How Will You Know That It’s Time to Grow

Everyone wants to grow!  I am referring to growing your team.  Does your business plan have “team” in it? If you have any plans of growing your business, your business plan should have a “Future Expansion” roadmap in it. If you haven’t done so already, right now is the time to put those plans in place.

As with marriage, having kids and retirement, the best time to think about expanding your business is before it actually happens. Then, you can put your plan into action much more quickly and seamlessly. As a business owner, part of the future expansion includes outsourcing.

Recently, during a weekly seminar that I attend called, ActionWEDNESDAY, someone asked my business coach, “When do you know it’s the right time to add team members?”  His answer was, “Your time to expand is probably already past due”.  He began to tell us some success stories of local business owners who created a team, and their business grew tremendously because it freed up time for them to do the really, really profit-generating things in their business like getting new clients.

So, now you’re ready to build your team. It was a team of one, but now you are happily getting too big for a one-man or one-woman show. To keep moving upward, you’ll need others to help you make it happen while keeping your clients happy.

Choosing your Team

The team may be comprised of a Bookkeeper, Accountant, Business Coach and a Virtual Assistant. The main thing to keep in mind is that you want to outsource those things that make you squeal – those things that you are “least” passionate about, but you know have to get done for you and your business to be successful and grow. For example, if you’re adding a Virtual Assistant, you want to make sure that you’re adding someone to the team that is a partner and you feel have a interest in seeing you grow. Some other characteristics that you can look for in a Virtual Assistant would be that they think like you do and have a similar work ethic. Just like your clients did with you, you’ll want to do some research and interviewing to find just the right people.

When you think of outsourcing, keeping it simple is a great way to start until you get a feel for how the team will work together. Interviewing is the first step, followed by checking out their website, their testimonials’ and Social Media sites. You want to make sure that this person will not disrupt the “culture” that you’ve created for your company. Once you’ve built trust with your new team members, you may want to outsource more delicate matters. Look for a variety of skills in the people that you choose for your team. The more skills that they have, the more useful they will turn out to be for you and your business.

Starting off on the Right Foot

Get all of your ducks in a row from the beginning. This includes contracts, agreements and instructions. Each team member will need a contract that spells out, but is not limited to: pay per hour, retainer hours, pay schedule, job description. Agreements between you and your team stipulating confidentiality and non-compete clauses are essential. You don’t want to be fleeced for your client list right under your nose.

Written instructions about how to do what you ask avoids as many mistakes as possible later. For example, even though your team members know how to write a report, they don’t know how you write reports for your clients. Pleasing your clients is the important part here.

Crossing all the Ts

One “T” in particular is taxes. You are not just responsible for yourself, but others who work for you. Partnering with subcontractors is considered freelancing. This is another area that needs to be specified in any contracts with your team. As a subcontractor, they will be responsible for their own taxes and insurance. What you will provide (for US workers) is a 1099-MISC form for them that specify what you pay them so that they can use it to file their taxes.

The cost of subcontracting will figure into your hourly or per project rate for your clients. The last thing you want to do is undercut yourself because you are paying your contractors more than you are getting paid yourself.  Planning ahead for business growth will make you healthy, wealthy and wise.