he asks me questions and guides me.
CONNECT IT TO YOUR DOLLARS AND CENTS
I know one of the burning questions that a lot of you are going to ask. How am I going to pay this person? That is why you need to be very specific about the task that they will be doing for you. Because whatever they will be doing for you should be able to generate that income.
Either they are going to help you create, and attract more leads, or they are going to allow you to have more time to do the income-generating things so that you’re earning enough money to pay them with ease.
It’s always a shift in your mindset. It’s not about how am I going to pay them. But how are they going to allow me to earn more money so that I can pay them because, with my virtual assistants, my accountant, my facilitators that I have on board, the graphic artists, and the event planner that I have on board, I can delegate a lot more to my team so that I don’t necessarily have to work eight hours a day. I usually work four to six hours. No need to go to work every single day, can take a rest, and spend time with my family. I can go on my vacations, trusting that these people who are now part of my team are operating in their zone of genius. And they understand exactly what my business needs for it to thrive.
Are you ready to scale your business and bring on new team members? Then schedule a FREE 15-minute call with me and let’s chat about what it would look like for your business.
