Alight, my loves, today’s episode is another one brought to by popular demand – aka the recurring themes that come up on my weekly group coaching and 1:1 mentorship calls.

Whenever I see the same questions/topics/feedback/concerns pop up more than once a week, I know it’s time to bring it to the mic and break it down.

And this week, the recurring theme was all about our most valued resource…nope, not money…TIME

If you’re ready to learn how to delegate to elevate your business, tune into The Next Level Social Podcast!

Time Is A Resource

As entrepreneurs, and even as humans, time is our most valuable resource. 

One me and my girls didn’t seem to have enough of it.

When this happens in our businesses, home, and personal lives, it can begin to pile up, and the overwhelm can creep in. And as we all know, this can lead to one terrifying thing—burnout and health problems. 

So – after spending 12 years running multi-million dollar companies, hiring, firing, growing and scaling – and now doing the same for my biz there is one thing I have learned for 100% certain, which is…

To elevate your business, you need to be willing to delegate. Period. Dot. 

Delegation

Trying to do everything yourself is a serious recipe for disaster, or at the very least, just you staying tiny – and nobody has time for that.

Now, I am very aware that not everyone listening to today’s episode may be in the season or stage of their business where hiring support is necessary. But this episode still applies- no matter where you’re at in your business, delegating and hiring should be the end goal.

So learn what you can so you can start to plan and think about the future badass boss you’re meant and born and GOING to be – ok?

Outsourcing Worries

Thinking about hiring and outsourcing tasks in our business and our lives can feel scary

• No one is as good as I am at X
• I don’t want to spend the money when I can do it myself and do it better
• I’m creative, and this is my art
• Hiring and onboarding someone is another job that I’ll have to do

I can hear alllll of the limiting beliefs coming through the screen!

And this is exactly what my girls were saying to me this week, and I get it. I hear you. But scaling requires an initial sacrifice for realized gains! It takes losing control and pushing through growing pains to reach new heights in life and business. 

You Can Do It All, But Should You?

One of my clients is an incredible photographer – insanely good – booked daily from now until the new year – revenue and the demand aren’t the issues for her, it’s time.

She’s shooting weddings, mini sessions, engagements, you name it – she’s saying yes – her work ethic is unreal.

But she’s burnt the eff out – editing, booking, sending contracts, answering emails, doing social media content, and trying to scale with a course… And so much more. 

This woman has busted her chops for ten years – her business is solid – and it’s time to scale. So I’m going to tell you what I told her, and I’m also going to tell you what she told me

• She’s exhausted
• Overwhelmed
• Feeling guilty for not spending time with her family
• Afraid someone else can’t do it as she does it (her editing is her specialty)
• No time to hire someone
• Not wanting to invest 

Let’s break it down

So let’s break this down because I know so many of us can relate and or be in a similar place in our businesses. 

I say this all the time, and I’m going to repeat it, if you can’t take yourself out of your business, you don’t have a real business. 

Yikes…I know. This hurts.

This is why I always preach two things, and now three today.

You need recurring revenue, multiple sources of income, and delegation. AND (at least 2 that have nothing to do with you and are automated – aka, you’re making money in your sleep)

Step By Step

So, Ayla – how do I even begin to do this? Well, I’m going to tell you.

1. Start by writing a list of everything you do on a daily/weekly basis to keep your business and personal life running…I mean everything
2. Break this list down into Things I like doing, Things I shouldn’t be doing, Things I do not want to do, AND how much time you’re spending on each task – this is important. 
3. Then break down the things you shouldn’t be doing or don’t want to be doing into specific categories (admin, content, personal, marketing, financial, customer service)

This will give you a high-level overview of where your time is going and where you can start looking for help.

Usually, the first things you can start to think about offboarding are admin tasks. Such things like:

• Email
• Customer service responses (intake forms, DMs, support inbox)
• Primary content – newsletters, social copy

So take a look and see where you’re spending the most time and where you no longer need to be

Hiring

Once you see where the majority of your time is going, you can see what you could be delegating first – aka a VA, a copywriter, a social media manager, an editor, etc.

I usually take it to social media to promote the role I am looking for with a basic description – I trust my audience and network the most, and referrals are always vital for me.

