When you start your business, you will have to do everything yourself. But as soon as you begin selling and delivering your products and services, you will need help. So how do you decide which people you need? How do you select them, delegate to them and supervise them? Fortunately, these questions have been asked and answered successfully millions of times. One of the most important of all business principles is thinking on paper. Success begins with a pad of paper, a pen, and you. Make a list of every step or function necessary for you to create, acquire, market, sell, deliver, get paid, and service your product. What are the steps from beginning to end? Instead of writing a job description, write a function description. Each job is made up of one or more functions.
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For example, when someone phones your office in response to an advertisement, the functions may include:
- Answering the phone
- Identifying the problem or need of the customer
- Transferring the call to the proper person
- Making the sale
- Taking the information for a sales call.
- Processing the order.
- Shipping the product.
- Collecting payment or billing for the product.
- Accounting for the sale.
- Arranging to replenish the inventory.
- Reporting the sale to the business owner and so on.
Some of these functions can be done by one person, and some of these functions have to be done by two or more. When you start off, many functions will be combined into a single job. The proper performance of each of these functions will determine the efficiency and effectiveness of your entire business. In thinking about hiring someone to work for you, start with yourself.
How much do you want to earn each month and each year from your business? Select an annual income goal for yourself and divide that number by 2,000, the number of hours that the average business owner works in his or her business each year. By dividing your annual income goal by 2,000, you will get your hourly rate. From now on, you use your hourly rate as a benchmark when you think about hiring other people or outsourcing specific functions to other companies.
- Rule. You should never do work at your desired hourly rate, so you can hire someone else to do it at a lower hourly rate.
If your annual income goal, for example, is $100,000 divided by 2000 and you have your hourly income goal of $50 per hour. At least at the beginning, the only thing that pays $50 an hour initially is customer acquisition. It is prospecting, presenting, and closing sales. It is finding and getting people to buy and pay quickly. For any job, you should hire someone who will perform that function at a lower rate than you. If your desired hourly rate is $50 an hour, you can hire a receptionist or secretary to handle the paperwork at $12 an hour. You should always hire a secretary or receptionist.
Many business owners become overwhelmed with work slaving away 10, 12, and 14 hours per day, seven days per week, because they insist upon performing tasks and functions. Someone else could do far less than they aspire to earn when you use your intelligence to hire someone to perform a function for less pay than you desire to earn. You free up more and more of your time to do those things that pay your desired hourly rate and contribute the greatest value to your company.
When I started my website development division and hosting at www.GetOnlineWebHosting.com, part of my company, I did everything building websites, designing work, and acquiring clients many years ago. I attended several online design courses, and one day I realized that I did not have that talent, and I was spending months trying to learn how to be creative. I realized that I was not a good graphic designer, and I decided to outsource this work to a professional graphic designer. That epiphany that my design work was best at the element level paid off because a professional designer increased my business growth; significantly. Additionally, I looked at other parts of my website that could maximize functions and allow me to focus on the growth of the business. Below are some areas I started, increased, or extended to grow my company.
- Home-Based Travel Agent and Independent Booking Agent in my Travel Agency. This allowed me to help those seeking to start a business and make commissions from booking travel for themselves, their family, and friends. You can find this program at Personalized Services International: https://personalizedservicesinternational.com/home-based-agent-benefits/.
- Business and Personal Credit Success with Credit Repair to help those seeking to repair their credit, establish business credit, and grow a business: https://creditrepairandrestoration.com/business-opportunity/
- Business Coaching Partnership. As our affiliate partner, we will compensate you with 25% of the total monthly revenue from every one of your members who enroll in this program… and we will continue to pay you 25% every month for as long as they remain a member. We pay over $40K per month in commissions. And, it saves us money in customer acquisition. It is free to sign up: http://buildingsuccessmarketingacademy.com/partner.
- I created Joint Ventures in eBook publishing, and website owners, in other industries. I added value to these start-ups by helping them create courses and academies that other companies daily operate.
I replaced myself by hiring people who could do jobs at a lower hourly rate than I desired to earn. Today, I have 5 website designers, 2 graphic designers, 3 content writers, 5 home-based travel agents, and 4 Independent Booking Agents working for me, doing jobs and performing functions essential to the smooth running of my business. They all work at lower hourly rates than I do.