Building A Team From The Ground Up
Imagine where you could take your business if you knew you could make more money by hiring the right people with the right systems in place.
I know there are a lot of fears that come with building a team from the ground up, like not knowing who to hire, not being confident you can continue to pay them, and worrying that the quality of work might not be up to the same standard as yours.
Which is why in this episode, we’re speaking with Mariana Ruiz from the Impact Driven Entrepreneur, who is here to help you overcome those obstacles and share how to hire a team that makes you 4 to 10 times what you pay them.
In this episode you’ll hear:
- How to minimise the risk from having new employees
- How to maximise the potential growth
- What job positions to hire first
- What systems to put in place
- Ways to ensure a high quality standard of work
Guest: Mariana Ruiz, Impact Driven Entrepreneur
Mariana is a Certified Business Coach + Consultant, international best selling author, and the founder and CEO of The Impact Driven Entrepreneur — A company that is on a mission to transform coaches into Thriving Impactful CEOs with The Profitable Impact Formula Mythology. What this means is enjoying 3 day work weeks while making 6-figures. She uses her background in brain science, hospital administration and 13 years of marketing, sales, and business experience to help you get clients.
Connect with Mariana
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Podcast Transcript
Nicci OMara
If you’re serious about taking your business to the next level, then it’s time for you to overcome your fears and discover how to put together the right team of people with the right systems. Look, I know there are a lot of fears that come with bringing new people into the business like not knowing who to hire, not being confident you can continue to pay them, and worrying that the quality of work might not be up to the same standard as yours. Which is why today I’m speaking with Mariana Ruiz from the impact-driven entrepreneur, who is here to help you overcome those obstacles, and share with us how to hire a team that makes you four to 10 times what you pay them.
Thanks so much for joining us on the Simply Standout Marketing Podcast. I’m your host, Nicci OMara. I’ve been a marketing communications strategist for the past 25 years. And I love to help small businesses to stand out and to grow their business through powerful brand messaging and strategic marketing. Today, I’m joined by the lovely Mariana Ruiz, who is a certified business coach and consultant. She’s an international best selling author, and the founder and CEO of the impact-driven entrepreneur, a company that is on a mission to transform coaches into thriving, impactful CEOs who enjoy a wonderful three-day workweek while making six figures.
Welcome, Mariana to the Simply Standout Marketing Podcast. It’s so wonderful to have you here with us today, all the way from New York State. Look, for most businesses, most small businesses, wanting to grow and take their business to the next level, hiring staff is one thing that actually keeps them really stuck and playing small. And look, we all know that new staff mean new challenges, which is what keeps us stuck often. One of the things that does stop many small businesses from hiring staff is the fear of not being able to afford to pay them. If the business doesn’t grow, as they’d predicted. In your experience, how can they minimise the risk and maximise the potential growth from having new employees?
Mariana Ruiz
Yeah, this is such a good question. So really, when you’re designing that role, you want to look at what are the things that you can add to the role that are going to help the person to create 4 to 10 times return on the investment of what you’re paying them. And so not only thinking about, and I think that the reason that business owners struggle with this, because when they have hired in the past, they’re like, okay, I need to get this done, I need to get that done, and this, I definitely don’t need to be doing this, that and the other thing. But what they never do is just sit down and holistically look at, out of all of these things, if this employee were just to do that thing all day long, how much money would they make? Right?
Nicci OMara
Yep. And we don’t usually think of things like that. So that’s a very good way of putting it. So if you were just starting putting together a team, what positions would you recommend that they actually hire first?
Mariana Ruiz
Yeah, so I think that, more than the position, so if you’re doing like your first hire, that person is going to have to have a role in both marketing and sales and service, okay, so that you can get some of those tasks off of your plate. But again, making sure there’s an adequate amount in marketing and sales so that they’re generating clients throughout that process. And I think more importantly, than just like, who would you hire or what position specifically, it’s about the type of person that person is. So what I mean by that is you want to hire the type A, a go getter, high achiever, that’s going to be willing to put in the hours, put in the work, put in extra time to learn and to implement systems that go far above and beyond that, what we call is like someone who just takes initiative and gets things done. That’s who you want more so than, you know, trying to make sure they’re perfect, you know, like, first I’m going to hire this type of person that I’m going to hire that type of person. If you have one person like I just described you can kind of just like, it’s okay, if you mess up in terms of where you put them, you know what I mean?
