A one on one training client said to me in 2016 (when I was really just starting to build my business), that having employees and hiring people to help run your business what is the move to make. Because that way, you can be away, or working on the most important things, while your employees essentially run the business.

But having employees and managing people was never something that appealed to me. My personal goal was basically to make my business as big as possible, and as automated as possible without hiring a team. Seven years into it, I mostly still feel that way. But that may change with having a baby. Only time will really tell how much I can manage, and where I need help.

I have one on one business clients who have 5+ employees that work for them as contractors. I am not against building a team, but I think it’s very important to answer this question if you are currently a solo entrepreneur.

So I hope today helps you look at some of your options when it comes to building your “team.”

First we have to think about what constitutes a team when it comes to running a business. For me, it is literally anyone outside of yourself that helps with your business. Whether that be on a daily basis, or a quarterly basis. If you have a book keeper, or an accountant per se, that will be part of your team.

I simply don’t want you to think that having a team means hiring full-time employees. Because that is not required, and it’s also not likely. Think about a team in the way that you would hire an assistant coach, or a virtual assistant, or an operations manager. Even something like hiring a website person. These are all parts of, or can be, part of building a team. So keep that perspective as we go through this episode.

I do believe that to have a successful team, you need to know how to, and want to manage people.

Certainly more than you want to do the work yourself. This is imperative. And if you think you want to have a team but are apprehensive about your management skills, I suggest not only investing in a team, but a coach for yourself that can teach you how to best manage that team. Which really should be a win-win for everyone.

So if you don’t think you want to hire a team, I want you to think about the longevity of your business. I’m not saying you have to hire a team, but maybe you could start with one person. Essentially look at how many tasks you have to complete within your business at its current state. Can you scale that by yourself? That’s the most important thing to look at. Because it is scaling that typically leads to the demand for help. For some level of a team to begin forming. I speak from experience. I never wanted to have a team or manage a team, but I reached a point where I couldn’t continue growing if I went at it alone. And I'm sharing this because it’s probably going to be true for most of you as well. So what happens when you reach your ceiling? If you don’t want to grow, and you only want to maintain, then you may never need to hire a team. And there’s nothing wrong with that. That’s why I say it’s most important to know what you want out of your business. I’ve had clients in the past who just want to make a certain amount of money per month, and not push for substantial growth. I’m all game for that, if you have that clarity. It’s the clarity that I’m encouraging.

If you don’t want to have a team, then the approach would be to automate as much as you possibly can in your business. Now, I encourage this whether you want to hire a team or not, simply because it’s best for efficiency. But it will likely be a necessity if you are not going to hire a team.

If hiring other coaches, or an assistant,