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I work with a lot of financial advisors and business owners. One thing I’m repeatedly surprised by is the fact that so many people feel this overwhelming need to go it alone. Honestly, that’s just about the worst thing you can do for yourself and for your business. Nobody should have to shoulder the burden of running their business all by themselves. It doesn’t matter how much you like to be in control of the small details of your business. Refusing to outsource or seek guidance from other professionals is silly and could hurt you in the long run.
THE CASE FOR BUILDING A DREAM TEAM
Let’s get the obvious out of the way: doing everything in your business is stressful and exhausting. There is no way you can be your best self, in your professional and personal life, if you go it alone. In fact, you likely won’t even have time for a personal life as your business starts to grow. It’s a struggle to keep up, and it’s easy to be tempted to “DIY” all the time to keep costs down. However, your personal sanity isn’t the only thing that stands to benefit from having a dream team to back you up.
The “going it alone” mentality can be detrimental to your business. Let’s look at the big picture. What services does your business provide? If you’re a financial advisor, I bet you’re a rock star planner. If you’re a business owner, I’m sure you are the world’s best at what you do, and that nobody knows your niche like you do. Your role in your business should primarily be to do what you’re amazing at. Your role should not be getting marred down in social media scheduling, writing content, putting together marketing campaigns, or tracking invoicing and follow-up emails.
I’m not saying that you won’t sometimes do those things – that’s inevitable, you’re a business owner! Wearer of all the hats! Still, the more you can outsource those tasks, the more you can do what you do best – provide awesome, valuable services. That means more profit, more client outreach, and a more successful business model. So, how do you start setting up a dream team? Who in the world do you need? I’ve put together this pick-and-choose roster – you don’t need to have everyone on it as part of your team. Select who you think you’d benefit from working with! It can really benefit your business to spend a few days focusing explicetly on your dream team and how you interview, onboard, and train potential team mates. In fact, next month XYPN's Xcelerate conference is all about building your dream team!
PLAYER 1: VIRTUAL ASSISTANT
The beauty of having a virtual assistant is you can find someone who fits your exact needs. Whether that’s sending follow up emails, scheduling social media posts, cleaning up your invoicing, maintaining your scheduling system and calendar, or even writing blog posts for your site – there is a virtual assistant out there who can help you out. It’s especially nice to be able to outsource oddball admin tasks, like updating documents in your Dropbox or Drive, or putting together holiday thank you gifts for your clients.
PLAYER 2: BOOKKEEPER OR ACCOUNTANT
Having to chase down clients who forget to pay you on time is easily the least pleasant part of any business owner’s job. It also totally impacts your relationship with that client! Are you as likely to go above and beyond or even perform at your best for a client who’s late paying you? Yeah, that’s what I thought. Having a bookkeeper or accountant who is comfortable following up with clients on late payments, adjusting invoices to reflect late fees, or, if need be, arranging to send them to collections in a worst-case scenario is invaluable. You want to treat everyone equally when you work with them, and it’s impossible to stay objective if you know someone is neglecting to pay you. Having a bookkeeper helps keep you at arm’s length from the accounts receivable side of the business.
PLAYER 3: SOCIAL MEDIA SPECIALIST
Scheduling social media can be fun if you enjoy that kind of thing, but it can also be time consuming. A social media specialist knows the best times to post, how to structure a social media campaign, and what kind of content performs. I find that having a social media specialist is especially valuable if you’re messing around with over three platforms. Anytime you start marketing yourself on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, and all the other channels available to you it’s nice to have someone on the ball and organized. Makes falling off the consistent-posting wagon much less difficult!
PLAYER 4: FIDUCIARY FINANCIAL PLANNER
Yes, I recommend you work with a financial planner even if you are a financial planner. It’s incredibly difficult to stay objective when it comes to your own finances, especially if there are business finances involved. Hook yourself up with a fiduciary financial planner to erase any of that additional stress or pressure. You’ll be in control of your finances, managing cash flow effectively, and mediating the worry you feel surrounding money-questions. Why fiduciary? Because they work with your best interest in mind. It’s a win-win.
PLAYER 5: BLOGGER OR COPY WRITER
I’m a big advocate of producing consistent, quality content for your business. Whether that’s through blogging, publishing articles on LinkedIn, or just updating your site regularly, having a writer on your team can be a game changer. They know what type of content converts, how to add value through the written word, and the best way to showcase what you do. Plus, who doesn’t want to skip the stressful, “What if my writing sucks?!” feeling every time you sit down to write a blog post yourself?
PLAYER 6: BUSINESS COACH
This is kind of a shameless plug, but I wouldn’t do what I do as a business coach if I didn’t 100% believe in the value we bring to the table. Business coaches are butt-kicking cheerleaders who can provide you with a huge spectrum of services. We kick your butt when it comes to accomplishing tasks you hate, encourage you when you feel anxious, help you to structure your time, grow your business, keep you organized, advise on expanding your team, and so, so much more.
In fact, we can even help you decide who belongs on your business’s dream team to maximize your efficiency and find more success. If you’re looking to add people to your team and don’t know where to start, schedule a meeting with me today. I’d love to help you figure out how outsourcing can benefit your business!
About Arlene Moss, Executive Coach
Arlene gets a kick out of helping financial advisors get over being overwhelmed and take on their frustrations so their businesses soar. Arlene works to ensure XYPN members are able to help their clients prosper while creating a sustainable business model. Through XYPN Academy and one-on-one coaching, members get the support they need to grow their businesses and overcome the challenges that come their way.
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