A really hot topic and something I get questions about all the time is when to actually hire a team, how to best hire a team or team members, and what that process actually looks like. So today we’re chatting all about when to hire team to have the biggest growth opportunities.
A lot of my clients come to me when they are sick of holding all of the pieces of everything, they are at a certain income ceiling and they can’t move past it because they are at capacity, or when they are just burned out.
And something many of these women have experienced is that they have hired support in the past. Specifically team members who were brought on to help them implement things and/or hold the pieces such as a VA, an OBM, a COO, an operations manager, or an integrator. And it just didn’t work.
And oftentimes it’s one of 2 reasons why it doesn’t work
↠ there’s an expectation mismatch
↠ there’s a skillset mismatch
When you are busting at the seams with too much work and there is just too much on your list, it can be a really sexy idea to hire someone else to shift it off of your plate and onto theirs.
But this can sometimes lead to a hire out of desperation. Which means you’re not putting enough due diligence into finding the right fit. Which, ironically enough, means it costs you MORE time and more money because if they’re not the right fit, you have to start all over again and find someone who is.
Sometimes there can also be an expectation mismatch when business owners aren’t aware of just how much is involved in different systems, processes, or how much time something can take. This can lead to expecting the service provider (VA, OBM, operations manager, etc) to be able to do more than they can in the time they’ve been signed on for. There can also be an expectation mismatch if the business owner is expecting a response or turnaround within a certain amount of time.
Now most of this can be mitigated with due diligence – getting clear on average response times (for example 24 hours during business days), working availability (for example not working on weekends or public holidays), and having open communication and asking relevant questions before working together.
Number 2 why team hires don’t work out is a skillset mismatch.
While this isn’t always the case, this can be really relevant if a business owner is looking for a budget hire. There is nothing wrong with hiring someone who is learning the ropes and looking to improve their craft or starting out in an industry. But the pricepoint and skillset is quite different for someone starting out versus someone who has been doing that particular role for a longer time period.
I’ve had clients come to me before frustrated because they have tried to hire someone and it just wasn’t a good fit, meaning that they then are even more frazzled and even more desperate for high-quality, reliable support.
In which case we do a deep dive into some of their challenges. And I talk with them about what I’m about to share with you now.
↠ Why are you thinking about bringing on a team member?
I know, I know, this one sounds so ridiculously obvious, but seriously, why. Get crystal clear on this.
Is it because you’re turning away work?
Is it because your business could grow if you had help with a specific skillset? (Think Facebook ads, but you don’t know how to run ads and don’t have any desire to learn this)
Is it because you’re burning out? (Aka you don’t even have time to take a vacation because there is just too much to do)
Is it because your client experience is suffering (because you’re just too busy)?
Is it because you literally don’t have time to do it all and so important areas of the business are getting dropped (bookkeeping, accounting, admin tasks, etc)
If it’s any of the above reasons, it’s probably a good time to start thinking of hiring some help.
Alternatively, if you’re looking into hiring support so you can be hands-off and let someone else run the business, you don’t know EXACTLY why you are hiring someone, or you expect one person to be able to come in and do it all, then you may want to reevaluate if hiring is the right fit for you and your business at this time.
↠ Next, what are you going to ask them to help you with?
Get specific. Not just “oh have them help me” – okay while that is great, what specific activities can they run or take off of your plate so that you can focus on those high-level CEO tasks?
It can be really helpful to do a brain dump of all of the things that you’re doing right now.
You can either write this down on a piece of paper or record a voice note and then transcribe it. But if you KNOW that hiring someone can help you, which will subsequently help your business, but you don’t know exactly what they can help you with or what you’d be best served with having them take on, start with a list of everything that you’re doing in your business right now. And when I say everything, I mean everything.
And this is relevant if you’re teetering at 6 figures or if you’re already at multi-6. It’s relevant if you’ve never hired anyone, if you have hired someone, or if you have a boatload of people supporting you right now.
If you are at the point in your business where you’re struggling to hold it all together, you’re burning out, things are falling through through the cracks, or you need specialised support, this list will help you. Also, side note, if you do have a team and you’re still struggling with all the pieces or burning out or things are slipping through the cracks, it may be time to reevaluate your support or having a conversation to shift some things so that they can support you better.
But, getting back to the list. Once you’ve written down all the things that you’re doing in your business, start a second list of all of the things that you want to be doing or that you could be doing if you had more time and weren’t running at capacity. The sky is the limit here but I’d encourage you to think of what you actually want and how the business can support you to get there.
