Congratulations! You’re growing your business and hiring a team for support. That is definitely the way to scale and grow to continue to take on more clients and expand your service offerings, not to mention giving you the opportunity to make things more efficient in your business. When you’re just starting out, you’re doing ALL THE THINGS, right? The accounting, the backend management, the content, the sales calls, the programs, the coaching, the courses, etc. As you grow, you have the opportunity to outsource more of the things you don’t want to be doing in your business to allow you to focus on the things you love, and the things that can grow your income.
The big mystery question when it comes to hiring is WHO do I hire and WHEN do I hire them?
A lot of people make a lot of mistakes when hiring. They hire too late, they hire the wrong person, or they hire without a strategy. I’ve worked in many 6 and 7-figure businesses with teams of 30+ people, as well as hired a team of my own, so I’m here to share with you WHEN and WHO to hire to help your business thrive.
Hire BEFORE you’re ready
The hardest thing to do is hire when you’re desperate for help. This will cloud your judgment because you’ll just be looking for SOMEONE, ANYONE to help take the load off your plate. Hiring takes time, so it’s best to hire before you’re ready. As soon as you start to feel the strain and not enough time to get things done, consider looking for that next hire. The hiring process consists of more than just bringing someone onboard, you have to write the job description, post the job, review applications, conduct interviews, then, onboard and train the new team member. It’s a full month-long process. You want to make sure you’re dedicating the right amount of time to finding the right fit for YOU.
Hire the PERSON over the resume
Hire QUALITY. You can always TEACH people things, but if you have the wrong person in place just to fill a role, your team and business will suffer. Sometimes yes, it may be best to hire someone a little more experienced that can jump right in, but other times you want to hire someone you can mold and train, someone that doesn’t have “set ways” that you can groom to do things the way you want them done. Determine the values you want in a person and the role and then hire based on the person you liked best. This is why interviewing on the phone is SO much more important than just picking someone out of a stack of “resumes” or emails. The person that is going to be the best fit for you and your team will be worth so much more to you in the long run.
Hire a generalist FIRST then a specialist by niche
One of my most common questions I get is who do I hire first? If you don’t have any support in your business yet, you’ll want to hire a generalist. This is someone who can do a little bit of everything. Schedule emails and social content, engage on your behalf, update reports, manage your new client onboarding and invoicing, etc. Now, don’t expect them to be a MAGICAL UNICORN who has expertise in all things -- like content creation, graphic design, video editing, etc. but just some GENERAL SUPPORT on the backend will help take some things off your plate. THEN, once you get some things off your plate, you can hire the “specialist” when ready to make the next hire. Maybe you suck at graphic design and want someone to create kickass graphics for your IG and social content. Or you really need some tech support for your website and email funnels. Or you want to launch a podcast and need a podcast editor. Or you need someone to manage Facebook ads (because FB Ad Manager is overly complicated for no reason hah). You get the point, first hire general support and then hire in the niche that you spend the most time in, but either don’t love doing or aren’t great at it. This formula right here will 10x your income in a heartbeat.
Hire a kickass OBM to manage your team
Hiring support comes with added responsibilities. Make sure you have someone to support you in managing your team and responsibilities. The last thing you need once you outsource is to fill that time with managing the people you outsource the work to. Hiring an OBM or project manager to support you in managing your team, responsibilities and workflow will truly give you the amount of time back you want and need in your business.
Following these simple reminders when hiring support in your business will allow you to be more efficient and scale your business faster! Support is critical for continued growth and success, but it can also hold you back if done poorly. This will save you time and money in the long run.
Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.
After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.
Katelyn is also a wife, stepmom, dog mama of three furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.
Click here to book a free call to talk more about your business goals and to see if hiring an OBM is the right fit for you.