You can always put together a job description and throw something out on indeed/Upwork/fiver/LinkedIn.

Once you get some inquiries, I am big on making sure this person is a good fit. I set up a call with 3-4 candidates, gave them an interview, and gave them a mini-test assignment. This is standard practice and can help ensure you’re choosing the right person.

Analyze their communication skills, how quickly they respond, how fast they do the assignment, and IF they even do the task. You would be surprised how many won’t do it, will be late, or don’t even know how to do the job even though they said they did.

From there, finding your unicorn will be SO much more straightforward – trust me.

Instructions and Organization

For each of these tasks you want to start offloading, I want you to start thinking about creating instructions around how you want them to be done – this is why creating processes and systems in your business is crucial.

The idea is that you want anyone to be able to come into your business and be able to learn the ins and outs and take things off your plate without you – don’t let this stress you out; it can be ongoing in the beginning. 

I’m big on creating videos rather than writing things out. 

You can either screen record a process OR, if this is your first time onboarding a teammate – when you train them, record the session so you can use it later. 

The goal is to create a process – a repeatable system that you can use over and over.

Of course, in the beginning, you’ll need to train and do a little hand holding & overseeing…and expect some mistakes…this is normal, and they will get better. 

We all know what it’s like learning a new role and business…it will take a minute but shouldn’t take longer than 4-6 weeks, depending on the complexity of your workflows. 

A great example is if you’re hiring an assistant or VA. You want her to handle your inbox – for the first few weeks, you can have her CC with all the communications so you can make sure she’s getting your voice, and tone, and then offer suggestions and feedback if there’s anything that needs adjusting. 

Setting Expectations and Deliverables

This one is SO huge. You want to ensure that these two pieces are clear right out of the gate! It’s so important!

Having the role duties mapped out, deadlines set in place, KPIS mapped out – all of these things not only help your new hire, but they also help you, so you stay on track and make sure that you’re profiting on their work and hitting the goals in your business. 

For example, if you hire a salesperson to help you close sales calls – you both must know the number of leads that need to be booked per week/month. That way, you both have a number and a goal to work from.

Or, if you hire someone to help you respond to comments and DMs, I would also try to put a sales number here. 

You want them working towards numbers and goals for everything they are doing.

This also goes for communication/hours/availability – this one is so huge and important to be clear from the start.

The last thing you want is for your new hire to feel like you’re not respecting their time or boundaries and vice versa – so ask – when are you available to work? How would you like me to contact you? Here’s when you can contact me – be super crystal clear and on the same page. 

Treat Your People Well

This one is so important. I have been on both ends of this – I’ve done a lot of hiring and firing, and I’ve also worked for lots of businesses and brands – especially lots of female solopreneurs.

I know what it feels like to give, give, give and not be compensated properly and to feel taken advantage of. I also know what it feels like to have someone work for me and not follow through.

These things happen, and it’s normal, but the biggest thing is communication. I recommend having meetings and check-ins – ask your people what’s working and what’s not. Ask them what they like and what they don’t like about the work. 

• Give them more of what is in their genius zone
• Empower them
• Promote them when possible
• Increase their pay if you’re going to increase their work-load
• Be respectful, kind and freaking appreciative – it goes a long freaking way

Pesonal Life

Last but not least, I also want you to do this for your personal life.

Again, this may not apply to you in your business and life now, but it will one day.

What are things in your day-to-day personal life you’re spending the most time on – what do you no longer want to do:

• Cook
• Clean
• Laundry
• Drive your kids somewhere
• Homework

There is a role for everything in life; everything can be handed off when time allows it.

Maybe it’s time to have a cleaner come in once a month?

Or maybe you need to get your kid a tutor?

The more we hand off, the more we will allow space for ourselves to show up in our genius zone, to make space for the things we should be doing – AKA revenue-generating things – and the more we will thrive in both our businesses and our personal lives.

Trust me – I’ve seen it, done it, and know it to be true.

I am so thankful for my two ride-or-die contractors – they take so much off my plate, and I truly wouldn’t be able to run my business without them.

Okay, My Loves!

I so hope you found this helpful, and I can’t wait to see you all start to delegate to elevate

Until next week. Love ya, queen! Xo

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