Hiring a team for your bookkeeping business is a huge deal! It means you have finally grown your business to the point you need someone else to take work off of your plate. And yet, when you make the decision to hire a team member, it can be scary and overwhelming.
BUT… Hiring a team is something you must do eventually if you want to prevent burnout and cranky clients. After all, without a team, you may find yourself dropping the ball on occasion and that means you are not providing the service you promised to your clients. HUGE NO-NO!
So, let go of your nerves, pull up your big-girl pants, and let’s get you ready to hire a team!
Planning on Hiring a Team? Here’s How to Know You’re Ready!
The Struggles in Your Business
The biggest sign that you are ready to hire a team member is you are struggling in many areas of your business. You have a ton of stuff to do but can’t seem to find enough hours in the day (or night) to get it all done.
This seems simple enough when it comes to know it is time to hire a team. But, as we all know, life, and running a business, is not this cut and dry. It’s messy. It’s complicated. And it is super easy to hire too soon for your business!
Don’t worry! I am going to share how you can uncomplicate this step, so you don’t get it wrong!
Before you even start to think about hiring a team, you must raise your rates. If you don’t, you won’t have enough money to pay yourself and your team members. Well, at least not a fair living wage anyway.
So, think about it. You are completely booked out. You can’t take on any more clients on your own without killing yourself. The easiest thing to do is know your worth and actually bill your worth!
Raise your rates for all of your current clients, and those new clients coming in. Yes, you may lose a few clients. But those are the clients who do not realize the gold mine they are leaving. Remember, you have the expertise and you need to charge for that expertise.
You may need to work a little less after a few clients walk out, but you will still be earning more money for the clients you still have. And guess what?? Your revenue will continue to grow!
Once you have raised your rates, it will be time to make sure you are being as efficient as possible with your work. Simply doing the work as it comes in, not having an onboarding system, and not setting boundaries with your clients is going to get you in trouble later on.
Getting your time management skills under control and running an efficient business are a must before you hire a team.
If you have no clue where to start, I recommend beginning with a client onboarding system. Then work on implementing a project management system. After that, you can create a schedule that will ensure all of your client’s work is completed on time.
Create a Service Delivery System
Once you have all of your time management skills in place and have raised your rates, it is time to implement a service delivery system. This system will ensure every client you have will have their work delivered in the same way.
No more, “I do this for clients one and five” and “I do this for clients two, seven, ten, and twenty” and “everyone else gets it done this way”!
As you are setting up your service delivery system, you will want to make sure you have a workflow for all of the work you complete. The steps for each service you offer should be the same for every client. Those steps will become your SOP (Standard Operating Procedure).
Yes, these steps may vary on occasion when you have a custom job. But the steps shouldn’t vary at all for your regular clients. You may just simply need to add specific details to the workflow to meet the needs of the client.
Know What Role You Need Help With
It is so important to understand what you need help with within your business, so you can hire the right team member. There is no point in hiring a VA if you really need help keeping up with the bookkeeping for your clients.
And yet, there is no need to hire a bookkeeper if you actually need help with tasks a VA can complete for you.
Hiring for the right role will ensure you can delegate the tasks you actually need help with!
So, before you even begin the hiring process, consider the tasks you need the most help with and determine what role should be at the top of your hiring list.
Create a Team Member Onboarding System
Okay, so we have already decided that hiring a team can be overwhelming. What if you created a team member onboarding system? This system will ensure you will follow the exact same process, as you continue to hire more team members in the future.
You can choose what your team member onboarding system looks like. It could include a specific application for potential team members to fill out. Of course, you will want to have the answers to their specific questions ready to go when they ask them.
The possibilities are endless with this, but it is super important if you want to go about the hiring process the correct way. And avoid dragging it out for weeks or months.
So, are you ready to hire a team? Only you know the answer to that! But I can help with my free Systemized Bookkeeping School training. Sign up today and be ready to hire your team tomorrow!