Growing a business isn’t something you can do alone. In our Team Truth series my team and I are giving you the inside scoop on building the right support to get you to your goals, and today I’m sharing Part 4 in our Team Talk series.

Like every part of your business, the way you show up when hiring and managing a team is a huge reflection of your own personal growth, and will bring you some really important lessons.

This week, Jana and I started with a really common question from entrepreneurs beginning to build a team, about hiring when you have a small budget. Even if you already have some support in place, you might be planning a new project or launch and wondering how you can get the team you want with what you’ve got.

You might be surprised about the way your thinking on the subject is getting in the way.

If what we all want are truly engaged, committed, talented team members working to their strengths, then how can we facilitate that and bring that into our reality?

These are big questions and I think you’ll love the insight Jana brings. Enjoy the video!

Team Truth Series Part 4 (Of 5): How To Hire Right With A Small Budget

Darla: Hi, guys. Darla and Jana here again. We are today in our cabana. Woo!

Jana: Yes.

Darla: Again… Nice view! Jana wanted to address one of the other questions that was posted in the forum, which was about how do you hire when you have a small budget?

Jana: Yeah. I think, there was more than one question on that and what I see is: don’t assume necessarily that your budget is small.

Because that’s going to set you up right away to put a barrier between hiring. Just say: this is what I’ve got, what can we accomplish with that? It’ll be fine. Just go with what you’ve got. Start now. Hire someone. Whatever your budget is, is what it is.

Darla: I would say, when you’re thinking of a limited budget, you’re not thinking of growing. You’re actually thinking of staying the same. You have to hire for where you’re going. If you have a goal of a six figure business, for example, you should immediately … What is that? 8,300 a month. You should be investing at least $1,000 dollars a month in support from the start if that’s your goal, because otherwise you won’t get there.

See the thing is, here’s what I see, is people see … Oh gosh, I’m going to rant now, you guys! People see support as a pair of hands to do the stuff they don’t have time to do. First of all, that’s demeaning. Second of all, you’re not looking at the big picture that you’re hiring someone so you can grow. So they can do the things that you don’t have time to do so you can work with clients that make you money.

If you’re hiring someone feeling like “Well, I just need them to get things done” and you’re not wanting to be responsible for what those things are, you’re not looking at that person as a human being who has skills and goals and talents and attributes and all of that – you’re going to miss the boat. You’re going to miss their skill set. Right?

I worked in corporate and I led teams there, so I think I’ve always been a bit of a better client than most in this space who haven’t. I’ve definitely been there where I’ve been frustrated like, “Oh my gosh, I’m paying this person all this money and what are they doing? I don’t get it!”

I totally have hired people who said they were an expert in something and then they really don’t have the skill to back up what they’re charging and what they say they can do. I’ve totally had those experiences. You’ve got to make a gut feel call on whether you’re willing to invest in that person and that relationship, because you’ve either go to pull out of them what they’re good at – like really get clear and pull it out of them what they’re good at –

Jana: We’ve done some of that.

Darla: Yeah. A lot of that. And help give them what they’re good at and help them focus on what they’re good at, or you need to let them go. Right? And find someone else. I mean, you just you’ve got to decide: Am I willing to invest in this or not? Does this person have the skill and maybe they just don’t know how to use it?

Here’s what happens for VAs is, a lot of times they think that you need everything and so they think that they should say they’re good at everything because that’s what they know you need, but they’re really not. Nobody is! People want to hire one person to do everything. But if you think about it, one person can’t be good at editing the details of your campaign and getting all the links right, and also supporting your clients and having conversations with them. They’re different parts of the brain. They’re different skill sets.

You’ve got to be committed to finding what that person is good at and pulling it out of them. It would be great if they knew. It would be great if they’d done their own work and they already knew and they were marketing themselves appropriately and all of that. Let’s think about it, guys. How has it been for you to get clear what you’re good at and talk about it and own it and all of that? You’ve got to accept that people are human and on their own journey.

Jana: Yeah.

Darla: Does that spark anything?

Jana: Yes, it does. Actually when you were first talking about just thinking you’re hiring a pair of hands, what I was seeing there is like this pair of hands is just totally separate from my business. The way that it will work is when you actually include them in the energetic field of your business.

Darla: Yes.

Jana: They are not just someone out there that is dropping something in, it’s actually a part of your business.

Darla: That’s, honestly, that’s why we’re here together in person, so we can create that energy field for the business. That it’s not just me carrying all of it. Obviously I’m seven years into business. I’ve had a couple of team retreats over the years. In the beginning you may not be doing that, but you’ve got to be doing something to have your team care about you and your business.

Also, guys, you’ve got to be real about your skills and your pitfalls. We all have them. If you’re judging your team members like they said they could do this and they can’t, where is that a mirror for you? Right? What are you not being honest about what you can and can’t do. If you’re really honest with them, they’ll know better how to support you. Everybody’s doing their very best with the awareness they have.

Jana: All right.

Darla: That’s what I’ve got!

Jana: Yeah.

Darla: All right, guys. More to come.