Would you hire YOU?
Most small business owners I’ve met live in a place of drama, panic, hustle. I was one of those business owners. I’ve decided that I no longer want to build or run a business that way. Because of this shift, I created an entirely new way to approach startup. I know without a doubt it will create business owners who know how to disengage with drama (which is in opposition to peace + profit) and get back to the work at hand.
Welcome to The Slow Startup– a place to begin a business of purpose, profit, and peace. I’m so happy you’re here.
If you work for yourself, have your ever actually interviewed / reviewed / assessed your own position? I think it’s the BEST thing to do, because your business deserves an amazing first employee. Not one that hustles and panics and stresses and is hard on themselves and then also lets herself off the hook without truly taking ownership.
Your business deserves you at your best– that is if you want your business to deliver you its best results.
Here’s what I recommend doing with your very first employee– you.
BECOMING YOUR VERY FIRST EMPLOYEE.
Your brain may or may not be into this. You probably started your own business for a lot of great reasons, but it’s really easy to fall into a trap of not working as an employee of your business, and you really should consider yourself that. You probably expect your business to deliver you results, but your business is just an idea. It’s the action of your employee (you) that is responsible for the results.
Here are many of the reasons that it’s really important you learn to do this–
you will feel amazing during, and at the end of the day knowing that you set your business up for success
you will create structure that will be helpful once you begin hiring
you will do better at your job, and see better results from your time
your brain will operate at a higher level, and you’ll learn a valuable skill that you can transfer to ANY position in your company (of which you will have several on your plate)
you will learn how to manage your own time better
you will set expectations for yourself and adjust as necessary
you will get the benefits of being an employee (time off, breaks, weekends off) instead of believing you’re on the clock 24/7 7 days a week
you will learn to stop hustling and instead focus on effort
DRAWING UP YOUR JOB DESCRIPTION(S)–
You no doubt will hold many positions within your own business at first, but in order to scale you will most likely have to hire other folks, either on a part-time basis, full-time or as contractors. Starting with your self as your first employee will help you with all of that.
Here are the list of positions I held in my own business when I began:
Director of Operations
CFO
CEO
Creative Director
Product Development
Marketing Director
Customer Service
Human Resources
Janitorial
Administration
Bookkeeper
Legal
Depending on your business, you might even have more / different positions you’ll need to hold. Of course, all of these just fall under “Founder” until you get a chance to hire out.
Here’s what to consider when you draw up your job descriptions–
Research each position and put together a list of tasks associated with them
Outsource what you know to be very important (in my case, the first people I paid to help me were my attorney and my bookkeeper)
Keep a running list of tasks associated with any position that might be more relevant to your business, or that change over time.
Think about how much this type of position would be paid in the market. Make sure you bring at least, if not much more, value to your own position within your own company.
If you had this position filled, what would you expect this person do? How would you expect they show up? Make sure you’re expecting that of yourself, too.
So much of your business success is dependent on your mindset, and taking action from a place of positivity and commitment. An exercise like this is good for that, and it’s good for creating structure within a business that WILL grow someday.