It's probably wise to stop doing 20-dollar-an-hour work and consider whether it’s time to make that next (or your first) hire. Here are six signs you’re ready to stop juggling and start delegating to a new hire.

1. You have efficiencies in place.

Before investing in your next new hire, make sure your current team is working to full capacity. If their hours are billable, create a budget for the time spent on each project. You may be able to crank out a job in a day or two, but your team members may not be as confident and experienced as you are. Some may tend to linger on a project when a strict timeline is not in place, thus losing money for the company.

If your team is not billable, ensure all job descriptions are clear, and tasks are completed regularly and efficiently. Studies have found that the average office worker is productive for only about 2 hours and 53 minutes per day.  A Salary.com survey revealed that 89% of employees openly admit to wasting time at work. These employees aren’t necessarily slacking; the human brain is not built to hyper-focus on tasks for a straight 8 hours. Clear directions, breaks, and a boss who leads by example will help mitigate these concerns.

2. You’re doing too much billable work.

If you’re a photographer, designer, landscaper, or any business owner who clocks billable hours, you need to know when it’s beneficial to be on the clock versus growing your business. There are projects only you can do (until your company is profitable enough to replace you). If you’re stuck behind a desk or out in the field most of the time, who will find the next batch of prospects? Who will create and build the long-term vision for your company?

3. You have a proven marketing strategy in place.

There’s no sense in hiring another person, no matter how busy you are in the moment, if you don’t have a way to pay their salary and other expenses. I ask business owners the following question to help them gain a complete perspective on their business’s potential for growth: If you could add another twenty hours (or more) a week to your availability, how quickly, and how much could you grow your business?

Most entrepreneurs reply instantly, suggesting that they could scale quickly. What is your answer? Write down precisely what you would do to bring in more business. This is the foundation for your marketing plan. Work with your coach or mentor to build out the plan with a timeline and projections on growth potential. Now you know how long it will take for you to pay for the extra headcount and sustain the growth.

4. You’ve evaluated affordability.

If you're struggling to cover monthly expenses or carrying high-interest debt with no clear plan to pay it down, hiring may need to wait — or be done strategically (like starting with a part-timer or contractor).

Ask yourself:

• Can your business cover your current operating expenses, including your own compensation?
• Do you have at least three months of payroll saved or a reliable revenue stream to cover it? Your proven marketing strategy can help.

If the answer is “no” to these questions, take a breath. Get clear on your numbers first. A well-timed hire can be your most significant growth move. A premature one? A cash-flow killer.

That said, if you're close — and especially if you're still doing tasks that someone at $20/hour could do — a strategic part-time hire or outsourced contractor might be the bridge between burnout and breakthrough.

5. You have training and onboarding processes in place.

It’s a horrifying experience for the entrepreneur, their team, and their new hire when a new person is plunked down at a desk with no clear definition of their job, goals, and daily tasks. Assign the responsibilities for onboarding and training to yourself or another qualified party:

Create a 30-60-90 Day Onboarding Plan

• Week 1 orientation/training
• Training for key tools and platforms they’ll need to learn
• Goals for each month of their first 90 days
• Regular check-ins for feedback (yours and theirs)
• Add them to payroll and your benefits program if you have one
• Inform them of your PTO policies. (At some point you’ll need an employee handbook)
• Have their computer login credentials ready
• Set up their email and access to the programs and apps they will use

6. You are diligently developing your leadership skills.

Leadership may or may not come naturally to you, but masterful leadership skills are developed with intent, and over time. You can’t define your leadership style without defining your company culture and values first. Read books and blogs, listen to podcasts, but most importantly, work with a leadership and business coach to help you know yourself and who you are as a leader.

All of this might sound like a lot of effort, but ask yourself this: Would you rather spend your time and energy doing low-wage jobs or billable work for little in return or do fewer of these things so you can grow your company, increase your take-home, and actually spend time at home without working?

The post Still Wearing Too Many Hats? How to Know It’s Time for Your Next Hire appeared first on Marla Tabaka.

Today, four years later, Sally’s business employs 15 individuals and generates about five million in gross sales; her salary is generous. Yet, among the growing pains of a small business, achieving equitable pay scales for her employees has been challenging.

