#192: Growing Your Team And Developing Leaders Within, With Stacy Tuschl

Stacy Tuschl is a speaker, business coach, and the owner of The Academy of Performing Arts in Wisconsin. She is the author of the book “Is Your Business Worth Saving?” where she reveals proven strategies for pulling entrepreneurs out of a rut and launching them toward business success.

Do you feel guilty when you want to do something fun, when you know you should be back in the office, doing something else? Well, today we're talking about why you need to be thinking about growing your team and developing leaders within, even if you are a solo entrepreneur. We're still working through the Work Smarter And Not Harder series, for the month of July, so listen in to find out more.

I know that all of that can really be scary. You're possibly thinking that you're not yet ready to hire or to take that to the next level, so if you are new, no matter how big or small your business is, I guarantee that this topic will benefit everybody watching! There are probably a lot of things on your to-do list that you really could delegate, but the question is: “Who do you give this to?”. I really love the quote “ You can do anything, but you can't do everything”. I think this is something we should tell ourselves every single day. In one of my businesses, I have a large team of almost forty employees. I was, however, a solo entrepreneur for the first three years of my business and it's really important that you know that, because you don't just start with forty employees- that would be a disaster.  I really do remember how exhausted and overwhelmed I was, as a solopreneur, though! I remember so many things that I guilt-tripped myself into, thinking that if I stop working, then nobody is working on my business!

Then came a point where I realized that I would actually rather have more freedom, than the money aspect of my business. I was so burned out that I decided that I really wanted to buy back some of my time. I wanted to have someone working with me so that I could delegate to them, knowing that somebody was working on my business and my business was still moving forward, while I was out with my kids. That is really an incredible and irreplaceable feeling! Listen in to find out how you can get there, with your business.

Some highlights include:

“Sometimes... we have to possibly pay an employee or a contractor before we pay ourselves in our business.” From minute 4:22, Stacy talks about the priorities in your business and how to justify paying someone on your team, when you're not getting paid. This is where you really have to see the future and focus on your mindset and know that this is only temporary.

“It's no different than thinking you're investing in somebody like that then maybe investing in somebody that is your personal assistant.” From minute 5:46, Stacy explains that investing in assistant is actually an investment, similar to hiring a Facebook Ads Strategist, or a Copywriter when you're not yet making money in your business.

“If you don't have an assistant, you are the assistant.” At minute 6:04, Stacy gives you a good phrase, that she really wants you to be thinking about. You really could be working on much higher paying jobs.

“When you hire a coach, they're going to help you build strategies that help you make money.” At minute 6:53, Stacy reminds you of the real value in hiring a coach- and it's the same thing when you're talking about any of these types of people.

“Which tasks are you doing right now, in your business, that you are currently paying yourself way too little?” At minute 7:19, Stacy gives you something important to consider, about your business. These are the things that you really should not be doing in your business, that you could be outsourcing.

“Don't forget about personal things like house cleaning- whatever else is holding you back from doing work.” From minute 9:09, Stacy talks about more things that are taking up your time, that could be outsourced to someone else, for way less money than you would be earning if you were working on your business.

“Ask yourself: 'Is this moving my business forward, or is this something that I could outsource for a much cheaper rate than what I should be doing- I should be bringing in?'” At minute 10:19, Stacy gives you a really important question that you need to ask yourself when doing something that could possibly be done by someone else.

“The people that you bring in to help you, can be so much more than just a contractor or just an employee.” From minute 10:58, Stacy explains how the people that you bring in to help you really can be a part of your business and how you can help them to feel that way, by helping them to see the vision and the end results.

“If you're a control freak and you're thinking 'I could never take this off my plate.'” From minute 12:32, Stacy gives you some advice about how to give up control. There are some things that people on your team really can do better than you can.

“I do want to tell you though when it comes to money, you don't have to hire somebody for full time.” From minute 15:35, Stacy gives some ways to hire someone without having to spend too much money.

“You have to keep paying them, but they're not doing anything because you don't have your act together to give them opportunities or things to work on.” From minute 16:14, Stacy talks about why you really need to have systems in place and that it can be very inexpensive to hire someone if you hire them very part time.

“I want you to be thinking about a list of three.” From minute 18:05, Stacy gives you a list of three things that you can start working on immediately, today: 1)What should you be doing? 2) What should be deleted off of your to-do list? 3) What can you delegate?

“Your delegate list becomes this great area for you to go and say really 'here's a job description'.” From minute 19:52, Stacy explains how your delegate list can be used as a great job description, for the types of jobs you need to delegate when you're looking for somebody to help you.

“You want to make sure that you hire somebody, you really are hiring them knowing, okay I can afford this.” From minute 20:38, Stacy talks about hiring the right people, people who will be great in their departments.

Remember: You really can do anything- you just have to stop doing everything!