The Ultimate Guide to Building Your Dream Team
Between writing a great business plan and preparing yourself for success, you can do a LOT to mitigate the risks of starting a business.
Free Business Launch Checklist < Link to Free Business Launch Checklist >
5 Field Tested No Bullsh*t Principles To Make It In Any Field < Link To 5 No BS Principles Lead Magnet >
But, here’s the truth: Things are going to go wrong.
There’s no way around it. There will be challenges during the start-up and growth phase that you could have never anticipated.
Building a rock solid team is a crucial piece of the success puzzle.
80% of startups fail. Why? Because getting started is hard.
Even entrepreneurs who set out with a co-founder or a great advisory board soon realize they just can’t do it all themselves.
By now, you know I’m a HUGE fan of getting entrepreneurs to both plan and delegate.
Still not convinced you need to build a team right from the start? Check this out and discover how delegating can help you leverage both your time and talent for success HERE. < Link To “To Do Or To Delegate >
Your team is going to do more than just free up your time. Successful entrepreneurs know the right team is essential for handling
Brand Communication
Customer Experiences
Social Media Outreach
PR Challenges
Networking
Growth Strategy & Scaling
& More
Before we get started, I should tell you that every type of entrepreneur is going to face a different set of mental barriers to building a great team. If you haven’t taken my Queen Quiz yet, click HERE < Link To Queen Quiz > first before reading this article to discover what kind of entrepreneur you are.
I believe building a team CRITICAL to your success. So, I’m covering a lot of ground in this guide. If you need specific advice right now, here are the hot links:
Three Success Tips for Building Your BEST Startup Team
#3. Don’t Build Your Team for the Start-Up Phase
Freelancers, Employees, Consultants, Coaches & Mentors…What’s the Difference?
The Biggest Challenges for Your Queen Type
How To Interview A Consultant Or Freelancer For Your Start-Up
Three Success Tips for Building Your BEST Start-Up Team
Yes, a great team will make your life easier.
But, building one? Maybe not as easy as you’d think.
It takes time, money, and effort from you to make sure you get set up with the right people for your vision.
In my own ventures, I’ve come down to three fundamental tips that get the whole process started out right.
Here they are,
#1. Take a Hard Look at Yourself
This means, taking a hard look at...
Your Weaknesses.
It’s time to take a look at your long list of talents...and an even closer look at what’s missing from that list.
If you’re going to build a great team, you need to have a clear objective on what needs to be done.
Often, that means leaving some very important tasks in the hands of someone else. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses means coming to grips with not being able to do it all- and trusting someone else’s professional advice.
We’ll dive more into how to weed out the posers from the professionals later in this article.
For now, step back and be honest with what you are not good at so you can focus on what needs hired out first.
Your Personality Type.
Being honest also means understanding your own personality...and what types of personalities are going to be best for you and your vision.
Do you need someone who can take orders and just get shit done without a lot of management?
Are you looking for someone who’s skills compliment yours? Or someone who is willing to push back on your ideas?
And what about energy? As a high-velocity go-getter, you might want a more no-nonsense VA who can keep a level head while you’re bursting at the seams.
Likewise, if you’re more of a behind-the-scenes type, a bubbly extrovert will be a better choice for a VA handling your media outreach.
A new business is all-consuming. Success means working closely with your team, so make sure you’re hiring people you enjoy!
Your ROI.
“I can’t afford help right now!”
It’s easy to get hung up on budget when talking about hiring.
Yes- it’s good to know what you can afford now. But your current bank account isn’t the best monitor for what you need to hire first.
Instead, you need to make the best choices for your time and energy. Answer this one question instead: What is going to give you the best ROI (return on investment)?
In economics, this is called “opportunity cost”. Your time is the only thing you can’t get more of...so unless you have the budget to hire everything out all at once (!), you’ve got to determine what opportunity (or in this case, which task to hire) will give you the biggest bang for your buck.
A word of caution: this doesn’t mean hiring out more tasks at a cheaper cost just to get them off your plate.
Rather, look at your lists of weaknesses and determine:
What’s essential to your business start up that you CAN’T do yourself.
What will free up the MOST time for you.
What will make your business EASIER for you to manage.
It’s a little tricky.
That’s why coaching can be so useful to first-time entrepreneurs. Schedule a free 15 min phone call with me HERE < Link to Consult Call > and I can help you sort out what your need to hire now...and what should wait until your business is producing a solid revenue stream.
#2. Do Not Hire Your Friends
Tip #2...don’t hire your friends or family.
Why?
The people who love you are NOT the best place to get good feedback.
They’ll either want to support you so much that everything you say will be a “great idea”...or they’ll discourage necessary risks because they don’t understand your vision.
And, do I have to mention what happens when you butt heads?
It’s tempting to hire friends or family to either help them out with a job or take advantage of some cheap labor… but take my advice:
Don’t sabotage your start-up!
Hire professionals YOU respect and trust so that YOU have the support you need to succeed.
#3. Don’t Build Your Team For The Start-Up Phase
When your budget is tight, it’s hard to walk that line of “What do I need?” vs “What can I afford?”
