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Welcome to Make More Money without Selling Your Soul with me Polly Lavarello, evergreen marketing expert. This podcast is for you if you are an online entrepreneur who is looking to simplify their business to scale.  On this podcast you can expect to hear regular talk about wealth, about selling and about wellbeing. Because I believe these three core fundamental things are pivotal to your growth moving forward.

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Hello, and welcome to make more money without selling your soul with myself Polly Lavarello, evergreen marketing expert and cushy business pioneer.

And today we are talking about when having a team can actually slow down your business growth. Now as a scaling strategist, you may be pretty surprised to hear me uttering these words. Because you know, obviously having a team is one of the things we associate with scaling your business, you know, it’s the thing that enables you to better utilize your time to be working from your zone of genius. It’s something that gets a lot of, quite rightly so good street cred in the online business space, you know, who doesn’t want a team. And I know personally, oh, my gosh, when I first got my first VA, even though I think I was only paying her something like 280 pounds a month for I can’t remember how many hours that was, but it wasn’t many.

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It was a real like, oh, not I’ve made it moment because there was still a while to go. But it felt significant. To have somebody reporting back to me, invested in my business, I don’t know, it felt really, really special. And that’s probably why four years later, she was still working with me because it was a very special relationship, as well as you know, really, really supported me to grow. Incredibly, I mean, she went from earning that to over 10 times that by the time we’d reached four years together. So it was quite the journey. So I am very lucky to be supported by a wonderful team, which has been at one stage as large as eight people. And at its smallest stage has been three or four people, four people. So at the moment, it’s around for design thinking off the top of my head. And when I say team that kind of includes contractors in terms of my podcast production team who look after my podcast for me, on my social media team, you look onto my social media, and my admin assistant who helps me looking after my clients and finances and my calendar. Anyway, that’s not why you’re here. We’re not talking about my team, although I just wanted to give a little context as to who is this woman talking about teams, and what does she know anyway, but I wanted to share this more because I saw this happening to some of my clients. So I’m very privileged that I’ve worked with some clients who literally came to me fully booked one to one. And they have now in the two to three years that we’ve been working together, they now have like a fully fledged team, which honestly, I’m like a proud mom.

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It’s so awesome seeing them, you know, being that CEO being supported, and increasingly increasingly just working, where it lights them up and outsourcing all the rest. And that is de Licious. However, it can come with some risk. And I wanted to speak to that risk today because I don’t hear it spoken about often enough. And the risk that it comes with is ultimately it comes down to our human frailty, it comes down to the fact that how many of you dear listeners have been trained as to what it is to be a good leader. Now a lot of people who become self employed do it from the background of having worked in a corporate environment in the past. Some of you may have worked in managerial positions. I worked as a manager in hospitality I actually ran a bowling ring which was in good bowling bowling ring was at bowling bowling alley. So that shows you what I know about bowling. But despite calling a bowling ring, I managed to run that thing for over a year. I even even got Mr. Pin the mascot.

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Anyway, let’s not go into that. I mean there are pictures DM me if you want to see pictures of Mr. Penn, he was sensational. I insisted a team member went out dressed as a bowling pin. It was phenomenal. Anyway, back to business. So I have got some managerial background but I still think it’s a very different scenario. When it’s your own business. When it’s your own money. It can feel a whole

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I have a lot more personal and beyond that when we have a larger team, and we are coordinating larger projects, because that’s what happens, right? Build yourself a team, then the goals become so much bigger, right? Like, that’s why, in some cases that beginning this year, I saw people actually slimming down their teams rather than growing them. And that actually, to be honest with you, to a certain extent was my own personal experience. Because at the stage where I had eight team members, four of whom were borderline full time in my business, I found myself more managing them than I did actually doing what I really enjoy, which is communicating with you lovely lot. And looking after my clients, you know, I didn’t want to become a manager of human beings, and I didn’t really want to have anyone else manage them. So instead, we decided, how do we actually leave this out. And that’s where we got to.