Nicci OMara
Oh, absolutely. Because if you think about it, if you can get that person to get involved in a lot of different things, and in the marketing and sales side of things, that’s fantastic. And then they will generate the money that you need. What are some of the things that you should put into place to ensure that your employees are actually making you money not costing you money, as many of them do?
Mariana Ruiz
So the first thing is systems and processes. I can’t stress this enough, like, every time that an employee situation has gone sour, it’s never because of the person. It’s always because of my system, and my process was flawed. And when I say system and process, I mean, all the way from like your hiring process, your interview process, recruiting, you know, that process to training, right? Like, you don’t go into a corporation without training. Yet, so many small business owners hire people, and they’re like, yeah, this is a job. So systems and processes around everything, and really, really high on the training, so that the person is set up for success.
Nicci OMara
Yeah, what are some of the systems and processes that have worked really well for you inside your business?
Mariana Ruiz
So number one is the sales process. So super simple, you know, but how are you closing clients? Every single small business owner here is closed at least one client, right? Otherwise, you wouldn’t be a business. So how did that happen? That wasn’t a mistake, a bit of luck, a chance anything, right? There was actually step by step, something that you did. And that’s often what we fail to put into a system. Because it’s so part of what we’re doing now we’re operating, we’re just like, this is natural, and only I can do it. But that is the most essential piece of, you know, your system that you can start to put into play today, if you just start thinking, okay, if I’m going to explain this to my 10-year-old, so they can do it, right, like and that’s how I set up most of my systems.
Nicci OMara
Oh, that’s really good. I’ve actually been in the process of editing and processing, this podcast, actually, doing video recordings of this is the exact process that needs to be followed, which, and I’ve done it on loom video so that people can actually, you know, my VA or whoever, whichever staff member is actually doing this can follow along. So it doesn’t matter whether someone leaves and a new person starts, they can just look at the videos and go, Okay, this is how to do it, this is exactly the step by step. And because it’s on video, it was really quick and easy for me to do. I don’t know if that’s something that you often do, or whether you find writing it down is better?
Mariana Ruiz
No, that’s exactly how I like to do it. Because when you’re doing it on video, you can just do your work, right. So if I’m going to do the, we call them sop’s, just so you know I’m going to start getting jargony, but it means standard operating procedures. So if I’m going to create the standard operating procedure for podcasts publishing, for sales calls, or anything, first I’m going to record myself just doing the work, right, like, just I’m going to just do my job and have the video record me doing it, then the person who’s coming on to that job is going to break down every single thing that was done. So okay, oh, she clicked on this button over here. Or oh, she said this right here. Then she asked this question, right, I’m giving two totally different examples. Because I don’t want people to miss the idea that you’re supposed to do this and every single thing you do. So you get to just do your work. And then you have your team member, come back and translate what they heard or what they saw. And from that, you can go back and say, well, that’s kind of it, but not really, that’s where you can get some good training happening. Because, you know, before they drive and crash the bus, you can get some good training in place ahead of time. And then you can work out some kinks in like a standard Google document, it does not have to be complicated. And you can get some good training happening in a Google document before they go out there and actually try to do what you’ve just said.
Nicci OMara
Yep, that’s a great idea. So I hadn’t actually thought of it that way. I was Um, you know, I always just thought, okay, loom video is great. But as we’ve all found, it’s so easy to misinterpret things at the end of the day. So what are types of training do you like to do with your staff? Or have you worked with other clients as well?
Mariana Ruiz
Yeah. So right now I’m actually rewriting our whole general orientation process. And what I found that we were missing was a lot of context to the type of work that we do. So we own a coaching company. So for that, you know, like if someone were to go work at Verizon, and there’s a lot of context that you understand about cell phone use and stuff like that. That’s sorry, Verizon is a cell phone company here in the US. So if they were to go work there, right, they would have some context to what a phone is, how phones operate, right. And so it was a lot of that type of stuff that we weren’t explaining well enough, early on in the orientation process. So that was a lot of what I added in, as well as making sure that they were understanding and proving competency throughout. So again, not just teaching you the thing, but showing and checking for understanding through journal prompts and writing prompts that they would have throughout the training. That is how I’m redoing it all, um, so that I really understand their frame of mind and their level of understanding as early as possible. And I’m able to coach them through faster.