Okay once you have those two lists, see where they converge. What can you delegate. What can you shift?
Once you’re clear on why you’re wanting to hire support and what exactly they can be supporting you with – because remember maybe you just need some help managing emails and scheduling your social media content, that can mean a VA is a great fit. Or maybe you already have a huge team but your day-to-day is spent managing everyone – then an OBM may be a better fit. But it’s hard to nail down exactly what you need if it’s all just floating in your head.
So once you know what they can support you with, meaning you know who/what type of support person to hire, how do you actually go about hiring the right fit?
My best recommendation is to go to your current network. See who they’re working with who they’d recommend. Likewise, this can be a good opportunity to see who people have worked with who they wouldn’t recommend as well.
Be clear on what support you need – this is where your list comes in handy and the specificity of what type of role you’re wanting to bring on comes into play. Now sometimes there are blurred lines. A VA can be transitioning into an OBM and can be a great fit for both roles. That one can be a bit grey and still be okay. A trained graphic designer could be proficient in Facebook ads management, but with that level of specialty, you’re probably going to be better served with finding an actual Facebook ads specialist. You have to use some discernment here, but a great way to more info on if this could potentially be the right fit is to ask for or look at testimonials, case studies, and results.
If your current network doesn’t have any good leads, you can do a job posting on job boards or social media. For example Facebook groups with targeted specialties could be a great place to start. The key here is here is making it very clear what types of support you need and making very clear instructions. Be specific on how they can contact you or apply – be prepared to get a ton of friend requests and messages, so I’d recommend to even notate down in the listing that sending DMs and friend requests will automatically disqualify someone, and use some type of form to collect answers and then find your top potential fits.
You can also look into an agency support as they will already have vetted candidates and can match you with someone quickly. A downside of this option, however, is people tend to move quickly from an agency because the markup can be so significant. Not always, but oftentimes.
And finally, you can look for someone with less experience and train them up. So internships or apprenticeships can be great options here. The obvious pitfall with this one though is time. If you are trying to scale your business and you just don’t have time or capacity, hiring on an intern is the last thing you want to in my experience. This doesn’t mean interns or inexperienced people are not the right fit, it just means you have to pour into them more than someone who is already established.
The goal here is to find the right fit the first try, which may mean that you have to be patient. After all, hiring the wrong fit is just going to cost you more time, money, and energy in the long run.
The goal – Hire. Train. Retain.
Find the right fit. In order to do so, be specific with what support you need and your expectations.
Train them – I know this can feel really daunting if you don’t feel like you have time to even pee, but the aim here is to make sure you’re giving them enough resources to be able to do their jobs (which is obviously to support you and help in the business) and help them to help you. Robust SOPs and a documented business also makes it easier to onboard and train new members seamlessly. I know that is by far not many business owners favourite topic, but if that is something you need support with, send me a DM. I geek out over this shit and love a streamlined and organised business back-end.
And finally, retain. Honestly what is the point of bringing on a team and spending all of this time and money and energy pouring into someone if they’re only going to stay for a few months.
And on that note. Since we’re talking about when to hire team to have the biggest growth opportunities, so so much of what is going to be a great fit for you may not be a great fit for your business bestie. And that’s okay.
There aren’t cookie cutter models with this and what works for you may not work for me. But I will say this – your business will grow and evolve and you may outgrow team members. And that’s part of life and that’s part of business. And that’s totally okay. But as you go through this growth and scaling and hiring and firing process, I really do encourage you to remember the retention portion of team.
Treat your team well. Seriously. I know it’s overlooked and not often talked about, but your team can be the backbone of your business and they can have a huge part in helping to make it or break it. So retention for team is huge here. Treat your team well. Respect them. And yes, have boundaries and high expectations, that’s fine. But when you have good team members, as you grow, they can grow with you and it’s a win-win for everyone.
This is a topic that comes up so so often with my clients and in my communities so I’m sure there will be more episodes coming down the line in regards to team, but in the interim I do hope this was helpful. And if you are at that point in your business where you’re so busy you’re turning away work, you’re burning out, you haven’t taken a vacation in God knows how long, things are falling through the cracks and you literally just can’t hold it all, pop me a message. I help business owners just like you simplify, strategise, and streamline in order to scale. Thank you so so much for being here and I’ll see you next week!