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However, you know, I also support I’ve been supporting someone this year, who’s on track to making a million pounds, and one of the biggest, most significant roles I’ve played supporting her has been to help her hire very intentionally, you know, the whole hire slow fire fast thing is very, very true. A bad hire in a small team can disrupt and throw off everything. So ensuring that she was very careful with the contracts she was signing, or the contract she was making. And ensuring that she asked all the right questions and looked at the relevant experience took on some of the right attitude was really important. And the bit I really want to get into today that is super relevant to you, regardless as to where you’re at whether you’ve got one VA or whether you’ve got a team of eight 910 1112 1314, whatever this applies, and that is when I talked earlier on about human frailty. One of the reasons why we don’t succeed when we have a team is not that VA stock that contractor you hired is not because ads are rubbish. It’s because you aren’t a good leader. Okay? And you can be the good news is you can be because that same care and love you have for your clients can be transferred effectively across to your team. And no, you don’t suddenly have to get all masculine. No, you don’t have to suddenly do all these really impersonal, annoying paperwork, you type reports like they have in corporate, there is a balance, but I’m going to just speak to you about the headlining things you need to be considering as a leader because you are a leader, like you say whether you have a team of one or a team of 10, you need to be considering these things. Because ultimately, as your business grows, chances are you will need to hire. And you know, a lot of the time this stuff happens really quickly. So it’s worth thinking about now, like genuinely the amount of clients I work with who have gone from one month, oh, just about me three, cater holy moly, I just made 10. But to make this something I can achieve all the time, I definitely need someone managing my social media because I was struggling to get a reel out, you know, three times a week or whatever, you know, like the need to hire often happens at the same time that it’s all kicking off. So you want to be thinking about these things in advance so that you hit the ground running. Delicious. And if you already have a team, and you’re like, Ah, this is already happening to me, Polly Well, fine, just let this be something that you measure your greatness against. Anyway, alright, let’s get into it. So, one, you need to be a good leader. It’s not just enough to be a good coach, you’re a good consultant to your clients. When you have a team, you need to prioritize what leadership is, by all the books, read all the books on leadership. My most favorite recent read, which I’ve referenced quite a few times already now is unreasonable hospitality. And he shared some wonderful tips on leadership in there.

One of them was about praising people in public and chastising them in private and I was like, oh my god, the amount of people in my world I wish I had known that in my time and working with them. How about you know, that tiny bit of advice alone is going to make all the difference, and how motivated someone’s going to feel working with you. So tiny, tiny things that you can be aware of, can make all the difference. So hopefully, on top of that lovely little nugget of gold that I’ve just shared from that fantastic book. Hopefully I’ll share a few more things right here to help you think about maybe worth journaling on or just listening to this again and scoring yourself against the So firstly, you need a clear vision and goals. Okay, it’s not enough to just be like, oh, I want to do well. I’d like to make a bit more money. If you’ve got a team and they’re performing well or badly. You aren’t going to know if you don’t have a clear vision and goals. If you don’t have a I’m launching this many times a year. I’m running this evergreen. These are our sales goals. This is where I want to be. Then how are you going to measure if your team or

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are supportive towards those goals or not? And how are they going to know if they’re doing well enough against those key performance indicators, KPIs, as they’re occasionally referred to.

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Without you, having been clear about that, people want you to succeed. People want to be an amazing hire. And but it’s very hard to do that, if you’re wishy washy as to the direction you’re taking them in. So, you know, remember, you are the captain of your business ship, you need to be the one navigating, they ain’t gonna do it for you. Okay? Nobody cares about your success, as much as you do.

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I was gonna say, that can change a little bit further down the line, but no, honestly, actually, as I as I reflect on it, no, nobody is ever going to care as much as you Okay, so that’s why these leadership retreats, these, uh, you know, business functions, these opportunities to get away from your desk, and dream bigger, so important. They’re important because nobody can, nobody can do that work for you. Only you can do that work for you. Which is why I never say no to an invitation to be in a place and be expanded and be around other people dreaming big, because I know the value it has. Because nobody else can do that. For me, only I can want that for myself. And when you want that for yourself, people get hyped. People want to back you. So number one, clear vision and goals to those vision and goals don’t mean shit if you don’t know how to communicate them. Okay? So effective communication is really, really important. Do not use Slack, like you’re talking to your bestie. And reeling off what you did that day your team are going to start zoning out, they’re not going to listen to you. Also, don’t expect your team to finish your sentences or thoughts. Don’t expect them to read between the lines. I’m really sorry to say this, but I see this.

So I haven’t been a contractor Facebook ads contractor for various years no longer doing that anymore. Partly because of behavior like this, which literally drove me up the wall was people who could not communicate clearly with their team, the company, no people don’t want to hear, you know, if you’re working with contractors, they’re not just working with you. So they don’t want to hear about how fluffy is doing at the vet and all that kind of stuff. You can have your like social get togethers where you invite your team out, and you can give them all the food and drink and you can talk about fluffy to your heart’s content. But when you’re actually having a team meeting, the majority of the times, you know, obviously, there’s always an exception to the rule. And you may be listening to this going my VA loves hearing about fluffy. But for the majority of people, they just need to know, what are they getting into get done? What for you is going to be that you know the measure of success? And what do you need from them make specific requests to get specific results. And this, by the way, my friends is not as valuable with your team, this is valuable across the board, the more specific you are about what you desire, the much more likely it is to land in your lap, okay, to say I just want to make more money this week ain’t gonna cut it. Okay. Equally to say, I don’t know why we’re not making money team.

