There have been some decisions I’ve made in my business that really pivoted the course I was on. For the first few years, I was very alone and very lonely because of it. I worked completely on my own. I knew I needed to build a team to grow my business to where I wanted it at the time. In 2018, I brought in my first two contractors, a killer coaching duo and a junior designer to create logos for my brands on a per project basis. This is back when I made brands as well. I’ve never been the best at logos so I knew I needed help there as soon as possible.
In 2019, I shifted to websites only which was an amazing change for December Oak. During 2020, my business had slowed down to a crawl. I was getting legitimately worried that my business would have to close. Thankfully, I booked just enough people to get by and in late summer, I was so depressed that I wasn’t working on my business as much as I could. I had always wanted to hire a VA but thought I wasn’t legit enough to do so. I had been working alone for over 18 months and it was time to build a team again. Hiring Sarah as my VA was the best decision I made all year! She held me accountable and helped me show up more while still taking care of my mental health.
Is it your time to build a team? Let’s go over how to do so before you truly feel ready because I assure you, it’ll change your life!
Find your most stressful pain point
Both times I brought people into my business, it was because I was at a tipping point. The first time, it was because I knew I could provide a better experience for my clients by outsourcing logo creation. Creating logos stressed me out so much, I was taking up too much time in my project timelines. The second time, I wasn’t marketing my business at the level it needed because I needed guidance and support there. Making that change grew my audience so quickly and got me past a plateau I had been stuck in for months to reach a much wider audience.
You want to start the journey of building a team by finding our most stressful pain point. Typically, it’s gonna be smaller administrative tasks. The easiest person I’ve found to add to your team is a virtual assistant. They can encompass so many of your tasks and really assist you to focus on what will grow your business most. But once you identify what you need the most help in, you can nail down who you need to make that happen more stress free.
Systemize those tasks
Before you start trying to find someone to fill that role, it’s time to setup a concrete system for those tasks you need help with. Without a solid system in place, it not only will be harder to train a new person on how you do things but it will waste time that you invest in that person working with you. Knowing which tasks within a process a new person will take on lets you keep the ones you enjoy and outsource the others.
First, you’ll want to brain dump all the steps it takes to accomplish the tasks you are feeling stressed about. Write them all out (I love outlining them in Asana). Label them by the person in your business who needs to complete each step if you were to have the team member you want to hire. Then lastly, you want to label how often you do those tasks so you can plan that person’s hours accordingly with them.
Figure out your budget to build a team
Once you know what you need from a new team member, it’s time to figure out budget. You can do this by the hour or overall cost per month. The way I did this and felt confident I could afford it is to look at what I can pay for the next 3 months. It is just the right amount of time for a trial period. It also allows time to make sure you’re seeing a return on your investment. This doesn’t have to be monetary. It can be more time, less stress, or more balance as well! Once you’ve established a budget that works for you, it’s time to find the perfect person!
Reach out to options
Next you want to find people that can fit the role you’re looking for. Great places to look at Instagram, Facebook, or get referrals from trusted business friends and mentors. Having some prepared interview questions helps a lot. You want to know how they will bill you, whether your agreement is per project, monthly, or hourly, and if you have calls included in your package to speak with them regularly. I know having monthly calls minimally with my team helps me a ton. We all stay on the same page and we know who is responsible for what.
As you can see, it’s not as scary to find team members as you think! Who will your next team member be?
