I absolutely believe in team and collaboration. We get by with a little help from our friends.

People believed that I had enormous power as the Corporate Ombudsman. After all, I reported to the President! But, reality was a lot different.

I accomplished the majority of my work through collaboration with others. I leveraged partners throughout the business to help me achieve the organizational goals that were my mission.

I became an expert at gathering support and delegating.

As a small biz owner, you might not think that collaboration is for you. After all, you can do everything yourself and save a bundle of money, right?

Eh, wrong.

No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself or take all the credit. Andrew Carnegie

You recognize that name, right? Carnegie. The steel giant who became a major philanthropist responsible for our library system and Carnegie-Mellon University. Big delegation fan.

Carnegie amassed a fortune because he was willing to let go and put the talents of others to his good use. I’m suggesting that you do the same and put the talents of a writer, financial team, lawyer, virtual assistant and Web person to good use in your small business.

I wanted to share with you my picks for your 2017 Business Dream Team and what each can do for you. I’ll dive deeper into each role over the course of the next few weeks, starting with your writer.

Give yourself permission to get support

Did you know that 98% of entrepreneurs say that their biggest challenge is doing everything themselves and not having enough time?

Would you agree with this statement? Is it true for you?

There is a myth about the self-made millionaire that lingers. Entrepreneurs believe that they should do everything themselves, and take pride in how endlessly busy they are these days.

Even as we say we want more time we fill it up with unnecessary tasks. The other day I was in a discussion where this came up. Someone suggested that all this busyness is about justifying value. That idea intrigued me.

Some solopreneurs prefer to stay overwhelmed because they believe it signifies to their clients (and to them) that their value must be high because they are in such demand. They refuse to let go fearing that there won’t be anything left for them to do.

Ummmm, no.

You know what Michael Gerber, author of E-Myth Revisited would say? You’re being the technician in your business when you insist on doing everything.

Give yourself permission to seek out and effectively use experts in topics where you don’t have the interest or knowledge to be effective.. Be the visionary. Be the brain, not the brawn..

‘Virgin’s ability to grow and diversify successfully was set in the company’s early days, with my learning how to delegate and let go. Sir Richard Branson

Who is on your Biz Dream Team?

Your biz dream team is like the Celtics back in the day. When you got Bird, Parrish and Chief on the floor working their game, well, the game over. No contest. I have no idea why I love sports analogies when I’m not a big sports fan. Who knows?

Your Biz Dream Team is a very nice lineup that covers you so you can make the big 3 pointer (more money, more time, more growth- woosh).

Introduuuuuccccing your Biiiiiiiz Dream Team!!!

Coming to the plate is your writer

You have to bring your A game. As a small biz owner you have to convey to your prospects and clients your value quickly and clearly so that they understand how you can improve their life. That can be hard to do when you are ‘all up in it’ on a daily basis. You lose your objectivity and can’t see the shine because you ARE the shine.

That’s why you need a great copywriter to take your story and present it in the most compelling manner to your audience.

The writer can help you…

Polish your branding story. Storytelling is super important to sharing who you are and why you do what you do. I tell the story of my husband losing his business because he didn’t delegate as a powerful cautionary tale. How can your story drive home the value of your business?

Be a 30 second Rockstar. Am I the only one who sucks at BNI when it’s time to introduce yourself? The pressure is INTENSE to come up with something informative, creative and blessedly short. Your writer can create multiple openers for you.

You have to get to the heart of the matter. We buy based on emotion, not logic, according to brain science. Your writer knows which words to use to visually paint a picture and generate emotions that lead to sales.

Your writer can create an attention-grabbing, stand out elevator pitch for each market you select. Personally, I have one message that I share with lawyers, CPAs, therapist and other professionals and another that I share with entrepreneurs. Same message shaped slightly differently for each group to increase retention.

Of course, that’s not all your writer will do for you, but don’t you think that’s a great start? In addition to making you sound like the rockstar you are, your writer can create your:

Homepage copy
Sales page copy
Blog posts
Guest posts
Elevator pitch
White paper

Next, let me introduce your Financial Team!!

Seriously, you need a financial team, even if you’re a 1 man shop. I bet when you think financial, you’re thinking bookkeeper or accountant. Truth be told, you need a bookkeeper, accountant and wealth advisor.

