Dream Team on a Budget

Tonya D. 0:00

Are you ready to build a team in your business , but the math just ain't mathing . I mean , you run the numbers and you look at it and you figure there's absolutely no way I can hire the people that I need to hire in order to drive my business forward . Well , in today's episode , we're diving into the most crucial aspect of building a successful business , which is assembling your dream team . But here's the twist we're doing it all on a budget . We are going to explore practical strategies to help you recruit top talent , foster collaboration and drive your business forward without breaking the bank . You ready ? Welcome to the Operations Toolbox podcast . I'm your host , tanya D Harrison . Let's create version 2.0 of your business , and this is the version that is called growth without burnout . So let's get started . Here's the reality While most of us start as solopreneurs , in order to effectively build our business , scale our business , grow our business , our business .

Tonya D. 1:27

Scale our business , grow our business we really need to have support , and that support is in the way of a team . Many of us are able to go years without having a team , but if we really want to see our business grow and we really want to make sure we do it in a way that is not causing us to burn ourselves out . We need to make sure we are bringing people along with us on a journey , and that's a team . The reality of it is there's only 24 hours in a day and you cannot spend the entire 24 hours working in your business . At some point , you are going to have to get relief where you have a support system that includes a team if you're really looking to grow your business . This doesn't apply to people who want to be a freelancer . That's their goal to be a freelancer . That's their goal to be a freelancer . That is fine . But if you are trying to build a business , you are going to need a team , and it can be really difficult to hire a team when you are on a strict budget . Today , we're really going to dig in and share some strategies that you could use to get people that you need that go beyond having just a warm body .

Tonya D. 2:56

The very first thing we want to do is we want to talk about the foundation for your dream team . To talk about the foundation for your dream team . We can't just bring people into any old environment . They need to be brought into a business that is really going to allow them to shine and allow them to thrive . That's what you're hiring them for .

Tonya D. 3:20

The very first thing you want to do is start with a vision , define your business goals and the roles needed to achieve them . Having a clear vision is going to guide you during the hiring process and is going to ensure alignment with your objectives . Again , we are not doing the warm body syndrome . We're not doing that . We want people that are truly in alignment with where it is that we are headed . In order to do that , you have to be crystal clear on your vision and what your goals are , and then you can start to identify the people that you need to come beside you to help you get there .

Tonya D. 4:09

One of the things that I recommend to my clients is to sketch your organization chart . What does it look like ? What do you want it to look like ? This is a part of you creating the vision , casting the vision for your business . If you see yourself an admin assistant , a social media manager , whatever that looks like , put it on paper . The next thing I want you to do is , once you do all of that you have your vision , you have your org chart I want you identify essential skills . Again , we're talking about skills that are needed in order to help you get to where it is you need to go , determine the key skills and expertise required for each role and expertise required for each role . We want to focus on hiring individuals who possess these core competencies to maximize efficiency and effectiveness .

Tonya D. 5:15

Now , now that we've laid the foundation , we know where we're going , we know what we need , we know the skills that we need . We want to write out a job description . What would you like for each of these team members to be responsible for ? One of the things that I want to remind you is you have to be crystal clear in business . Planning is a huge part of business success . This is building the foundation to bring the right person on within your business . Now I want to share with you a couple of different ways that you could bring people in your business that are going to be in alignment with your vision , your objectives and your goals , and they're going to help you take your business to the next level . While all of them may not be free , it is the most cost-effective way I've found to to bring people on board .

Tonya D. 6:21

The first method I want to share with you , or the first strategy I want to share with you is to bother skills or services . This is one that is often overlooked , but I'm not quite sure why you want to look for opportunities to exchange skills or services with other professionals or businesses . This is something that I did initially within my business . This is something that I've done after I even got going in my business . For instance , I have a business bestie who is a I say , a marketing guru . She does marketing and relationship building . I do operations . We have literally bought her services , where she has provided me with marketing support and insight and I have provided her with operations support and insight and I have provided her with operations , insight and services . So we actually have this skill set that we just share amongst each other , and I've done it with other people as well .

Dream Team on a Budget

Tonya D. 7:39

Think about the people that are close to you . Think about the people that maybe have something that you need and you have something that they need and you could literally trade services . Right , it could be whatever your business is . If you do taxes and somebody else does graphic design and websites , you could barter services . Think outside of the box when you are trying to bring people in . That's the first strategy .