Hiring inexperienced help can look like a great deal...but buyer beware.
Really take a close look at their situation. When they say “new to freelancing”, do they mean they have years of experience and are just striking out on their own?
Or are they in their first semester of graphic design?
Big difference, right?
Later in this article, I’ll break down the most important questions you need to ask when interviewing a freelancer.
For now, let’s just say...make sure you hire people who have the talent-level to scale with your business as it grows.
So, you’re ready to get started.
….You know what your strengths and weakness are….
….You aren’t going to hire your bff's daughter to design your website…
...and you’re committed to building a team that can handle your business as it grows.
Before we dive into who you need to hire and how, there are SO MANY different types of roles to think about. Mentors, coaches, consultants...what exactly do they all do?
Freelancers, Employees, Consultants, Coaches & Mentors…What’s The Difference?
You are surrounded and supported by your team.
Some of them will be experts who know more about a specific part of your business than you.
Some will be guides or colleagues...people who have been there before, who support you during rough times and help you find the best path to success.
Others will be people you hire out, lead, or coordinate to create growth day after day.
You need all of these to succeed.
When you’re building your team, having some idea of what each role is called and what they do can help you find the right people for the job.
Here’s a quick break down on the difference between the types of relationships successful entrepreneurs cultivate to create amazing businesses.
What Is A Mentor?
A mentor is usually a seasoned entrepreneur. Someone who has “been there”, made mistakes, found success, and can give you insight into the growth process.
Another advantage? Mentors can introduce you to a network of people who might normally be out of your reach.
It takes time to create a relationship with a mentor.
Their time is highly valuable, but usually they are giving it to you because they want to “pay forward” the people who helped them find success. Because you aren’t paying for their time, your access to them can be limited by what energy they have available.
Mentors are great, but you can’t always get the immediate responsiveness you need when you run up against a problem. They might not have the amount of time you really need to get your business on solid footing.
That’s where having a great coach comes in.
What Is A Business Coach?
Hey! That’s me.
I’m a business coach and I absolutely LOVE it.
Think of your business coach as your guide. Just like a sports coach, business coaches are there to
Help you assess your talents.
Create a strategy for success that’s unique to your business.
Keep you on track along the way.
Unlike mentors, a coach is ALWAYS there to back you up.
Some coaches specialize by industry (tech, fashion, brick and mortar, etc), business phase (start up, mid level, enterprise level), or by demographic. I specialize in helping women create successful businesses both online and brick and mortar.
What’s the difference between an employee and a freelancer?
An employee is someone you’re hiring as a business. You have a position (cashier, secretary, etc.) that is always going to need to be filled and they fill it. You pay taxes on their work, usually through a payroll company, and issue them paychecks, W-4s, etc.
A freelancer might work with you long term...but they also can be project-based. Freelancers are specialized. Think graphic design, content writing, VA, etc. When hiring a freelancer, you negotiate cost, either per project or per hour, and they are responsible for their own taxes.
Freelancers can run as little as $10-20/hr (for a VA) to $65/hr (for a social media manager) to $150/hr (for a content manager). It just depends on their experience, skill level, and the results they historically deliver to clients like you.
What Is A Consultant?
A consultant is a highly specialized freelancer that can help you with a specific problem.
Does your email list only have a .05% open rate? You would hire a conversion consultant to help you fix the problem.
Are you creating a secondary product to reach a new market in your line? A brand strategist or brand consultant can help you seamlessly tie the new product into your existing brand.
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Before we dive into the “how-tos” of hiring, let’s look at what your BIGGEST challenges are going to be for your entrepreneurial style so you know how to create your best team.
Haven’t taken the Business Queen Quiz yet? Go ahead and click HERE < Link to Quiz >
The Biggest Challenges For Your Queen Type
Alpha Queen
Hiring out can be a tough-choice for Alpha Queens.
You’re not only a natural learner but a doer who just wants to get shit done...that means you’re used to “just figuring it out” on the fly.
And hey, it’s great that you can “figure it out”. But that skill is a double-edged sword. Alpha Queens are at the HIGHEST risk for failure due to burnout.
But you know that already. You’ve been experiencing the stress of “doing it all” since you were assigned your first group-project in grade school!
The combination of never sitting still, being a gifted learner, and the extreme ownership you have of your vision is going to make it difficult for you to build your team.
But you need one.
You need one just as much...if not MORE...than the other queen types.
Why?
Because you’ve got everything you need at your fingertips to get your business off the ground...but you DON’T have the unlimited resources of time and emotional energy you need to make it really succeed.
This means: If you fail, it’s going to cost you MORE than an entrepreneur that fizzles out in the startup phase. You’re at the highest risk of failure during your business’ growth phase...which means failing harder both financially and emotionally.
If you could only add TWO people to your team, here’s who you should hire:
#1. A Coach
You need a business coach or mentor who can
give you insight into the what you do best
and help you channel your energy to create the best ROI.
Discovering where to put your time is KEY to keeping you healthy throughout the rapid growth of your business. A great coach will help you make the most of your talent.
#2. A Virtual Assistant (VA)
Alpha Queens fe