Tell me if this is true for you. According to the 2015 Small Business Infusionsoft survey, the number one dreaded task for entrepreneurs is: finances!

Raising my hand over here! I am a lawyer for a reason. I don’t love numbers and we’ve had a funky relationship for years. Mainly, I’d ignore the numbers until I needed to do something like pay taxes.

That lead to another problem: paperwork shame. I literally took a shoebox of receipts to my first bookkeeper. Thankfully, Kathy had a ton of patience with me as I learned to be a better client. I realized that many entrepreneurs also dread and avoid the finances and get into deep trouble.

You need a financial team: bookkeeper, accountant and wealth advisor. These folks are the hands, brains and vision of your business. One tip from your accountant could save you thousands of dollars in self-employment taxes.

What you might not know is how to hire a financial team who gets that you are number-phobic and likes that challenge. Let me share a couple of tips.

Look for testimonials that share some of your issues. “I can in with a shoebox and she turned it into cash!” Social proof is a wonderful thing.

Read websites to discover the professional’s personality and values. The about section is a good place to start but also read the Linkedin profile to get a fuller picture.

The key is finding financial professionals that you trust without question. Like, you’d be very comfortable telling this person that you’ve worn your underwear two days in a row. Who could you say that to? Someone who you know won’t judge you!!

In addition to helping you to keep more of the money you earn, your financial team can help you:

Pick the most cost effective business structure (sole, LLC, corp)
Set up your chart of accounts in your online accounting software
Reconcile your accounts
Do billing
Help you set prices correctly
Forecast your financial picture
Create a wealth plan
Do your taxes

By the way, I like working with Profit First professionals who use the process laid out in the book by the same name. This method allows you to stop doing accounting every week and limit it to a simply transfer of funds twice a month.

Very simple. My bookkeeper, Billie Ann Griggs, specializes in PF and that’s part of the reason I chose her. Billie Anne knows the system and totally gets me!

Now, bringing up your Lawyer

Ok. I get it. Lawyers aren’t really who you want to hang around with. However, your lawyer is more than just your mouthpiece if you get into trouble. Your lawyer is a vital part of your business growth, too.

To be clear, you want to work with a lawyer who specializes in small business or business law. Lawyers are problem-solvers who hate risk so unless you work with someone who is accustomed to entrepreneurs you will be very frustrated.

Hiring a lawyer can seem daunting. Can I tell you a little secret? Your attorney is a small business owner too who happens to have specialized knowledge. Relate to him or her that way and you’ll feel like it’s more of a balance of power.

That fact is also useful when it comes to fees. Lawyers negotiate their fees. There are so many more models for payment now so ask if you want or need a different fee arrangement. Don’t need ongoing legal services? Use one of the online sites like Avvo or UpCounsel.

I used an UpCounsel attorney to execute my LLC for a fixed price, even though I am an attorney. It’s a little more expensive than Avvo but the upside is I have a relationship with an attorney I can call anytime. (you only pay for the time you use)

In addition to representing you against a lawsuit, your attorney can help you:

Identify the proper business entity structure (along with your accountant)
Write custom contracts
Write custom Terms of Service
Be a referral source
Introduce you to funding

Let me know if you’d like the name of my attorney on UpCounsel.

Make some noise for your Virtual Assistant!

Your VA can work on a part-time or full time basis, usually for an hourly rate. US-based VAs start around $35–50 per/hour, depending on their specialization.

You can have a VA handle

your inbox- email sorting and responding
customer service requests
social media creation and promotion
creating marketing materials like newsletters and infographics
research and prospecting
Scheduling calls

This is not an exhaustive list by any means.Your VA can help you at home with personal tasks, too, like researching airfare for your dream trip to Barcelona (oh, that’s me- lol).

While I placed the VA hire behind that of your lawyer, financial team and writer, you could hire a VA earlier to assist you with getting the business organized enough to outsource. It’s simply a matter of budget.

Last but not least on the starting lineup- your Web Person!

Your web person is essential to maintain your presence. The Internet is crucial to running a profitable business. Customers expect you to have a well-functioning, good-looking website. 81% of consumers check you out online before contacting you. Online review sites like are part of business life because 90% of consumers check those places in addition to your website.