Nicci OMara
Yeah, well, that sounds like a great idea. Because I think for a lot of businesses, they do actually forget to do that part of, you know, teach that part of things to new staff. And one thing that I find, because I do a lot of work on brand messaging and differentiation, and I find that a lot of businesses don’t actually have their brand messaging, and the differentiation, you know, really clear and powerful, which means that when they’re bringing on new staff, it makes it difficult for the staff member then to also understand what is the difference? Why are we unique? Why would people come to us? So I always find that that’s another part of where things can go wrong. If your new staff members don’t understand that.
Mariana Ruiz
Yeah. And I think like anytime that you make a change to your branding to retrain old staff, that was something I noticed myself this year, when we did some big branding changes. I was like, Oh, right, like, all these other people don’t know what I’m talking about anymore, because so many things changed, right. And so I think that you bring up a good point, like branding is where your business starts, right? Like it is, it is the rock of your business, all of your team will operate and represent your brand and be your brand. So that’s like one of the most important things about your business. And then making sure you communicate that vision clearly, not only to clients but also to your team so that they’re on board with you to walk with you.
Nicci OMara
Yes. And also things along the lines of your values is really important to teach your staff what is most important to you, and what are the values of the business.
Mariana Ruiz
Yeah, that’s something with general orientation I’m rewriting. We actually have the values and going through each and every single one, multiple times throughout the training so that they understand it at a deep enough level. And we start every single team meeting with our values. So agree, super important.
Nicci OMara
Yeah, that’s fantastic. So and it doesn’t have to be difficult. I think a lot of these things, we sit there and go, Oh, it’s just too hard. I don’t have time. But at the end of the day, it’s really important that small business owners do actually just do the foundation work, and what might take them, it won’t take them long to do, it makes the biggest difference in the long run. Now, one comment I hear a lot from solopreneurs is that they fear the quality of work done by new employees, you know, won’t be up to the same standard as what they produce because it’s been their baby forever. And, you know, they want things to be up to the same standard of what they write or what they produce or how they talk to clients. What are some ways that you can actually overcome this way of thinking?
Mariana Ruiz
Yeah, so. Okay, I’m gonna be a New Yorker and just be mean for a minute. We can’t all be perfect at all things at the same time. Okay. So although you might be really good at customer service, you can’t do customer service and be selling in the exact same moment to two different people, right? Like, you have to kind of move away from the perfectionism of it in order to grow. And to have that work be done by somebody else. But the way that we can do it is number one through the values, those values are so important because that’s how you embody the brand. And number two is through the systems, right. So if you have very detailed, like, if a customer comes in with this complaint, this is how we handle it. If a customer comes in with that complaint, we’re going to handle it this way. If you have very clear communication about what that expectation is, you can usually get it and for me, I will tell you, like I tend to get a little bit perfectionistic about graphic design. Okay, this is just an area, I love to do art in my spare time. So it’s kind of an area that I’ve developed over time, I was never like a graphic designer by training or anything of that sort. But I just love it. And I have a particular style that I like. And so at first, it was that annoyance of like, Oh my gosh, this graphic design is so bad. I can not put this anywhere.
Mariana Ruiz
I’m being like, Okay, hold on a second. Let me take a deep breath if I really and truly want to be able to delegate this thing. Okay, what was so bad about it and starting to put words to that that’s a really solid SOP now. Why? Because of every failure that my team made, I was like, this is a no, and this is a yes. And it’s got like the two visuals, right? The beautiful one that I like, and the x on the one that I don’t like. And so I like to think of it as like, I tell my team, I want you to go out there and break every system that I have because it’s going to make the system better. And so that I kind of like flop the whole thing on its head and say, Okay, my perfectionism is going to still be there. And I’m going to use it to my advantage, I’m going to say, Okay, this is an example of what not to ever do, please, again, thank you. And then you just literally, you’ve just added to the SOP. And everybody else who’s ever going to do that task is going to have those examples of what you like and what you don’t like. And then at the same time, we do have to deal with that feeling of like, Oh my gosh, this is super scary, I’m not in control, what if they mess everything up, and we just deal with our own feelings, but the math of it is that you add it to the SOP and you train your team on what you don’t want
Nicci OMara
And at the end of the day, if you know they are there to do a job and they are there to make more money for the business and to build the business. So if they’re trained in the right way, it’s just it is really hard. And I get it as a perfectionist myself and you know, trying not to be in so many areas, it is hard to let go of that. But it is also essential to, I sort of look at it in terms of Okay, I can just do you know, the overarching the visionary stuff. Obviously, the content, the stuff that’s been in my brain for 25 years that has to go down on paper or come out on podcasts or talking to clients and things along those lines, but there is so much that can build a business that doesn’t require me to do it. So it’s really just letting go and letting someone else. Actually, I’ve often found people actually do a better job. Sometimes you go wow, I should have given that job away ages ago.