It’s not difficult for entrepreneurs to decide what and how to pay themselves, but it’s more challenging as you build your team. How much should you pay employees? How can you keep salaries fair and reflective of experience and contribution? How do you prevent your company from overspending on payroll?

Your first employee comes on board, and you think, hmm, I have about $40,000 remaining in my budget, so that’s what I’ll pay this person. That can work, but then your second, third, and eventually tenth and eleventh employee comes along. The $40,000 you pay your current employee isn’t enough to attract new talent, so you pay them more. This cycle perpetuates itself, and before long, you have a valuable and experienced team member who’s been with you for two or more years, making less than the new person with less experience. Payroll is a mess, and when word gets out, morale is even worse.

Use equitable pay scale ranges to solve this payroll dilemma.

Is it time to grow your team? There are many things to consider, and most entrepreneurs fail to look at the future financial picture before they take this important step. After all, you don’t know what you don’t know, right? Here’s a simple plan to help prevent a division in your culture and a negative balance in your business bank account.

Create an organizational chart.

Looking three to five years into the future, what positions will you hire for to achieve your projected growth? Create a list of job titles (not names of existing employees).

Research pay scales for each listed position in your geographical area. If you are a remote business, you must research the areas where your employees live. Some websites, like payscale.com, charge a fee to keep national and local averages up to date, but as a small business owner, you can use ziprecruiter.com or indeed.com to do your research. There, you can find a scale for the job you intend to fill, from low to high.

Create a pay range for each position.

Now that you know the salary range, separate it into three sections so you have three pay ranges within each pay grade. For a pay grade with a $50,000 salary limit, it might look like this:

$39,000 – $43.500

$43,501 – $47,000

$47,701 – $50,000

Now, assess what skills, experience, and qualities are for each range in your pay scale. For instance, say you’re hiring a coder. You will pay someone right out of school a different wage than someone with three to four years of experience. You’ll pay someone with eight to ten years of experience, eager to help your company grow, and a great fit for your culture, far more than you’d offer the newcomer to the industry.

Now, list the levels of experience. Identify,

• How applicable must the experience be to your industry and goals (how much training is necessary)? Will a software engineer from the banking industry seamlessly fit into your software development company?
• What level of education is the bare minimum your new employee needs?
• What skills would be ideal for each pay grade level? Again, how much training will they require?
• Whether they will manage other employees.

You can identify any markers that apply to your company and industry.

A pay scale will make your payroll system fair and equitable.

As you answer the questions above, you will create a clear, easy-to-understand scale with bullet-pointed qualifications, which is important on many levels. It will:

• Prevent pay bias in the hiring process.
• Take the guesswork out of your process when making an offer.
• Help you offer clarity to employees who ask for unreasonable raises (more on this later).
• Help to prevent your business from overspending on payroll.
• Create a fair and balanced payroll system.

Before you conduct an interview, use the CV and your new system to get a general idea of the pay range for your candidate.

How do you create equity if payroll is already imbalanced?

This pay scale system will prevent future discrepancies, but what if your pay scales are already imbalanced? Using the computer engineer example, what if the person you hired three years ago earns $50,000, but today, you must pay a second person of equal talent and experience $65,000? Unless you are willing to lose your original person, you will have to adjust their pay to match (at the minimum) your new employee. Keep this in mind as you hire new talent; the payroll cost will increase substantially because of this pay adjustment if one is necessary. If your original computer engineer is amenable, you can make this adjustment over time, but you would risk a morale issue.

How to manage raises and promotions.

There are many different types of raises, but I usually suggest that a small business owner focus on only three:

Cost of Living (COLA).

The US Department of Labor determines a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). Since 2021, the increases have been on the rise since living in the US has become more costly. However, just because the Department of Labor says the COLA is 4.5% does not mean you must offer 4.5%. Offer what your company can afford; otherwise, your employees could be at risk if your company struggles financially.

Completion raises.