You must have an up-to-date, relevant online presence. That means you must have a web person on your team to take care of the tech stuff. Sure, you could do it yourself and save money. But what’s more expensive getting an expert the first time or having the expert fix your mess?

Your web person will be in charge of

installing Wordpress and your theme
installing and updating plugins
setting up your SEO optimization
updating your theme
dealing with hosting issues
ongoing maintenance
emergency backups

This past year was the worst tech year of my life. I lost my entire hard drive. What saved the day? Having a strong tech team to restore and recreate saved my bacon and my sanity. There’s nothing more reassuring than having your tech guy (or gal) say, I got this.

I like to say that a website is like a garden. There’s always work to do! Thankfully, you don’t have to be the one to do it!

Build your own Dream Team

Wow, we covered a lot. You now know the teammates who should be on your A team to ensure that your business runs smoothly without overwhelm. But you might be saying, how can I afford this? I have two thoughts for you.

One, how can you afford not to prepare your business? Right now, you and your business are fine and healthy. No day is given. Unexpected illnesses and accidents happen all the time. You owe it to yourself to put in systems that safeguard you and your income.

Two, use your freed up time on income generating tasks that cover the expense. If it costs less for a team member to do something than it costs for your time to do it, it’s time to outsource it and better leverage that time. I quickly stopped making my own graphics once I realized DIYing a good one cost me $500!

You know my story. It’s pennywise and pound foolish not to invest in help. My husband refused to organize his business or hire help and he paid dearly when a sneeze caused a medical emergency. He lost a million dollar business in a week. I’d hate to see something like that happen to you.

Building your team and putting in systems protects your greatest asset — YOU!

To get an infographic of your Biz Dream Team, click here

Outsourcing, the wrong way

Sadly, most solopreneurs don’t try to get help in their business. It doesn’t occur to them that there or resource or they think it’s too expensive. Those who do try get frustrated because they didn’t get what they wanted. The freelancer disappear or other drama. Most of the time I discover after talking a bit that the person skipped a few fundamental steps to land in the poop. It goes something like this:

1. You are totally frustrated and on deadline and decide to get someone else to do it
2. You jump on Fiverr, Upwork, Guru.com and find a freelancer (from the 1st page)
3. You hire the freelancer.
4. You say what you want and wait
5. Freelancer returns something unsuitable
6. You fume and conclude outsourcing is a scam.

Did that sound somewhat familiar? Not a lot of detail or information shared there.

The trouble is, you are not prepared at this point to outsource. Too many of the elements are left vague or without any guidance for the freelancer (I prefer the term teammate since freelancer sounds so much like freeloader). Without that level of detail you, my friend, are doomed to getting results that don’t align with your vision and may be unusable at all.

At this point someone usually points out that, ‘it takes to long to explain.Tthat’s why I’d rather do it myself’

Bull Shitakes!

The right way to outsource is to plan what to outsource and how to do it before hiring the help.

Outsourcing the right way!

There are 3 steps to outsourcing the right way. Most entrepreneurs skip the most important parts to go straight to hiring, which causes the disappointment. The 3 steps to outsourcing the right way are:

1. Outsourcing Calibration
2. Resource Cultivation
3. Cashing In

Outsourcing Calibration

The best place to start is generally the beginning. Outsourcing Calibration is the beginning of lining things up correctly so you get what you ask for and deserve. You have a desired outcome in mind, but do you know what has to be in place to achieve the outcome? Knowing what to outsource, in terms of topic and priority, is the first step in outsourcing the right way.

Once you know what to outsource it’s time to consider how best to accomplish the task. What information, statistics, knowledge do you need to know or share to ensure a great outcome? This is the process creation part. Sure, you know what to do because you’ve been doing it for years. Your new teammate doesn’t know your business, your process, your goals or preferences unless you share them.

Not sure you can articulate that special voodoo that you do so well? Try harder. Clear up some brain space and stop carrying your business inside your head, desperate not to forget anything. (Midlife brain)

It’s so nice and organized to have all your practices and policies are written down and available when you need them. No more contradicting yourself or screwing up your branding because you’ve written the title of your event 5 different ways (or is that just me)

Don’t you want the dish you were craving to taste exactly the same as it did last time at your favorite restaurant? Isn’t that part of what brings you back again and again? That’s because the chef and staff follow the same recipe and use the same techniques in the same order every time. (hello, I’m looking at you Sobo Ramen) Your client experience at the restaurant is predictable and consistent and that’s the experience process creation can give you whem you outsource a project.

