Wondering if you should hire an Online Business Manager? Here are 5 tell-tale signs that it may be time for you to add an OBM to your team.
1. Your business is growing while your own free-time is shrinking
I’m guessing you started your business to create more freedom in your life. Freedom of time, money and choice. Let me ask you – as your business grows are you actually working more, or less? If you are on the ‘working more’ side of things you aren’t alone. I talk to business owners all the time who are working more hours in their own business than they ever did at their old job.
It doesn’t have to be this way – as a business owner you have the freedom to make changes in your business, including hiring the right support to get stuff off your plate. This is exactly what an Online Business Manager does – an OBM’s focus is to free up the business owner (you) so that you can focus your time & energy on the things that only you can do in your business.
2. You are turning away opportunities because you are so busy
This is an unfortunate by-product of the first point. Are you so busy that you can’t take advantage of the opportunities that are coming your way? Do you ever find yourself saying “I would love to do X, I know it would be a great new offer, but I don’t have time for that right now”.
Not only can an Online Business Manager help free up your own time to be able to explore these opportunities, they can also work on bringing some of these opportunities to life for you. An Online Business Manager can help manage the process of bringing new strategies, projects and offers from concept to launch.
3. You are still doing the same things you were doing when you started your business
Remember when you first started your business and had to wear all the hats? You were the cook, hostess, waitress, cleaning team AND and manager. Now that your business is growing, are you still doing the same things as you were in the beginning? Are you still updating your own website? Are you still sending out your own emails? Are you still answering customer service emails? As your business grows your role will (and should) change.
An Online Business Manager can pull you out of doing these things and help you let go of the tasks that should no longer be taking up your time & energy – the things getting in the way of you growing your business.
4. You have a great team, but find yourself frustrated by them always needing something from you
This is actually a very common complaint from business owners – they have a great team of virtual assistants, tech experts, etc., and yet they are constantly frustrated by how much their team needs from them. They feel like someone is always tapping them on the shoulder with a question or request. The thing is, your team does need someone to manage & support them. They need someone they can turn to with questions, to get what they need to complete their projects correctly and on time. And if there isn’t an Online Business Manager on the team, who are they going to turn to? That would be you.
As a fellow business owner once said: “My VAs were doing a fine job – it was ME who was unhappy managing them.” Most business owners really don’t enjoy being managers (and often aren’t good at it). An Online Business Manager becomes the key point of contact for your team – all questions & requests go to the OBM instead of you.
5. You are stuck at $X revenue and can’t seem to get past that point
When you find yourself stuck at a certain revenue level there is usually one thing getting in the way – again, that would be you. This is often referred to as the quarter million dollar speed bump (give or take) and a big part of the solution usually requires you removing yourself from the day-to-day operations and management of your business.
Start to ask yourself as you go about your day – do I need to be the one doing this?
Chances are many things on your to-do list could be passed along to someone else on your team. And an Online Business Manager can help with that process by delegating and managing those tasks on your behalf. In short, once you:
- have hit multiple 6-figures in revenue
- have a clear vision & goals for your next level of growth and
- are ready to step into being the CEO and have someone else run the business for you
…you’re ready to hire an OBM.
