Staging Growth - Lessons Learned From Growing A Team
The dream of every single entrepreneur worldwide, is that they want to grow a successful business and create the dream life they’ve always envisioned. And a measure of that success is growth. And what happens when we grow?
We get SUPER busy. The 24 hours in a day now seem almost impossibly insufficient and we realize we certainly cannot do this alone. We need HELP! And fast! We get to this strange and uncomfortable place where we realize that we really NEED to build a virtual team and start taking on talented virtual professionals to bring their own slice of magic to our projects, and we gain time, value, and some pretty terrific inspiration.
Building a team of like-minded, ambitious, and hard-working virtual professionals will save you time, money, heartache, stress, and again … a bunch of fresh ideas and concepts to projects that you could never have dreamed of yourself!
It’s been said that one of the biggest challenges we face as business owners (no matter the size) is growing a team … and we honestly couldn’t agree more!
Great ideas don’t come from lone geniuses!
We start our business with a brain full of ideas and aspirations — and we quickly adjust to wearing #AllTheHats. You’re a creative and talented individual with visions of greatness and these wonderfully massive dreams. But after a while you begin to realize that you can’t do it all on your own. Reality check: no one can. But that’s how it’s meant to be when we first start out; we need to learn what our business is going to become and how it all works. And there’s a great chance that the business model you had in mind when you first started isn’t the same one you have in place today. It’s likely that you’ve surpassed your self-imposed limitations long ago and that you need to create some new, team-related goals.
Expanding your business to include some team members (or even just one to start things off) is exciting but also extremely nerve-wracking. Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of hiring the first person they meet with, or someone who “knows a person” and hires them out of a sense of obligation.
We can’t stress this enough, though: there’s work to be done before you hire someone.
With that said, there are also some business owners who wait too long to bring on a team member. They do it all and burn themselves out so quickly that their business is now in jeopardy. (And trust us, burnout takes much longer to recover from than one may think – it’s not just a weekend of rest and a few afternoon naps, this can sometimes take months!) You’ll know in your gut when you can bring someone on, and it might be that you bring on someone for a few hours a month at first to help with a few smaller — yet highly important — things.
There’s no “right” or “wrong” way to begin growing your team — you’ll know what’s right for you.
One of the bigger mistakes that are made when growing a team is that you decide on one area you need to delegate and hire just for that. Then realize another area and hire someone else. And so on, and so on … So, then you have all these people and there’s no cohesion — you’re struggling to effectively communicate and manage your team and things are falling through the cracks and only increasing your stress level, rather than minimizing it. Therefore, we strongly suggest evaluating all the areas that you want to delegate (whether now or later or both) and taking a strong hard look to see if there are one or two people you can bring on to take care of all those tasks. Also ensuring that their personalities mesh with yours and together as a strong team so that they can effectively communicate and fully complete all the tasks you have set out for your goals, then you’re on your way to growing your team the right way.
Finding the right people, not just anyone, is key.
There are many personality tests and evaluations out there that can assist you in learning what kind of person is the right fit for you and your business, and we certainly don’t shy away from them.
For instance, if you lean more to the stubborn side, hiring someone who is equally as stubborn likely won’t last long as you’ll constantly be butting heads. There are certain types of people that work really well together, and we suggest exploring that further before you begin searching for your next team member.
With that said, there’s always the chance that whoever you hire might just not be the right fit. And that’s okay. Not everyone will be and sometimes it takes a person a bit of time in the role to fully grasp all that it is, and it might not align with their goals, either.
And … while being personable with your team is important, it’s also important to keep the success and future of your business top of mind. It’s great to be friends and teammates, but you are a businesswoman after all, and they are your team. So, try not to lose sight of this. If you know that someone isn’t working out and you’ve already spoken with them on numerous occasions and nothing changes, don’t hang on to them solely because you feel bad for letting them go. Take it as a learning opportunity to re-evaluate the role and the type of person that would be best suited for it, then go back to square one and try again to find someone more fitting.
The strength of the team is each individual member.
The strength of each member is the team.
One of the other biggest opportunities you can give your business (and yourself!) is a little reset every once in a while.
When letting someone go or by creating a new position, you can look at the role from a different perspective and make a “wish list”.
- What do you want that role to look like?
- What are a few of its goals?
- Who is the ideal person in this role?
- What unique qualities do they bring to the table?
- Does their best work, look like my best work?
A word of caution on this exercise though … try not to be too specific, as you’ll have so few people that fit that mold you might not find your right person. There’s a difference between being specific and being too specific, and the latter might hurt you more than assist you.
And as you may have already experienced f you’ve already begun to grow your team or are in the beginning stages of doing so, even if someone looks great on paper, we still need to make sure they’ll be a great asset to the team as a whole.
So, to make life a little easier for everyone involved, here’s a handful of what we like to consider “ground rules” to keep in your back pocket …
- Show genuine commitment.
- Be flexible, reliable, and responsible.
- Be constructive yet keep an open mind.
- Listen actively and speak second.
- Encourage opinions and discussions.
- Be supportive and show respect.
- Be a problem solver.
- Create a collaboration space.
- Appreciate other members work styles. And …
- Celebrate accomplishments and milestones together.
Growing a team is an exciting part of business and we are ecstatic that you’re considering growing yours. It means you have been doing something right and are ready to take a couple of hats off and hand them over, allowing you to focus on continuing your business’ growth. By ensuring that you aren’t jumping the gun and hiring #AllThePeople, set aside time to make a plan and find the best people to help you realize your dreams.
Now with all that being said today, and of course I cannot speak for everyone, but virtual professionals are usually in this type of business because they are passionate about what they do, therefore they are dedicated 100% to working WITH you to help you succeed in accomplishing your overflowing to-do list, your vision, and your end-game BIG DREAM goals. So ideally, it’s a win-win situation … They are following their dreams and building their businesses, and you get to collaborate with passionate, talented people that make every day better, just by being a part of your dream too!
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We get it, you’re a mom first! But your dream of becoming an entrepreneur is not going away … It wasn’t until recently when people began coming to you with questions or asking you for help that you started to seriously think about starting your own business. You want to start a business, but you worry if you have enough time to balance being an entrepreneur with being a mom. You have a burning desire to build your own empire, but you also have responsibilities.
Well … we completely understand and been there done that. It’s time to take the leap of faith and bet on yourself, beyond life as a mom. Because we don’t want you to do, is one day look back … and wished you’d done things differently. #Balance!
Our site will be a resource-filled space for all moms who have ever wanted to start their own small business working from home OR for any mom who already HAS a business but is struggling to grow. So, begin pursuing your passion(s) and become your own boss today by popping on over to https://thesmallbusinessmom.com/ to get started!
