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When You Know You’re Ready To Hire

4 years ago I went online and registered for a LLC when I was working full time as a sales engineer for a manufacturing company. 

I had recently returned home from living in Australia, was living on my friend Ally’s sectional and had $0 to my name.

I took that sales engineer job knowing I would hate it… which sounds odd but I was crystal clear on my vision. I was NOT going to stay in a 9-5. I felt like if I got into a role that I LOVED, it would make it harder for me to start my business. I didn’t want to be “comfortable”, I wanted to be pushed. Out.

So a few months into that job, I hired my first assistant (Alice) – to help me with my sales engineer job. 

I had her book my meetings for the week which allowed me to spend all of Monday working on my business. This is when I first realized how valuable my time was and how much I could accomplish if I outsourced.

I was able to leave my job just a few months later and felt like I didn’t need Alice anymore – now that I had a full 40 hours a week to dedicate to my business. 

Meh, I was wrong. 

But my business was my baby. I was obsessed. I loved that I had control over errything, something I never experienced as an employee.. Anywho, the first 3 months were GREAT but I found myself a slave to my Google calendar, my never-ending list of to-dos and my clients rather than truly having the freedom that I started this business for. 

If you’re reading this, I have a feeling you might be experiencing something similar. At the end of the day, it’s YOUR business and you’re the one responsible for the good and the bad so I get the fear behind hiring. Maybe you’re afraid that this new person will take up too much of your time to catch up to speed, maybe you feel like no one else can do what you do, maybe it’s a financial thing etc. 

I get you sister (or brother). I’ve felt all these things.

So I’m here to share details to make it way less scary.

HOW I KNEW

Honestly, just shy of a full blown breakdown – which is wayyyy too late but that’s how much I resisted it. The first tangible sign was when I started gaining weight, even though I was still going to the gym 5 times a week. I was barely moving otherwise, I was on my laptop so much. I had built a business that stopped the second I stopped. I didn’t have anyone else, I HAD to show up if I wanted anything done. 

The workload didn’t get to me as much as the lack of mental space I had. I felt like I was always thinking about what needed to be done and it really hindered my space to create. I even ran into issues being able to stay asleep at night.. I was waking up at 2 or 3 a.m. wide awake from the overstimulation. I could feel the burn out coming on. 

That led me to hiring my first VA for my business, Marina. WOW, more on her later.

Quick tip when it comes to VA’s – pay the extra money to get one with experience, don’t try to cut corners hiring from third world countries. At one point, I considered employing friends but they take way too much time to train and catch up to speed. You want someone that is already an expert and can think for themself, rather than being told step by step what to do.

IDENTIFY THE TASKS THAT HOLD YOU BACK FROM MAKING SALES

As an entrepreneur, you NEED to focus on making sales in your business – or you won’t have one. So what are the things that keep you from revenue-generating tasks?

I started to get clear on this and identified all repeatable tasks that I was doing every week to pass over to Marina.

Things like;

  • Setting up sales calls
  • Sending out contracts
  • Invoicing
  • Online research
  • Creating/managing spreadsheets
  • Basic bookkeeping
  • Updating website
  • Following up with missed payments
  • Even personal duties! 

The next month after hiring Marina, I hit a record revenue month in my business. And more importantly, it felt EASY.

So ask yourself – if you paid someone $20-$35/hour to work on some of these pain points would it be worth it? Yep – especially if you’re like one of my Purpose to Profit graduates that average $500/hour as an online fitness coach.

WHERE TO FIND GOOD HELP

Ask around. Yep, going old school with this advice. But it’s so true that people can present themselves as one thing online or on their resumes, but it’s so much more powerful to get a personal recommendation. Ask the people who are killing the game where they found their teams or if their contractors have any openings.

And a great extension of word of mouth these days is utilizing social media and online groups with like-minded individuals or businesses in a similar industry as yours. Post up your need in the group!

Finally, you can also take advantage of platforms that match you with potential team members. This is how I found Marina, she applied to my job posting on Upwork – a platform to meet and hire freelancers. You can find all kinds of remote workers on there, including VAs, copywriters, graphic designers, website designers, and much more.

KEYS TO A STRONG JOB POSTING

Get HYPER specific in your job posting. Be sure to include exactly what you’re looking for in an individual and why, whether you need someone highly detail oriented or creative or who has experience with SEO or small business accounting. Get really in depth with your vetting questions and ask for people to share what makes them stand out, what would make them a good fit for your brand, and how they could impact your business.

A lot of times, even with these online services, you’ll be able to instinctually tell who is being fake and who legitimately cares about your job posting. Ask some questions, get recommendations if you need them, and make sure you actually LIKE them — you’ll want to interview them. 

Pay attention to the way they describe themselves, the way they communicate, how they speak about your brand and if it’s aligned with your vision and where they see themselves going.

Look for people who are enthusiastic and on fire for what they do. Look for the ones who are invested in learning more about their industry, exploring new opportunities, and who want to grow with you. Look for eagerness, passion, and excitement.

Each time I’ve hired, I’ve posted the job posting and made a decision and hire within 5 days. I move fast, I follow my gut, and I get things moving quickly. Most of the time, you just know.

THE BIG PICTURE

Your business deserves to reach its fullest potential and you deserve to not be a slave to it. Outsourcing is a life-changing shift to be able to get more out of work and life, and I can’t wait to see how you do it, how you release the grip of control and money and open your hands to freedom and possibility — the two reasons you started this whole thing in the first place, right?

As always, I’d love to support you on this journey – feel free to send me a message on Instagram or apply for a call with me to see if you’re a good fit for the Purpose to Profit Accelerator if you’re ready to take this leap with me!

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