Employees are an important component when it comes to building and managing your business’ reputation.
When taking the plunge to start your own business, it’s tempting to try and do everything for everyone by yourself. How often do you say to yourself: “I’ll save money if I just quickly do this myself” or, “No one will do it as well as I can”
It may seem that you’ve saved money by doing it yourself, however, in many instances, the reality is that you are doing yourself and your company a great disservice by trying to cut corners.
Here are a few reasons why it’s important to build a solid team around you, instead of fighting battles on your own:
The time that you spend doing that activity is not ‘free’ at all
As the owner of a company, your hourly rate value is on par with your elevated position. Would you pay someone, for example, R1000 an hour to staple together a few documents? It doesn’t make sense does it? Why then are you spending your precious time doing it? One of the key habits to get into, and learn early on, in your entrepreneurial journey is to delegate tasks accordingly.
You need to remember that you are now a business owner, and your main focus needs to be on steering the ship. You can’t do that if you are slowed down by day-to-day admin and operations. This doesn’t mean that you ignore it totally, but you have to have someone skilled on board who can focus on day-to-day activities. This enables you to focus on your core business.
There are some great virtual support options out there that you could invest in on an hourly, weekly or monthly basis to help manage the administrative side of your business. In this way, you don’t have to invest in a full-time employee right away, if budgets won’t permit.
The sooner you start documenting your processes the better
Write down every activity in a step-by-step format. Record it exactly how you perform the task and in as much detail as possible.
By doing this, should that task need to be repeated, you can hand the step-by-step document to someone who can then perform the task exactly the way that you would have.
“I was always rather reluctant to relinquish control when sending out media releases. Subsequently, I wrote down the process I took and included all the possible steps I could think of. The next time we had to send out a media release, I had to take a leap of faith and hand the media release and step-by-step guide over to a team member. All the steps were followed and I had a lot more time on my hands to focus on other key business areas. My only annoyance was that I had not handed over the reins (and step-by-step document) sooner!”
Documenting the process identifies gaps; when things are not done correctly, we go back to the operating manual, working through the steps to see whether it is a gap in the document (which we then update) or identify team member training to prevent similar future mistakes.
The following core team should be on your side when first starting out in your business:
Bear in mind that all of these services can be outsourced before you invest in full-time employees, in order for you to focus on your core business:
- Accountants should be up-to-date on the latest SARS and VAT requirements, and guide you accordingly. They will also be able to assist you with payroll when the need arises.
- Labour consultants will give you advice about the latest labour laws, and provide guidance when you need employment contracts and employment management best practices.
- Administrators who help with the day-to-day admin activities by confirming meetings, filing documents and creating general order is invaluable. They allow you to focus on building your business.
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