I often suggest that my clients begin a new employee as a contractor (1099) for about three months before converting them to W-2 status. This tests if the employee and employer are a good match, whether or not the employee can deliver as anticipated, and if the job will keep the person engaged and productive. At the 3-month mark, if you bring your contractor on board, a pay increase is a great show of faith and goes a long way to keep your culture intact.

A completion raise is also applicable to goal completion and increased education experiences. A significant raise is certainly appropriate if your team member completes a training program or returns to school for an applicable degree. When you do a performance review and offer a list of goals to an employee, a raise may be in order once they successfully achieve the goals. Large project completion may merit a bonus or increase in pay.

Merit raises.

Each time you do an employee performance review, giving them goals and suggestions for advancing skills, education, or goals is wise. This is the time to discuss how they get along with other employees and customers. As they achieve these benchmarks, a merit raise is advisable. Hitting benchmark years at your company is another reason for a merit raise.

Side note: Many small business owners neglect ongoing or annual employee feedback. Remember this: Your employees are your number-one asset. Do not neglect them or fail to acknowledge them. In terms of importance, they come first.

Promotions.

Too often, I hear that employers add to the responsibilities of their employees without proper compensation. This is especially true when an employee is asked to manage others. The salary for a manager is higher than someone whose responsibilities end at their own performance. Promotions are based on performance, need, and team members' ability and willingness to grow.

Generally, reviewing pay structures regularly is a good idea to ensure that all employees are paid at levels comparable to those for similar positions in the market. Keep your team members happy and engaged, and your life will get easier—your business will be more profitable!

The post Fair Compensation Blueprint: How Small Business Owners Can Build Equitable Pay Scales appeared first on Marla Tabaka.

Experts will tell you to hire employees to take the load off so you can focus on business growth. As a business coach, I often suggest that clients onboard employees as they scale. However, a few key components must be in place before you expand your team.

Most often, small business owners skip over game-changing business-building steps because they're too occupied to put thought into them, but this lack of diligence always backfires.

Don't be that small business owner.

You decide it's time to take the plunge and hire your first (or next) employee. You think about what that person can do and how much time a new hire will free up for you. So, you whip up a job posting or spread the word through your community, and, voila, you find someone. You ask the standard interview questions, size them up, and perhaps check a reference or two, and your new employee starts on Monday. Cool!

Or, maybe not so cool. You may think the hard part is done at this point, but that's far from true. At this point, budding entrepreneurs need to learn to think like a leader rather than someone in the trenches. Now, you not only have to protect yourself from failing but also your growing team.

3 ways to set employees up to fail.

1. You don't give your new hire a steady foundation.

You may have a job description, but you don't have any training, implementation processes, or written documentation in place. Without a solid foundation, you throw your new person into the deep end without a raft. Rescuing your employee is time-consuming and frustrating; it was easier when you were solo!

Many entrepreneurs put these oversights in the category of employee empowerment and tell themselves they will not be a micro-manager. Really, this belief only serves to make the business owner feel better, but you can't hide behind it for long. Empowerment is built upon solid training and an understanding of the company's signature goals and direction. Your employee may attempt to do things right, but without consistent guidance and processes in place, they will struggle and most likely fail to meet your needs. There's a big difference between micro-managing and providing your team with education, support, and training.

2. You're unclear about your small business's growth vision.

Entrepreneurs have plenty of ideas for future growth and expansion. The problem appears when all these ideas merge murkily, causing a lack of clarity, confusion, and overwhelm . These murky waters lead to a team that also lacks clarity and feels overwhelmed and confused by your inconsistent leadership and direction. You may hire for the wrong positions and skill sets, leaving you with one or more team members who may be decent employees but cannot grow your small business with you. They just won't be a good fit for your ultimate vision.

3. You have not designed your company culture.

You have yet to think about what you want your company culture to look like or what values will guide you to that goal. Understanding your company and personal values to design an internal and client-facing culture gives you a roadmap for everything you do, including who and why you hire. For instance, if you hold a value that indicates honesty, integrity, or trustworthiness and hire a salesperson who promises anything to get the sale, you will have very unhappy customers. This person will also cause conflict with other team members who do represent your culture of integrity.

You don't know what you don't know about growing your small business.

