Here’s something a lot of new business owners don’t understand when they first start out:
In order for your business to be truly viable, each team member you hire
needs to make or save the company a minimum of 3 times what they cost.
That means that when you calculate all the costs associated with that employee — their earnings, payroll expenses, bonuses, benefits, package, etc. — what they provide for your business either saves 3x that total cost, or it brings in 3x that total cost in revenue.
That may seem like a lot, and in some ways it is. But most healthy businesses actually average about 5x or more.
So … how do they do it?
From overwhelm to flow
It’s easy to look at hiring, growing, and nurturing a team and feel completely overwhelmed. Many business owners do — and maybe you’re one of them.
They aren’t sure who or when to hire. They don’t have a vetting process in place that’s reliable, so they hire people when they’re desperate and then cycle through employees or contractors who aren’t a good match or who underperform.
Their businesses feel chaotic and inefficient. Their employees are often burned out and stressed, too.
It’s not sustainable — financially, emotionally, energetically. We can’t be in constant scramble mode and expect to thrive.
We’re going to look at one simple thing entrepreneurs can do that can dramatically cut hiring expenses and exponentially improve the cost-to-benefit ratio of each hire.
Cutting out the most expensive (and least necessary) part of payroll
When you have a good handle on which areas of your business you can systematize, you can start looking at your team in a whole new (and much more efficient) way.
Here’s what I mean.
Payroll is generally the largest expense in a business. And it makes sense that the more people you have, the more people you need to manage and the more issues will need to be dealt with.
But there is a way to simplify that is good for you, for team morale, and for the health of your business — and that starts with understanding that really, there are just two essential “layers” to your team.
First is the operational layer. These are people who manage the admin and tech, track the flow, oversee Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), identify hiccups and notice where things can be streamlined, handle customer service, etc. Operational team members are managing the behind-the-scenes systems that customers interact with.
Second is the strategy layer. This is where you bring in your top-notch copywriters, brand specialists, sales and marketing people, and project managers. The strategy team members are the visionaries and creatives who are building the experience that your customers will have with the product or service that your business is providing.
And then here’s the kicker: after you’ve got a great team, you eliminate everything that’s not in these two layers. So all roles that are fuzzy, that are kind of floating between, that are covering tasks that could easily be automated — you delegate the tasks of these in-the-middle roles to either the operational layer or the strategy layer and then eliminate everyone in the middle.
The mistake that many new business owners make is bulking up way too much in this gray area, using up tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
And they almost always do this because they don’t have efficient systems and they aren’t leveraging technology and AI nearly enough.
Why I am a big fan of outsourcing operational team talent
The smartest way you can trim payroll costs is to outsource many of the operational roles to overseas team members.
These are competent, hardworking employees who are trained in their field and who can be a wonderful addition to your team.
Here’s why I strongly believe in hiring overseas talent, and why I think it actually makes the world a much better place:
You can get skilled work while paying meaningful local rates at a fraction of the cost. Because cost of living is so much lower in places like the Philippines, Colombia, and India, you can get IT experts / programmers, admin assistants, graphic designers, cold outreach sales reps, data analysts, video editors, social media marketers, and people who even have niche platform specialties like Kajabi or QuickBooks — all for pennies on the dollar.
You’re providing life-changing income to your brothers and sisters across the planet, many of which are living in multi-generational households and are the sole breadwinners.
You have access to a global pool of talent, which can be especially valuable for companies in need of specialized skills or expertise.
Same productivity at 1/10th of the overhead. With the right vetting and hiring process (which we can help with), you can seamlessly find just the right people who will work hard and be valuable contributors to your business’s success.
You’re encouraging cultural diversity and introducing new ways of thinking. I don’t know about you, but even with the ubiquity of social media, sometimes it feels like our awareness of others is actually shrinking. It’s so easy to get caught up in a restricted or rigid way of seeing the world. Inviting team members from around the world makes a team stronger and builds a sense of connection and solidarity with others.
I understand that there is some anxiety around outsourcing. There are excellent reasons to want locally-made goods, to strengthen local organic agriculture, and to support artisan workers in our cities, states, and regions. I get it.
But I would also encourage a moment to look at the resistance you might feel towards hiring any overseas talent.
Is someone who lives on another part of our planet less deserving of making an income and providing for themselves and their families? And could it be there actually is enough for everyone — that we can wisely discern where it’s important to buy and hire locally and where the overall benefit increases with a global talent pool?
Lean, focused, and streamlined teams make all the difference
Once you’ve got the systems in place, have an empowered strategy layer and a rock-solid operational layer to keep things humming along, you’ll be amazed at how lean a team can be.
When people know what they’re here for, when they’re on track with the vision of a company, and they know that what they’re doing is making a difference for your company, you’ll be able to see, feel, and measure the difference.
Ready to have a winning team and a bigger bottom line?
We can help.
We help entrepreneurs and business owners, just like you, build a winning team and increase your profit margin.
What if, in 90 days, you could be off the hustle hamster wheel and get back to running your business (instead of it running you) by building a highly efficient winning dream team that actually supports you?
Check out our proven Alchemized Teams system now HERE.
Imagine… 90 days from now, you could have peace of mind knowing you can:
- Stop wasting money hiring people that aren’t a good fit
- Enjoy working with your team and feel supported by your team (instead of constantly wondering if you need to let them go)
- Have the right people in the right roles with clear objectives and scorecards
- Able to quickly find great new talent when you need them and have an effective automated onboarding system
- Start working ON your business instead of being bogged down IN your business – able to spend your time working on things that actually move the needle forward
Check out our proven Alchemized Teams system now HERE.
To Your Success,
Heidi and Anny
