Most service providers start out as the sole provider. Whether you’re an aesthetician, a massage therapist, a house cleaner, an accountant….it is likely that you started your business being the only provider to your clients. But, once you get to a certain level of success, if you’re still seeking growth, then you’re going to want to hire help. You’re going to want to have other people on your team providing the same service as you, at the same quality level as you under the roof of your company.
This is my favorite business model, and how I have run so many of my businesses. Because it works.
It allows:
- growth for your business’s revenue and customer capacity
- more availability and options for the clients
- more variety of talent and personality for your customers to choose from
- creates jobs in your community
- forces an up level for you to expand and grow your mind as a CEO by stepping into the art of hiring people, managing people, and scaling.
I have spoken to and coached hundreds of service providers who shy away from ever hiring someone, *or* if they have already hired someone then often they are stressed out because of one hiccup. One thought. One expectation. And it’s this: “How can I keep my contractors’ schedule filled? I am too concerned I will not have enough clients for them.”
Here are some simple steps to remember:
1) First and most importantly, be upfront with your potential new hire. If you are hiring someone and you know that their schedule will not be filled up initially…. tell them. Be transparent. If you only have enough clients to bring them on 2 days per week at first, make sure they know this. If you think it will take 60 days to create a foundational customer base for them, make sure they know this. Honesty and transparency are the name of the game here.
2) Don’t fall into the obsessive pressure trap of believing you’re responsible for their financial life… It is one thing to really want to book up your contractors schedule because you genuinely want what’s best for them and the business, but it’s a whole other no-no to stress out so hard about it that you can’t sleep and begin making poor decisions for your business. It is not your sole responsibility to make sure they can make their rent. If you start believing this, you will begin making poor decisions: offering discounts for your customers, using the business-killer called Groupons, paying your contractors too much of your business’s profits, bring your stressful energy to your staff, etc. Take a breath. Your contractors can get a second job elsewhere if they MUST. They are grown-ups. They are smart. They are resourceful. Say it with me, “It is my job to provide them with the best possible employment experience at my company, but it is not my job to make sure their ends meet.” (Just remember: you have vocalized to them the expectations at how quickly you can get them booked up. They heard you, they agreed, and they’re prepared. Now go fill their schedule through quality marketing, sound decisions, and strong branding.)
3) You can choose together whether the responsibility of giving them clients lands solely on you or not. It may feel better for the two of you to agree that part of their contract is that they have to put effort into selling their appointment times also…alongside of you. My contractors both inside Massage Strong as well as Hell Yes Coaching have shown to absolutely LOVE feeling like they have a little bit of control over their client base. It may be part of their contract that they will go to networking events, or pass out flyers, post on socials, etc each week. The two of you can make their employment look so many different ways.
4) Consider the possibility that ALL new clients go onto their schedule. Also, consider moving more of your clients onto their schedule. This will allow you to begin stepping into more of a CEO role…a role that will bring you significantly more money in the long run. A role that focuses on business growth, team building, hiring, managing, and marketing.
5) You may feel afraid that you only know how to sell YOURSELF as the expert and are worried your clients don’t want to work with anyone else on your team.
Just remember: 1) You’re only great at selling yourself as the expert because that’s what you’ve been practicing for years. You have to allow yourself time to get good at selling customers to trust your contractors. And 2) you’re not selling your customers to love your new contractor, you’re selling your customers on loving your service. Get this: You can get so good at selling the results your service provides, that your customer doesn’t care WHO provides that service, they just WANT it right now.
At this very moment, I could get on a call with someone and sell them so well on the benefits of deep tissue massage that they wouldn’t care which one of my massage therapists they see, they just want in the door right now.
This has come from practice. This has come from removing myself as the only expert and broadening my focus towards building a team. This only comes from the uncomfort of stepping away from entrepreneur and into the role of CEO.
It can feel unknown and uncomfortable AF to consider team building. But team building is what allows you to create a company…not a side gig. With a team the amount of money your business can make has no ceiling. The amount of time you can spend away from your business has no ceiling. You get to choose how much you work, how much money you make, and how large you want to take this company. The world is your oyster. But only if you get really great at managing, leading, and being an example.
This week’s episode of The Hell Yes Entrepreneur is out today and we go over these exact steps in more detail. To listen, click here.
I will see you next week, my lovely entrepreneurs!
Becca
PS: I am doing a little experimenting. I am changing things up…and my friends, this is big news for those of you who are ready to turn that side gig into a real company and grow the shit out of your business. You ready?
Thirty More enrollment is getting a makeover. For this coming round, we are ditching the 5-day window to apply. We are keeping the cart open from now until the deadline. This means you can apply for our January round RIGHT NOW. And you can get access to the video vault and all the past calls RIGHT NOW. YOU CAN START SCALING YOUR BUSINESS RIGHT NOW. No more waiting. Then when your round starts, you will get to come to the in-person event kick-off, get access to the private FB group, and begin getting weekly coaching calls with me. This means MORE MONTHS of access for the same price.
I can not guarantee that I will continue to do it this way. I am committing to this model from now until January to see how it goes for you and for my team and then we will reassess this approach. So if you have been dying to come into Thirty More, now is the time my friends. Get Access right now and be WAY ahead of the game by the kick off date.
Now, let’s take a breath. Because there’s more.
IF early access doesn’t get your whistle wet, then give me back the mic. We are, for the first time ever, allowing payment plans for the January round. WHAT!? If you apply before August 31st, you can pay through three payments of $3,667. After Aug 31, there will be no available payment plan. Payment plans, ya’ll! There is no reason your business can not have the same growth as every other Thirty More member we have seen. It is your turn.
My team and I are working all day everyday to find ways to make growing your business more accessible, more exciting, more fun, and more efficient…and it is working. The results we are seeing inside our communities are nothing shy of amazing. So come in. Make the decision. There has never been a better time. I will see you inside.