Leadership development is a new stage of growth for most small business owners, and this process has many layers. While it may not seem apparent, your leadership abilities need to kick in before you hire employees, not after. It is difficult for most people to figure out how to

1. Make the time to develop processes, identify culture goals, and develop a vision
2. Get your ideas out of your head and into play
3. Gain clarity about the what, how, and why
4. Implement your ideas
5. Just about everything else!

This educational piece of professional and self-growth is why business coaches and mentors exist. No, you don't know what you don't know, and you're not meant to do it alone. Surround yourself with a supportive team of non-employees before you become an employer, and you will save yourself much disappointment, money, and time!

Are you interested in growing your business to add more freedom, security, and well-being into your life? Please contact me to see if I can help. Let’s chat and learn more about one another!

The post 3 Ways Small Business Owners Set New Employees Up to Fail appeared first on Marla Tabaka.

My clients achieve their goals, but for some, the reality of growing their small business is much different than they imagined. Here's the startling truth. There are several points within the process where you may question your decision to scale. You might even feel an overwhelming need to dial it back or give up. I often help my clients through these stages, and, fortunately, nearly all of them plow through until they feel good about their choices again.

To lessen or avoid the negative emotional impact of scaling your small business, here are a few questions to ask yourself as you create your plan.

1. What do I need to do now to reduce my stress later?

When small business owners are knee-deep in problems, the idea of becoming a true leader who works on the vision instead of the day-to-day operations sounds exciting and fulfilling. Still, you'd be surprised by how often entrepreneurs miss the simplicity of being the business when they initiate a growth model. Some wish they'd never hired employees and taken on more business because it now feels even more overwhelming than when they did it alone. This negative experience of expansion usually comes from poor planning and a skewed vision of the path to success.

It's wise to initiate your progression in phases and have a plan in which your function is clearly and realistically outlined for each process stage. It's also wise to accept that sometimes you'll take two steps forward and one step back. Growth is not a linear process.

To minimize the growth pains, consider these points:

• Avoid making personal or professional travel plans within six months of bringing on new employees. Training takes time. In fact, you're likely to feel more overwhelmed by all the training than you did before hiring help. Don't expect your new people to run the business in your absence until they can perform the job skillfully.
• You'll probably need new business to support payroll but be cautious about how much you add to the workload for at least a few months. Even if your new person or people have the skills to do the job, not all skills translate seamlessly from company to company. They still need plenty of your attention. Don't spread yourself too thin, or you'll resent your choice to build a team.
• Outsource work that doesn't need to be done internally, like bookkeeping, payroll, and freelance labor. Do this before you hire anyone else so you're not bogged down by managing more than one transition at a time.
• If you are offloading tasks to your new hire, begin documenting the steps in writing or doing videos before hiring anyone. Loom.com is an excellent resource for making your training videos. You will still need to provide additional training, but your new person will have documentation to check their work.

2. Am I a great communicator who listens, demonstrates patience, and understands the varying needs of different personality types?

Sometimes entrepreneurs make terrible bosses. There, I said it! If you are a creative, innovative visionary, you'll probably be the worst kind of boss. You don't like boots-on-the-ground activities like hiring, training, and building expansive systems to support your growth. One of the new leaders' most damaging mistakes is neglecting detailed, frequent, and thoughtful communication with their teams.

Never assume that any process is “just common sense” because the knowledge you possess is uncommon. There was a time when you only communicated with clients; now, you'll have more communication points, which creates a greater likelihood of error. Employing others will offer you every opportunity to learn patience and expertly communicate, but you may need a hand.

Hire a business coach who can help you grow your emotional intelligence and communication skills, learn patience, and create realistic expectations of yourself and others.

3. Do I have a skewed perspective on life balance?

A conversation with Jack Canfield offered insight about wealthy entrepreneurs that's useful to share with my clients with less wealth. Despite his success and wealth, the Chicken Soup for the Soul co-author still works fourteen-hour days for days and weeks on end. He said that when he's working on a new book or another big project, he locks himself away in his library and has very little contact with others. But then, when he sends that book to his publisher, he's off to Hawaii with his family for an extended vacation. Life returns to a pleasant balance until the next big project comes along.

