As a freelancer or independent contractor, you’re used to doing things on your own. All the things. But what happens when you’re ready to start building a team? What happens then?
If you want to scale your business, you’ll quickly discover it takes a village. I mean, you could keep hustling. That’s definitely an option. But it’s a path that leads to burnout, eventually.
With this in mind, here are a few suggestions for building a team without taking on too much at once.
Start small
Bringing on an employee is a big deal. I don’t think I can understate that. Up until now, you’ve been responsible for yourself. But now? Now you have someone else depending on you. So start small.
Until you’re sure you can afford an actual employee, why not take on freelancers or contractors? That way you’re learning how to delegate and pass over tasks without taking on too much responsiblity before you feel ready.
Hiring too quickly can result in a financial burden and a messy structure that hurts your business. A smaller, focused team is usually what’s best to begin with, and you can move forward when it makes sense.
Only hire when the math works
There are a few reasons to add to your team: when there’s enough work and finances to sustain an employee, you have new potential revenue sources (but you need help to tap into them), you’re falling behind on business administration, etc.
While you don’t want to hire out of desperation, there will be times when work starts falling off your plate. This is a good indication that it might be time to bring on some help. Be strategic, look for people with specific skillsets that will benefit you, and only hire when it makes sense.
Create two-way communication systems
As a solo business owner, you’re likely used to doing your own thing from day to day. But having a team changes things. Now you need to be, like, a boss and stuff. Clear communication, feedback loops and regular check ins are important so your team knows what’s expected of them. It also allows them space to learn and grow. If your team starts to feel disengaged, that’s bad news for everyone. Here are some employee engagement ideas to help get the gears turning.
Good communication is the secret sauce to any effective team, and the right communication techniques can make all the difference in the best possible way.
Understand your strengths and weaknesses so you can build a great team
Although I hope you find unicorns as you build your team, most people are extremely normal. They’ll have strengths and weaknesses (just like you), and even though they’re not perfect they can still be amazing employees.
It’s important to understand where you have gaps so you can hire people with complimentary skills that will allow you to go further together than you could apart.
One more thing. You may be interested in my free resource library. This is where I keep my files, downloads, ebooks, worksheets and whatever else I manage to create. I love sharing what I learn and want to keep adding to this library so it becomes a wealth of helpful goodness.
This is a free resource but I do require a password to access the library itself. You can get access by popping your email address into the form below.
