Episode 12. Think You're Ready to Hire? Listen to this First.
THE #1 REASON PEOPLE DECIDE TO HIRE
Let’s start with a question: What exactly about the current state of your business is signaling that it is time to make your first hire?
I’d bet money that you’re thinking, “Time! I don’t have enough time to get everything done!”
If I’m right, just know this: you are not alone. Most solopreneur’s I know (including myself!) cite time as the one thing that they don’t have enough of. There are never enough hours in the day to finish our to-do lists. Our inboxes are always overflowing. We find it a struggle to manage the day-to-day and keep things fresh for our audience.
So of course, when things start to get out of control and we simply don’t have the time… we start to think about hiring consistent help. And guess what, I love that! If that’s where you’re at… you know the value of your time. You understand that time is the most precious resource and hiring may be the solution for you to get some of your time back!
But before we jump into such a big decision… let’s think it through…
ASK YOURSELF THESE 3 QUESTIONS
To test if hiring will really give you back time I want you to answer three questions:
Do you have an accurate understanding of exactly how you are currently spending your time in your business?
Have you audited your own workstreams and processes to ensure you are working as efficiently as possible?
Have you automated (or contracted help to do so) the tasks that can run themselves with technology?
IF YOU ANSWERED NO TO ANY OF THOSE QUESTIONS
If the answer to any of these questions is no, I’ve got to be straight with you. There may be more value in tightening processes in your business before you make your first hire. Why? I’ll answer that question with a story.
In Matthew, there’s this great lesson that Jesus teaches about the wise and foolish builders. Jesus gave the same message to all: build your house on a bed of rocks so that it may withstand the storm. Some listened and others didn’t. But for those who did listen, when the storms came, their house withstood the damage. The others were not so lucky.
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
This is an excellent example of why I want to challenge the assumption that making your first hire will give you back time. In reality, you may simply have a foundation issue that’s sucking your time and burning you out. Get the foundation of your business in order before you begin building it up by making your first hire. If you don’t, you might just find that even with the extra help your business is unable to withstand the storm.
TO SET YOUR FOUNDATION: COMPLETE A DAILY WORK LOG
I suggest you complete a work log. A work log is a document that tracks exactly how your time is spent throughout your workday. You write down your tasks, how long they take, whether you have a defined process for the task, and if you can outsource/delegate the task. It’s a great tool to get an accurate picture of how you spend your time.
If you batch work I recommend you completing the work log every day for a week, just because your days can look really different. If you don’t batch work, you should still do this for 2-3 days.
After completing a work log for a few days many solopreneurs realize a couple of things:
There are a ton of things that could be automated in their business, but they’ve been dragging their feet.
They do a lot of tasks that don’t actually make them more money.
They do double the work because their work stream is not clearly mapped out.
They aren’t spending enough time on the 20% of activities that really move the needle for them.
COMPLETE YOUR WORK LOG
Okay, now time to take action. On a normal workday, I want you to go about your day as usual and track exactly how you are spending your time.
Work Log Instructions
Open up a work log template. I created a free custom template specifically for this exercise!
As you go about your day, write down the separate tasks that you are doing. This can be answering a client's email, drafting a blog post, writing a script, editing, etc.
Set a timer and record how long it takes you.
Ask yourself: Is there a workflow in place? Do I have an efficient process that I follow to complete this task?
Think about whether this is a task that you should:
Keep doing: It moves the needle AND you’re really good at it. You need to handle these tasks personally.
Stop doing: It is really not beneficial for your business… frankly a waste of time.
Automate: It is important, but it is simple enough that a system could take over the daily management.
Delegate: It is important, but a system cannot take it over. You can easily train someone to take over this task.
REVIEW YOUR RESULTS… HERE’S THE BOTTOM LINE
Making your first hire may not be the solution if:
Most of your tasks can be automated once you get the right system in place
You don’t have enough “delegate” tasks to keep your first hire busy (at least 10-20 hours/week is a good standard)
You have enough tasks to warrant a new hire, but you do not have workflows in place for them
Making your first hire may be the solution if:
You have enough delegate tasks to warrant a new hire (at least 10-20 hours/week is a good standard)
Your delegate tasks can be bucketed into a single role. For example blog drafting, editing and proofing, and SEO may all be handled by a content creator
Each “delegate” task has a workflow attached to it. You have a process in place that can be passed onto another person
CONCLUSION
At the end of the day, assessing whether or not you're ready to hire is one of the best things that you can do for your business. If you’re not quite as ready as you once thought, I encourage you to implement some of the tips I provided to get ready! It is my hope that you be as intentional as possible and set the foundation for your business first. Your future dream team will thank you!
