When Should I Hire Help for my Business?
If you've ever been stuck on when you should or shouldn't hire help to grow your business, I know exactly how you feel.
In today's brand-new episode of Skip to Action TV - I'm sharing why I always used to resist asking for help, and why and how I became a believer in it - when the time and investment are right for me.
Click to watch today's episode, or read on for the transcript!
Do you feel like you have to do everything yourself in your business?
I felt that way for a large portion of the almost five years I've been running Greatest Story. Maybe it's my millennial spirit. Maybe it's the DIY part of me. But I just felt this intense pressure to be very scrappy. To do everything myself. To not ask for help from others. And to do everything I possibly could and do it as cheaply as I could. Because I wanted to make the business profitable and to grow it, but I wasn't going to hire other people. But I wasn't sure there would be value in doing that. Because I as a creative, can create the writing, and the marketing, and the other things. So I didn't necessarily see a lot of value in that. I felt like I need to be scrappy, I need to grow this business myself. Also, it was little bit of a matter of pride.
But then, I went through a tough patch in my business: out of nowhere (it seemed) it stopped growing in 2016.
And it stopped growing at a bad time because my husband had just lost his job. And from that experience I got so desperate that I reached out to Adele Michal, a local sales and business coach. And I said to this coach, "I know I need help.” But I know that I wouldn't have reached out to that coach had I not gotten to such a hard place.
And what I learned from my experience and working with that person is that it is so important to invest in other people. You know, I was the biggest non-believer in "coaches" or people who say, it seems like everybody is a coach or consultant, right? I get it. I feel your pain. But the thing is, there are a lot of great people out there, who help you go farther, faster.
My friend, Jim Reklis, who is a coach, says that coaches help you go farther, faster. And whether it's a coach, or a marketing person, or a branding person like me - or just somebody that has a skillset that you don't have, that would benefit your business - it’s a huge idea to reach out to them and to add their value to your business.
Though it can feel scary, making the right investment can grow your business exponentially. It's not just money going out.
I know that it's scary to spend money on your business, especially if you're trying to be frugal, especially if you feel like you can't. But remember that it can grow. It can make your business grow exponentially. It did that with my business. It look a business that I felt like I had everything in place, but I just couldn't turn the key in the lock. And then working with somebody who could be objective and could help me have more perspective and better best practices, things that I don't have the time to learn nor the ability to learn in some ways, because it's their talent. They taught me how to take the key and turn it. And now I know how to love on my business, how to really, truly love what I do. I know how to market it. I know how to grow it. And most of all I learned the value of investing in other people.
I've since hired a virtual assistant. I'm looking at things like I’m doing today - working with a videography company (Big Dog Little Bed) to help bring you new content I really believe in. You know, we can't do everything on our own. Sure I could have set up my iPhone and shot this differently, but it wouldn't be the quality and it wouldn't be the kind of video I want you to see and that really represents what I do well.
Ask yourself - what are the skill sets you don't have that could help you grow your business?
So, the question here is to ask yourself what are those things in my business that I don't feel as strongly capable in doing? What are the skill sets that I don't have that could grow my business? That I know that I need. And then consider the idea of finding the right partner, the right person, the right business that you could trust your business with - that could take it to the next level.
How many ideal clients would help an investment pay for itself?
And if you're feeling any kind of doubt or anxiety over that, as I had before too, remember something like this and ask yourself this question - how much more product or how many ideal clients might I get out of it by investing in this other person or business? If often you might find that it might take one or two ideal clients to recoup the cost and then you're off to the races. And the question becomes, will I get more business by making my business better through the work of other people, through investing in others? And I think a lot of the time you're going to say, yes.
You don't have to be scrappy with every single thing for your business.
So don't be strapped to this idea that you have to be scrappy in everything. That has its place in every business. I'm a big believer in running a business as debt free. I'm a big believer in doing what you can and being smart and efficient where you can and in doing the hard work.
But you have to work hard and work smart. And I think that investing in other people is a great way to do that. So, ask people questions, talk to people that interest you, that might add value to your business, and go from there. But don't be afraid to take the leap because you and your business might be a lot better for it.
