The Five Signs You’re Ready To Hire Into Your Solo Authority Business

At some point in the evolution of your authority business, you’ll start asking yourself whether it’s time to hire help.

It might be as simple as sourcing a flexible VA to help you to keep operating as a high-functioning solo.

Or it might be as complex as hiring your first mini-me to start leveraging the work you’re bringing in (and incent you to go get more).

So how do you know when you’re ready?

Try using these five signs as your mile markers—just be sure you meet ALL of them.

Sign #1: You’re doing tasks you can outsource to free you for higher-level work.

Maybe you’re thinking that you could grow faster (or enjoy your life a whole lot more) if you had the right help. It’s why we hire VAs to manage social media or deal with behind the scenes admin tasks.

But you might also be considering adjusting your solo model to allow for another kind of leverage: say leveraging project work with a mini-me or a sales resource.

Being clear on WHY you’re hiring will get you focused on what you’ll need to do differently to make this work.

Sign #2: You see a clear path to (net) revenue with this new skillset.

While we can’t measure everything in revenue—your first VA hire might be more about improving the quality of your day—we ignore it at our peril.

That’s why I recommend bullet-pointing a 3-6 month one page plan (that you’ll ultimately share with your new hire) to ensure you’re 100% clear on the impact of this decision on your revenue and profit.

Even better? Best guess, optimistic and worst case, so you’re prepared for whichever way this goes.

The two questions you want to answer: how long will this take to be profitable and what signpost(s) will tell you it’s working (or not)?

Sign #3: You have enough cash flow to tide you over until newbie turns a profit.

All the brilliant plans in the world do you no good if you haven’t got the cash flow to fund them. And you don’t want to be “that guy” who hires someone and then realizes they can’t make payroll.

When you’re laying out your 3-6 month plan, look hard at your cash flow—if your new hire is a revenue generator, what’s the spread between the time you pay them and your client pays you?

Is there a better—yet still fair—way to align the two?

Sign #4: You will dedicate the time to support newbie to be successful.

Make no mistake. The second you hire anyone—even a VA who will take things off your plate—your life as a solo has changed forever.

Expect to spend time guiding, coaching and communicating to help both of you make this new arrangement work. And you’ll need some at least rudimentary systems, e.g. how will you share client information?

If this is simply your first step in a larger plan to grow with employees, then it’s also your opportunity to design a system that will scale.

Sign #5: You have a clear plan to grow the business

You’ve already made sure this decision makes sense from a revenue standpoint—now ensure you’ve thought through the long-term impact on your business.

How will this role contribute to where you want to go? What expectations must be met—by you and them—to fulfill your vision?

If you’re not hitting all five of these signs, you’re better off waiting then pushing a decision you’re not ready for.

But if you are ready—why not enjoy the ride? Finding the right partners to grow your firm is a worthy quest.

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