Tonya D. 8:12

The second one is your network . Tap into your network . Leverage your personal and professional networks . Think about people that you've worked with in the past , or you can seek referrals and recommendations for potential team members . The benefit to this is you know what you are getting . You've worked with these people . Know what you are getting . You've worked with these people . You know them , you know their work ethic , you know their output . You missed the whole part of going through and looking for somebody and hiring them , and all of that because you already know certain things . Now you just need to make sure that they align with your vision . For instance , my executive assistant . I knew her before we started working together . She actually worked in the church's administrative office . I already knew a lot about her . I knew her work output . I knew her ethics . I knew that she would be someone that would align with my vision . I had the conversation with her , we agreed , and five , six years later , we're still working together . So tap into your network .

Tonya D. 9:35

Option you want to consider is interns or students and local work programs . When it comes to interns or students , this could be a paid intern or a free internship . Either way , you have an opportunity to bring on some very skilled talent if you are willing to do some training . When you are looking for interns or students , you can go to local universities or college . Now , remember , the great thing about them is , aside from bringing in the skills that you need , they often bring fresh perspectives and are willing to work again for lower pay or even free , because they're getting some type of academic credit . When it comes to the local programs within your area , you definitely want to look out for those , because they offer grants to businesses . Some of these local programs will pay the salary of the person that you are bringing on board if you are willing to do some on-the-job training . Some of them may not have a grant , but they have people that have the skills that you need and they are trying to re-enter the workforce or go into a different industry . Either way , you are able to get some valuable talent people that have the skills that you need to perform certain types of jobs , as long as you are willing to do some on-the-job training . This is where your standard operating procedures are going to be extremely beneficial Making sure that you have these when you onboard people , so that you are not using a lot of your time to train . You definitely want to make sure you have these in place , but this is a resource that you want to tap .

Tonya D. 11:31

Interns , students , local work programs Head over to your local university and colleges and check out what they have available . The next strategy is leveraging freelancers or contractors . This is where you're going to go to Fiverr or Upwork or some type of platform that offers a diverse pool of talent at a competitive rate . I have found some really great talent on Fiverr and Upwork . If you have a specific task that needs to be done , you can literally go out and hire someone for that , like I have had people that I've hired to work on my website to do specific things within my business . They complete that task or that project , I pay them and then that's it . You can do the same thing with anything . If you need a flyer created , if you need admin hours , there's different ways that you could get people on board to do specific tasks .

Tonya D. 12:40

So what are the things I want you to do ? Is I want you to really think about again where it is that you're going , what are the skills that you need , who it is that you need to come alongside of you , whether it's long-term or short-term , in order to get you to the next level . So what is that goal that you are trying to achieve and what and who do you need on board to achieve it ? The last thing that I want to talk about is investing in skill development . We have to be always willing to upskill ourselves , and if we have a team , upskill our team .

Tonya D. 13:19

Whether you are going to online courses or workshops , seminars , conferences , whatever it is , you want to put yourself in a state of continuous learning , because this is something else that fosters growth and innovation within your organization , and if you have teams , you want to pass that along to your teams . This may not necessarily be people that are there for a short term , for a project , and things like that . I'm talking about long-term team members . The other thing is you want to empower team autonomy . When you bring team members on , whether it's short-term or long-term you don't want to have to babysit them . You want to be able to give them a certain amount of autonomy . So part of this is making sure that you have the right processes in place so that they are trained accordingly , and then also making sure that you are available to help them along the journey , being available to answer questions or whatever it is that that looks like , and I'll talk more about that in another episode , but with this episode I really want you to start thinking about creative ways that you could start building your team that is not going to break the bank .

Tonya D. 14:49

So really quickly , just going back through Number one , you can bother skills or services . Number two you can hire interns or students or look to your local work programs . Number three you can leverage freelancers and contractors . These are three ways that you can start building your team right now without breaking the bank . As a solopreneur , building your dream team on a budget is not only achievable , but it is essential for your business's success . By leveraging some of the strategies discussed , you can assemble a high performing team that drives your business forward . Remember , it's not about the size of your team , but the quality of the talent and having a shared vision that propels you toward your entrepreneurial dreams . Thanks for tuning in to the Operations Toolbox podcast . Until next time , keep building and thriving .