Hiring someone, whether it’s local or virtual, can be intimidating. In this episode, Robyn speaks with Nathan Hirsch, formally at FreeUp, now at Outsource School on how to navigate through that process and have that hire be successful and produce excellent results for your business.
A lot of entrepreneurs make the mistake of continuing to add tasks to their plates. Still, they don’t realize that eventually, as they add tasks, they need to be delegating, and have a process for assigning tasks to other people and give those people ownership of those tasks. That’s how you scale your business.
Create a structured process.
It’s essential to have a game plan when it comes to hiring people. Before hiring you should consider:
- Creating Documented Procedures
- Outlining an Interview Process
- Training Guidelines
- Onboarding Processes
What are you worth per hour?
Anytime you are working on a task that’s far below what you’re worth per hour, you’re reducing the capability of your business. It’s like hiring a $250 an hour consultant to come in and help you with your books and have them take out the trash and run things to the post office. You would never do that. But that’s what we do when we as CEOs are doing tasks that can be outsourced for significantly less than we’re able to produce consistently for our business.
Diversify your hiring
One of the benefits of the remote hiring world is you can hire people part-time, full time, or project base. You can hire people at different price points for various tasks and adjust to your budget as you go along. You can hire followers, doers, experts, and it gives you the flexibility to scale and grow your business. Don’t make the mistake of hiring one person to take care of all your needs; delegate according to each person’s skill set and receive a better outcome and higher quality work.
SOPs are key
Having clear and concise standard operating procedures (SOP) for each task is one of the crucial elements of the success or failure of a new hire. You need to have SOPs in place that provides clear guidelines on how to complete a task, expectations for the person you are bringing on, what the desired outcome is and how you are following up on the results.
If you’re short on time, give ownership of the task to the person responsible for executing it, and have them create the written processes. It’s always easier to review a process and make corrections, rather than starting from scratch.
Don’t skip the onboarding process
Most people understand that they’re going to have to interview, train, and manage employees. What a lot of people miss is the onboarding part. Establishing guidelines and setting expectations is as important as any other step in the hiring process. After the initial interview, take the time to make sure you’re on the same page, and only then do you move forward to training. Just by adding that step you’re going to save yourself countless time and energy down the line.
Managing extra time
You’re working 70 hours a week, as all entrepreneurs have done at some point. But now you hire a full-time VA, you get 30 of those hours back.
What are you doing with those extra hours?
Are you still just adding lower-level tasks to your plate?
Make the most of your time by focusing on the high-level tasks. Sales, expansion, marketing. Or spend time with your family, that’s what good entrepreneurs do. They’re not only taking things off their plate, but they’re replacing those hours with $500 an hour tasks or enjoying their newfound time.
VA Calculator
Determining how much a virtual assistant will cost you is easy. Nathan has provided a free tool for assessing how much your VA will cost you. See the free VA cost calculator.
*This is an affiliate link. I get paid a commission if you ultimately purchase Outsource School.