Life balance is rarely about day-to-day perfection in your schedule. Look at balance as a whole life experience, not a daily part of your life. There will be periods when your personal life goes by the wayside, and there will be times when you experience the bliss of leaving everything behind to spend time doing the things you love outside of work.

Scaling your small business comes with its ups and its downs. Proper planning and an informed outlook will make the downs fewer and more manageable—but there's one last thing. Don't believe you have to do this alone! There are countless resources and people out there to reduce the burden and help you make the best decisions for you.

***Let's chat! We will investigate whether or not I can help you grow your small business with less stress and more success!***

The post You Want to Grow Your Small Business. 3 Tips So You Don’t Regret It appeared first on Marla Tabaka.

Experts will tell you to hire employees to take the load off so you can focus on business growth. As a business coach, I often suggest that clients onboard employees as they scale. However, a few key components must be in place before you expand your team.

Most often, small business owners skip over game-changing business-building steps because they're too occupied to put thought into them, but this lack of diligence always backfires.

Don't be that small business owner.

You decide it's time to take the plunge and hire your first (or next) employee. You think about what that person can do and how much time a new hire will free up for you. So, you whip up a job posting or spread the word through your community, and, voila, you find someone. You ask the standard interview questions, size them up, and perhaps check a reference or two, and your new employee starts on Monday. Cool!

Or, maybe not so cool. You may think the hard part is done at this point, but that's far from true. At this point, budding entrepreneurs need to learn to think like a leader rather than someone in the trenches. Now, you not only have to protect yourself from failing but also your growing team.

3 ways to set employees up to fail.

1. You don't give your new hire a steady foundation.

You may have a job description, but you don't have any training, implementation processes, or written documentation in place. Without a solid foundation, you throw your new person into the deep end without a raft. Rescuing your employee is time-consuming and frustrating; it was easier when you were solo!

Many entrepreneurs put these oversights in the category of employee empowerment and tell themselves they will not be a micro-manager. Really, this belief only serves to make the business owner feel better, but you can't hide behind it for long. Empowerment is built upon solid training and an understanding of the company's signature goals and direction. Your employee may attempt to do things right, but without consistent guidance and processes in place, they will struggle and most likely fail to meet your needs. There's a big difference between micro-managing and providing your team with education, support, and training.

2. You're unclear about your small business's growth vision.

Entrepreneurs have plenty of ideas for future growth and expansion. The problem appears when all these ideas merge murkily, causing a lack of clarity, confusion, and overwhelm . These murky waters lead to a team that also lacks clarity and feels overwhelmed and confused by your inconsistent leadership and direction. You may hire for the wrong positions and skill sets, leaving you with one or more team members who may be decent employees but cannot grow your small business with you. They just won't be a good fit for your ultimate vision.

3. You have not designed your company culture.

You have yet to think about what you want your company culture to look like or what values will guide you to that goal. Understanding your company and personal values to design an internal and client-facing culture gives you a roadmap for everything you do, including who and why you hire. For instance, if you hold a value that indicates honesty, integrity, or trustworthiness and hire a salesperson who promises anything to get the sale, you will have very unhappy customers. This person will also cause conflict with other team members who do represent your culture of integrity.

You don't know what you don't know about growing your small business.

Leadership development is a new stage of growth for most small business owners, and this process has many layers. While it may not seem apparent, your leadership abilities need to kick in before you hire employees, not after. It is difficult for most people to figure out how to

1. Make the time to develop processes, identify culture goals, and develop a vision
2. Get your ideas out of your head and into play
3. Gain clarity about the what, how, and why
4. Implement your ideas
5. Just about everything else!

This educational piece of professional and self-growth is why business coaches and mentors exist. No, you don't know what you don't know, and you're not meant to do it alone. Surround yourself with a supportive team of non-employees before you become an employer, and you will save yourself much disappointment, money, and time!

Are you interested in growing your business to add more freedom, security, and well-being into your life? Please contact me to see if I can help. Let’s chat and learn more about one another!

The post 3 Ways Small Business Owners Set New Employees Up to Fail appeared first on Marla Tabaka.