Resource Cultivation

The second step, resource curation, is typically where most entrepreneurs START their outsourcing journey. They hop on a freelancing site like Fiverr to find a freelancer. And, BAM, they are off to the races.

Because they are busy they pick the first person that seems half way decent. They say I need x and go back to business. Then, they get pissed off because the end result is crappy. They wasted their time and money without much to show and I’d be mad too. I was in those shoes so many times I decided to figure it out.

There’s a process to picking the right person, which is simple. I define right as a teammate who has the competence and expertise to do what you want and who gets you as the business leader. They work the way you like to work without complaining. The problem is most entrepreneurs don’t know what their standards are or what a success would look like to them. You need a yardstick to measure your teammates by before you pick them and another to measure the outcome.

All this worry, of course, leads to micromanaging, which pretty much guarantees they will get something less than ideal. Freelancers are freelancers because they didn’t want a boss. They wanted to be free, hence the term freelancer. Using secret words or instructions labels you as an amateur, someone to be avoided rather than assisted.

Letting go and learning to trust is a process that you’ll grow into. Most, if not all, of my clients say their biggest challenge is letting go. Thankfully, that resolves itself over time with practice.

Cashing In

The last step is cashing in on the newly found time. Those 6 figure hyp- fests tend to show someone lying on the beach relaxing as a way of signaling success. It’s true that’s what most solopreneurs and expert dream of cashing in someday on their knowledge and experience so they can slow down and enjoy life. So, when they do free up 2 or 3 hours they waste it with more busywork (that feels good because it seems like saving money) or on personal things (which is fine but should happen after you’ve earned the money to pay for your teammate).

Instead invest those hours in the most productive revenue generating activity you know. Now, that assumes that you know which types of marketing results in the most leads and what the best method is for your business to convert those leads into customers. I’m talking data people. (Have you read Ask by Ryan Levesque* yet? It makes getting customer feedback fun and easier).

Personally I think that thought leadership i.e. blogging, article writing, speaking, podcast interviews) is a great revenue generating tool. It’s a two-fer. You get to build a relationship with the host AND share with their audience building, hopefully, hundreds of new relationships. Blogging and guesting can be outsourced but it’s up to you to nurture those relationships with your charm and wit.

These are the 3 steps to doing outsourcing the right way, the most effective way.Of course, there’s more, but this is a good start.

Find more how-to articles on outsourcing the right way for experts at http://OutsourceEasier.com

Law of Attraction & Outsourcing

I love the book, The Secret. In my life I’ve experienced abundance through the Laws of Attraction, although I had no idea what I was doing at the time except being my uber positive self.

I don’t consider myself a ‘woo-woo’ person (the lawyer side of my protests). I am woo. I’m open to source.

In fact, there’s no way I could’ve packed up and moved my life cross country and purchased my dream home inside of 3 month if I wasn’t able to hold the space without knowing. That, my friends, was some powerful manifesting.

You know the part in the book where Rhonda explains that it’s about co-creation. You set your intention; let go of expectations and act in ways that support your belief. Set your intention to have a profitable, easy to run business in 2016 then support it!

Outsourcing supports your intention for a peaceful, profitable business

What you think about you bring about- Michael Beckwith

There’s business evidence that what we focus on grows or improves. But it’s not just what you think about. You have to also take action.

You already know there’s no wishing that mountain of papers off your test. Or, at least, no desk fairies have visitied me recently. However, I can set my intention to have a workspace that’s inviting and stimulating.

Then I figured out what those words meant to me and put systems in place to keep me feeling creative & happy. Like a new bulletin board so I can envision my 3 month schedule and be inspired.

I hired two new teammates who are whizzes at their respective expertise. Their help allows me to step up and see the big picture, not run around blinded by all the trees that need tending.

The alignment of my thoughts and action is what gets me in the vortex as Abraham Hicks might say.

To answer my own question, yes, outsourcing can be part of your spiritual practice. It’s self-care. It empowers you and others. I’m grateful for the opportunity to hire someone and help feed their family like their work helps feed mine. It calls your attention to your why?

What’s your take? I’m sure I’m not the only one who wants to know so leave a comment, will ya?