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I mean, again, to a certain extent, they can say that, but it’s much more effective to say, let’s look at the data can get blardy blar, can you come back to me with a report and tell me, you know, the better you can understand these high level things, and know what to request, the better the likelihood of you getting what you need back. That’s also very often to be honest with you why people hire me to be their one to one mentor, because I can help them understand what questions they need to be asking of their team. To get their team to be the most productive and effective, I do get that it’s not always easy to know what it is that you should be looking for. And that’s why it’s powerful to have a mentor in your back pocket. Okay, so we’ve talked about clear vision and goals, we talked about effective communication. The next one really, really, really important. You know, most self employed people have done it, because they hate being in an office. They hate being told what to do. They hate arbitrary deadlines. What that does mean is if you can help your team to work autonomously, if you can encourage them to lean into collaborating with one another to get something solved rather than needing to lean on you. And therefore making you the bottleneck, the more effective your business will be. So you do not want to be the bottleneck in your business, you want them to be able to make as many decisions as possible. Without you. Not only is that going to be an amazing time saver, not only is that going to free up so much mental space for you as well. But on top of that, their job satisfaction is going to be a million times higher, because they’re going to be able to take ownership of the success they see happening in the business and that is really really powerful. Honestly, all my most autonomous, you know, team members, it’s been such a joy working with them, like I’ve barely needed, I can go on holiday and not need to check in with them because I know they are on it. I know. I know. They know what my measures of success are. So I don’t need to be on top of them saying is this happening because they know and they know if it’s not happening, there’s going to be a conversation about what has happened.

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then threatened not to be happening, or done with love, of course, which we’ll come to in a moment. Okay, so I guess it kind of leads me nicely onto part number four, which is company culture, celebrate achievements, you know, when they’re winning, celebrate, you know, and when you’re winning, because they’re winning, celebrate that together. You know, don’t be afraid to think about, you know, allocate some budget towards surprising and delighting your team, where they are doing things that are really supporting you to achieve more, you know, make sure that you’re taking them out for those, you know, celebrate whatever it is, but look after your team because they’re looking after you. Sounds obvious. Unfortunately, I’ve definitely worked with enough people in the past, I know, a lot of people don’t adhere to that. But honestly, everything that happens in your business trickles down from the top, you are the top. So think really mindfully about how you go that if you want your team to be loving, and generous and kind and invested in your clients, then be that with them, that’s not going to come from nowhere, that’s going to be inspired by the company culture you create. So be the example you want to see in them and in the world. Oh, that went deep. The next phase is of course, where you’ve got great team members, and they’re not delivering where you want them to be where it makes sense. Don’t be afraid to invest in training, I’ve invested in various trainings, my team still continue to do it because I’ve got the most a wonderful assistant who came in with, you know, not all the skills I needed her to have. But she had the right attitude, the right personality, the right loyalty, the right awesomeness. So of course, I’ve invested in various trainings for her and she’s now been working with me. I don’t know, I think it’s approaching two years now I should really look into that one. I’m sure it will cut, we’re approaching our work anniversary. You know, and that was really that makes so much more sense than hiring someone new all the time where you’ve got that unknown as to like, are they going to show up? Are they committed?

Do they care, because those are the things you cannot buy, but again, equally, are fostered by a great company culture. So leaning onto the next one, lead by example, which I kind of feel like I’ve touched on through all the other points. So I’m going to move swiftly on to the next one. This is a really, really big one. Number seven is resilience. Okay? Resilience, when you’re having a shit day, don’t do that thing that some people do with their partners where they’re like, I’m just going to be ratbag with you, because I’ve had an awful day, and it’s obviously your fault. You know, you know, business is gonna have its ups and downs. If you treat your team, like, oh, when you know, when you’re having a rough patch, that is not going to motivate them to want to help you right through that rough patch. I have always been very transparent with my team, where we’re down on sales, where we’re having a quieter month, I will be like, I’ll be very matter of fact, I’ll be very businesslike about it behind the scenes, I may have a little sob. But with them, I’m just gonna be like, okay, because I it’s not helpful for me to transfer those emotions onto them. Instead, I’m just very transparent or say, Okay, so we’re actually here right now, when we want to be there. These are the things I’m focusing on to get there. What can you do to help me do that? Simple, right? Honestly, I’ve seen so many people balls up in so many other ways, mental breakdowns, requesting ads being switched off in the middle of the night on a Sunday, crazy stuff going on, because they’re spiraling. And they, they take that to their team on that delightful spiral with them, please don’t do that. Don’t be that boss. Nobody wants to work for that person. And, you know, swiftly jumped ship from various businesses where I’ve seen the CEOs act like that, because, you know, it’s, you’re basically working from your child don’t work from your child work from your software. And,

