Hiring an Expert
Hiring experts to support you in your business is important BUT how you work with them is vital to it's success! Avoid some of these simple mistakes....
Welcome to the Make It Happen podcast, brought to you by Strategies For Small Businesses, #SFSB, and Christina Littrell-Williams, lead master tactician. My team and I have been working as online marketers for over a decade supporting entrepreneurs as they grow, achieve goals, and even surpass them. We love what we do. It is our intention to give you something you can take away from every episode; an idea, a sense of encouragement, a new tool, and/or answers to any questions you might have submitted to the team.
I want to talk to you about hiring an expert.
There are several opportunities to hire experts for support. Maybe it's an auto mechanic, or a construction worker to build our homes. Or sometimes it is somebody to help us in our businesses.
Let me ask you a couple of questions...
Do you hire a mechanic to then turn around and tell them, “This is the problem, this is what needs to be done, these are the tools you need to use, and this is how the job needs to be executed?”
OR
Do you take your car into the mechanic shop to get the diagnostic report, and then listen to their recommendations for necessary next steps for maintenance or repair? Do you then approve the plan to implement the fix?
Same thing with building a house or any type of construction project. Do you walk in and tell the contractor what to do and how to do it?
My guess is you don’t do that.
You're paying 1,000s of dollars to have those experts do what they do best. Some have gone to school for what they specialize in and in a lot of cases are licensed. Many have been trained intently while being in the trenches and staying up to date on requirements and best practices.
You let them do their jobs.
When you hire an expert for your business, do you do the same and tell them how to do their tasks? Do you respect them for their knowledge? Did you research them well enough to have confidence in what they're going to do for your business? Do you test their skills by giving them a project and letting them run with it so you can see what the results are?
This is critical, whether you are hiring an admin assistant, a virtual assistant, a social media manager, a marketing strategist, or a branding expert. The list goes on and on.
Working with entrepreneurs and small businesses at SFSB, far too often they tend to tell us what they need, how they need it, and how to go about making it happen.
My advice to entrepreneurs and small businesses is this. When you hire experts or subcontractors, it's important to evaluate the relationship first. The same is true when hiring employees.
Do you trust them? Have you researched them and feel confident enough to say, okay, I'm going to give them a try?
Do you put an agreement in place to work on one project together and see how that goes? Also, do you look at how you communicate with each other?
Are you really a match?
Sometimes, small business owners and entrepreneurs will hire people just to have somebody there. They say to themselves, I've got to have this person. Everybody's working with them, or oh, this person had them or, hey, I just need a warm body to do this, but I know it all and will just tell them what to do.
For the most part, people are looking for employment because they want to do something they love (or are looking to love). They want to make a difference and they would like to be valued for their contributions to your business success.
Make sure you're hiring the right people to support you and your business.
It really makes a difference in the way your business moves forward. You want to build up your team with praise and trust not tear them down by making them feel like they are not valued or respected for their services.
Having a strong sense communication is a must! Make sure your intended results for tasks are understood. There might be more than one way to get there, and your support person might not use YOUR way, but their way works just as well, or even better. Trust that!
As SFSB works with entrepreneurs and small businesses, part of our Marketing Support includes working with teams already in place, or in some cases we help to put a team in place if needed. We have trained many business owners in processes to work with their support teams so everyone is having the best time they can, and relationships remain harmonious.
If you have any questions or need any feedback on what you've been doing, I'm happy to speak with you. Give me a call or contact me. All the information is on this page.
I invite you to go over to StrategiesForSmallBusinesses.com and download the Branding and Purpose Checklist. This will help you work through the questions you need to answer and really helps you have a focused dive into all of your Branding.
If you have any questions, remember we're always here for you. Just utilize the question button on the website and will get back to you.
Thank you
if you want more from Strategies For Small Businesses, #SFSB, stay connected by subscribing to our list and connecting in Facebook https://www.facebook.com/sfsbagency
We’d love to work with you in building your support team, whether it's SFSB or another company. We specialize in working as part of a team and building those relationships.
We look forward to hearing from you so you can work with an expert to help you grow your business!
To gain access to more free strategies for small businesses, or to stay connected, visit our website at StrategiesForSmallBusinesses.com. Connect with us on Facebook. https://web.facebook.com/sfsbagency
If you have any questions, need any support, or you need any ideas, feel free to reach out to us on the form provided HERE. We're here to support you.
2. You can also use the button and set up a quick call with me. It's absolutely free. I'd love to talk with you if you have questions about anything.
The biggest thing to make note of and always remember is this: don't hesitate to reach out when you need support! You don’t have to do it all alone, or become an expert on every working item, marketing plan, nurturing cycle, and tech piece in your business. Focus on your clients and get help with the rest!
Connect with us on Facebook as well:
https://www.facebook.com/sfsbagency
Register to get your Branding and Purpose Worksheet