Mariana Ruiz
Yeah, and we if we don’t give them that chance, right? We’ll never know.
Nicci OMara
Exactly, exactly. And look, there are so many wonderful tips and tricks that people can do to you know when they’re bringing on new staff members, have you got any, you know, any more ideas or tips that people can do when they’re first starting out?
Mariana Ruiz
Yeah, I think the first you know, the simplest thing is that recording yourself. Never underestimate recording yourself and then figure having someone figure that out. Like, as they’re trading. It’s gonna be what I would say I wish I did from day one. Because of course, I had to crash my own boss before I learned. Oh, right, that’s not very sustainable is it? So I think like, just, it’s super simple. It’s, it literally can be as simple as we’re saying, record yourself doing your work, and let the person when they’re starting, get that through their training process. And don’t fear it right. I think so many times for entrepreneurs, they’re like, I wanted all this freedom. And so I don’t want restrictive, you know, processes. But the reality is, you’re already using it. It’s just a habit already for you. And so you don’t even know you’re doing it.
Nicci OMara
Yes, yeah. And without the processes. And I will agree. I’ve crashed the bus and tried to do it without some of the systems and processes, and it just doesn’t work. And the good thing is this, there’s some great screen sharing video, I use loom and I’m sure there’s plenty of others that you know of. So do you have you got any that you use?
Mariana Ruiz
Wevjust use loom and a Google Doc, we keep it super simple. I know, there’s some great like, software’s like Process Read and all that. And I started, you know, like spending time trying to figure out what system I was going to use for keeping all the SOPs. And I was like, you know what, I don’t think we’re going to be able to be consistent with something if it’s not something we already use. So we went with Google Docs, and then all of the, so we think of the SOP’s as like the instruction manuals. And so all of our manuals are in Google documents. And then we have people on our team, actually, everybody can really do this on our team. But basically, they put all of those steps into our clickup, which is what we’re currently using for project management. Before we used Asana, before that I use Trello, but if you have a team bigger than three people, Trello starts to get really messy, because it’s not very organised. And so we use clickup. Right now, it’s been working very, very well. But basically, it’s, you know, that every single thing is just a template on there. And I know that it’s been put in correctly because we have people check it. And anytime that they’re going to make a change on it, they have to also go change the document. That’s the other piece is, you know, especially anyone working online, or if you’re a brick and mortar, and you’re marketing online, where everything is online, and what is working online is going to change pretty regularly. And so if something is changing, you want to make sure to go change the SOPs.
Mariana Ruiz
Otherwise, you can end up having like, what happened with me was I had a really good employee, she sold 250,000 in sales in a quarter, she was doing fantastic. And she decided she was doing so well, she just started her own business. And I was like, oh, like, I have no idea like, I knew what she was doing. And we had SOPS to document it. But the error we had made, and that was totally my fault, because I didn’t expect this from her, is to go back and update as things change. So during that time, Instagram Stories was released. And we were doing that. And so a lot of things had changed in the space. And I didn’t have her go and update all of those things. And so the lesson is like this is a living, breathing process that is going to change. So don’t think of it as like an old manual from a corporation or something like that’s printed out on paper, it is a moving thing. And so you want something that is going to be flexible with you. And also to update and use a project management tool where you can pretty much automate all of the duplications. So, for example, podcast publishing, that’s something you’re going to do pretty much every week, if not more frequently. And so you can literally just click Duplicate on a project management tool like Asana or click up, which by the way, both are free. And you can have every single step already there for you with instructional videos, right? So it’s super easy.
Nicci OMara
That is super easy. And I think that’s fantastic advice of actually making sure you go back and keep on making sure that everything is up to date because at the end of the day, that’s something that yes, I think I’d fall into that trap too of just going, it’s done.
Mariana Ruiz
It can happen.
Nicci OMara
So, look, thank you very much Mariana for all the advice that you’ve given to us today. Where can people connect with you?
Mariana Ruiz
Yeah, so you can find me at impactdrivenentrepreneur.com we have a blog, a podcast, we’re launching a YouTube channel, etc. And I also host a Facebook group called the coaching for impact community.
Nicci OMara
Fantastic, thank you. I will make sure I put all the links in the show notes so that people can actually connect with you. But look, thank you for being on the podcast today.
Mariana Ruiz
Thank you for having me.