Many people dream of working for themselves, being their own boss, and having the freedom to take on only clients and projects they love.
What they don’t realize, though, is that there is a considerable difference between building a business and being self-employed.
Business owners scale their income and leverage the skills and talents of others. Self-employed people trade dollars for hours and rely heavily on their abilities.
So if you have grand plans to build an online empire, you can’t do it alone. In fact, no small business becomes a big business with a single person at the wheel. It takes a team of experts to scale your efforts.
But building that team brings its stress.
How can you know who to trust? Where will you find the time to train?
What if you can’t afford to outsource?
These and other questions are what prevent entrepreneurs just like you from turning a good business idea into a 6- or even 7-figure empire. Here’s what to do about it.
Know Your Work Style & Preferences
Not everyone works in a similar style. Some people love to touch base by phone, while others prefer email. Some people require lots of direction and step-by-step guidance, others work better when they can figure it out on their own.
No way is right or wrong, but if you’re a phone person and you hire an email lover, there’s going to be conflict.
Look for team members who are a fit with your preferred work style, and you’ll be much happier with the result.
Commit to the Effort
Hiring a team takes time. Not only do you have to spend time looking for the right person, interviewing several candidates, and onboarding your final choice, but you also have to train your new team member(s).
Remember, no matter how skilled she might be, she’s never worked in your business, so there will be a learning curve. Encourage her to ask questions and take the time to answer carefully. Expect mistakes—at least in the beginning—and build enough time in your schedule to allow for fixing them.
The effort and time that you invest upfront is well worth it if you’re building the right team.
Don’t Be Afraid to Cut Ties
Not everyone you hire will be a good fit. As a business owner, it’s up to you to do the right thing for your business growth (and your stress levels), and sometimes that means moving on from a relationship that’s not working.
Remember, it’s business, not personal. Sometimes even the best-looking applicant turns out to be all wrong, and that’s okay. Take what you’ve learned from the experience and use that knowledge for the next hire.
Start Small
While you might dream of working two hours per day and taking entire summers off, it’s unrealistic to think you can go from 10-hour (or longer) days to stress-free entrepreneurship in a few short weeks.
Start by hiring one person to take on the tasks you most dislike, then slowly grow your team and their responsibilities. Eventually, the work left for you is the work you truly want to do (and that you enjoy).
In Conclusion
Along with having trusted contractors assist with your efforts or handle things when you’re not available, you can also leverage automation tools, and create repeatable systems, to help your business run smoothly and efficiently. That way, you’re not always re-inventing the wheel on the way to creating your empire.
Sound impossible? It’s not. With a team and systems in place to help, you can run and scale your business successfully without becoming overwhelmed and overworked.
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