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and then finally, number eight is the highest low fire fast bit, which I spoke to earlier, which is just so true, like, take your time to bring in the right person, because, honestly, it’s gonna take 30 to 60 days to like stage where they can work autonomously, where they do understand your business, where they do understand you where they really got comfortable with what they’re doing, and where you’ve had enough chance to have a bit of feedback to get them to the stage where they’re delivering in a way that matches your expectations.

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So you know, so don’t hire too quickly, because you don’t want to invest all of that, and then have to fire them quickly. To avoid having someone who’s dead wood in your business. Because small businesses need to be resilient, they need to thrive. And they won’t do that if they’re carrying dead word, you need to chop that dead word. The second you see it, I hate to say it, but it’s true. I know I’ve had to fire fast in the past. And it’s a really, really unpleasant experience. And at the same time, my business is still here, and has been for four years because and I’ve to be honest, I’ve only had to do it once because I’ve hired slowly and was particularly unfortunate with that one hire. Anyway, that is it. So just to quickly summarize what is it to be a great leader in your business? I mean, like I said, there are books on this subject do not just take this episode as one thing I am hoping this is more of an appetizer that will encourage you to want to get and sit down at the table and Devourer more on this because honestly, like I shared earlier leadership is this beautiful transferable skill which will spill into everything.

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You do, not just as a CEO, but at who you are as a coach, as a consultant and who you are as a human being, you know, self awareness plays a huge role in what it is to be a good leader, because you need to be self aware, to recognize how to do all these pieces well. So number one, clear vision and goals. Number two, communicate those goals and just everything you do effectively. Number three, empower your team, you know, encourage them to be autonomous and collaborate and do whatever is necessary to keep you out of the picture as much as humanly possible. Number four, have clear company culture that, again, you communicate, so people understand what the vibe is, so that they can maintain that vibe and be part of that vibe. Hopefully, they’ll just pick up on it. Once your team is there through just the way you all are. I mean, that’s the beautiful thing about good company culture is that it should just spill over. Number five, do not be afraid to invest in training, when you’ve got the right person, you know, you don’t always have to find somebody new, it may be that that person takes on additional hours, and get skilled up in whatever it is that you need. But it’s a great way to show that you care about your team to be investing in them and their skill set and their future. Now the other numbers number six and lead by example, you know, it’s not enough to say our company culture is X, Y, Zed, and then to do the absolute antithesis Ain’t nobody ran into that. But another one and talking about leading by example, resilience, you wouldn’t want your team coming in saying I’m having a shit day. So I’m going to take it all out new. So equally, please do not do that to them. And finally Hatley fast.

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Anyway, this is a longer episode than normal, but I hopefully have dropped a lots of gold and there for you to think about as a leader of your business. And yeah, that’s pretty much all I have to say, if you are interested thinking about how you can scale your business in a lean way, that’s gonna give you loads of time, freedom, loads of money, loads of happiness, you know, rinse repeatable, customizable ways to make your business thrive. If you haven’t already, check out the cushy business roadmap, it is soon to be replaced by a brand new lead magnet, I hate to call it that a brand new guide. So get your paws on it while you still can, because it won’t be available very soon. Or, I don’t know, I don’t know what we’re doing over there, but we’re doing something. So get your hands on it now because honestly, the feedback has been phenomenal. And next week, I’m going to be back talking to you about how to turn your followers into sales. So that’s what we want, right? We’re not just here dancing around in our wheels for no reason we want some sales baby. And we’re coming up to primetime for sales right? So let’s get talking about it so you can be prepared to smash the final quarter of the year. I know it’s very masculine talking but you know me by now I’m it’s all fun. Right? Okay, see you then I’ll be in your lesson. Bye. And if you enjoyed this episode, please please please I noticed the other day I’ve got a delicious number of reviews. And I would love even more of them they make my heart so happy so if you want to make my heart happy, and add to all the love and joy that I recently experiences we can borrow just got married. Then please, please, please drop me a review. It really makes me very happy. Alright, see you next week.