Ep 185 - How & When to Hire Help for Your Small Business with Lesley Pyle

Can you still do it all for your business or is it time to have support?

Join us as Lesley Pyle, founder of HireMyMom.com, shatters the myth of the solopreneur struggle! Lesley went from an overwhelmed mom to a successful business owner by embracing the power of smart delegation.

Lesley's journey from a new mom to a business founder reveals the pivotal role of hiring help in achieving the seemingly unattainable work-life balance. She shares how her support network for home-based working moms started and how it has evolved into a beacon for small businesses seeking dedicated professionals. If you're wrestling with the decision to expand your team, Lesley's narrative will help enlighten you from a hesitant solopreneur to a liberated business owner.

As Lesley delves into the art of delegation, she offers a treasure trove of actionable insights for those thinking about hiring or looking to scale their operations. We dissect the list of tasks entrepreneurs can confidently hand off to virtual assistants and the roles ripe for outsourcing, all aimed at propelling business momentum. This episode isn't just about the mechanics of hiring—it's a masterclass in strategic investment that promises to unlock the doors to newfound time, freedom, and flexibility. Lesley and I lay out a roadmap for intentional time management that ensures each hour saved by hiring help is an hour spent fueling your business's future.

Join us for a conversation rich with wisdom for those ready to step boldly into the realm of delegation and hiring, unlocking the potential within their businesses and themselves.

Learn more about Lesley Pyle here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lspencerpyle/
http://instagram.com/hiremymom
https://www.facebook.com/HireMyMom/
http://www.twitter.com/hiremymom/
https://www.tiktok.com/@hiremymom
https://www.youtube.com/user/hiremymom/videos
https://www.pinterest.com/hiremymomcom/boards/

Resource: Top 10 Interview Questions To Ask

Finding the best candidate for a job requires that you do your homework in advance. Part of that is asking the right questions and making sure you get thorough answers.   
https://mailchi.mp/hiremymom/top-10-interview-questions-to-ask

The Digital Revolution Podcast
Welcome to The Digital Revolution Podcast, where marketing experts share their expertise.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

You know, I think that's one of the scary things for hiring is like where's that money going to come from? And I tell people, start small with whether you think you need. You know. If you want to just start out hiring someone five hours a week or 10 hours a week, do it and then see how your time is freed up, even if you have to take a small pay cut. I've taken pay cuts before in order to hire someone because I knew that if I could do that temporarily I would get to a place where my business would be bringing more income. So it's like an investment in your business to me. And so start small, you know, hire that person for five to 10 hours a week. I'm sure that your network of virtual assistants can handle smaller jobs just as well as they can handle bigger jobs.

Speaker 2: 0:43

Hey, hey, hey. Welcome to Master Delegator podcast, the podcast that unveils the secrets of effective delegation and productivity for business growth. My name is Christy Yoder, ceo of SmartVAs and Meet5StarVAs, and your podcast host. Can I tell you a secret? I am obsessed with teamwork and delegation. I consider myself a lazy entrepreneur, not because I don't like working, but because I always find ways to do things in the most effective and easiest way. I was born and raised in Manila, philippines, moved to the States and grew my agency from one person to more than 70 plus team members. As of this recording, I was able to grow my business 10 times more after I hired my first virtual assistant within three months. Together with my team, we have helped more than 300 stress and overwhelm business owners scale their businesses by delegating to virtual assistants, and that's why my goal in this podcast show is to help you grow your business by giving you fresh perspectives on delegation, outsourcing, hiring virtual assistants and up to date proven business strategies, and teaching you how to scale your business while living a freedom filled lifestyle. Whether you're a business leader, entrepreneur or someone striving for peak efficiency, this podcast is your go-to resource. We bring you insights from industry experts, successful entrepreneurs and thought leaders who have mastered the skill of delegation. If you are ready to elevate your productivity and achieve more by doing less, you're in the right place. Subscribe to Master Delegator on your favorite podcast platform and join our community of proactive delegators. Now let's get started on the path to becoming a true master of delegation. Hey there, awesome listeners, welcome to the Master Delegator podcast. Today we're chatting with Leslie Pyle about something super important for small businesses, which is how and when to hire help for your small business. Leslie's got tons of experience and she's here to drop some knowledge bombs that can totally change how you think about getting help for your business. Leslie is the founder and CEO of HireMyMomcom. Since 2007, her awesome service has been connecting small businesses with talented individuals all over the country. Leslie started working from home in 1995. Wow, that's a long time Wanting to juggle being a mom and having a career. She kicked off her online business, hbwmcom for short In 1996, and she's been rocking it since then. But Leslie isn't just about business. She serves on the board of directors for Mighty Oaks Foundation and is a contributing writer to entrepreneurcom. She and her family reside in Texas. So grab a pen, get ready for some inspiration and let's dive into the world of getting things done Really awesome.

Speaker 1: 4:08

Hi Leslie, hi Leslie, hey Christy, thank you so much for having me on, you're welcome.

Speaker 2: 4:14

I'm so curious to know about the story behind your business. So why did you build your business and why did you name it hiremymomcom?

Speaker 1: 4:25

Yeah. So that takes me back to when I first started and that, like you said, was 1995. And probably not surprising to many of your listeners is I had my first baby in December of 1994. And so when I had her, I had every intention on going back to my full-time job, which was in PR for a golf school in Austin, texas. And when I went back to work after my maternity leave, I did not anticipate how hard that was going to be and I basically cried every single day. Like I'm not an emotional person, like I don't just cry to cry Like that. It just was a deep struggle for me. So I was like OK, asking my employers is there any way I can work from home, at least like a couple of days a week? Maybe that'll make it easier? But you know this was 1995 and that was just not really viable. Nobody was working from home, it just wasn't widely accepted. So I talked to my husband and I was like I want to work, I just don't want to work full time away from home. So what if I started trying to freelance? And he was like, oh well, if you can, and there's something about me and my determination that I was going to make it work. So I quit my job and hit the ground running and began freelancing and communications, marketing, pr, anything that I could find and I did that for about six to 12 months, and it was hard, not going to lie. It was hard to get clients, it was hard to work with a newborn and infant, it was hard to learn all the things you have to learn to be a business owner, and so I began looking for some type of network of other moms to connect with, and when I didn't find anything, that's when I started HBWL that you've mentioned in the intro and that stands for home based working moms, and it was basically like an online Chamber of Commerce to connect women across the United States to learn from each other, to buy from each other, support each other, figure out a way to work from home. And so I did that for, I think, about 14 years, and that's when my life full moment went okay, what if? Now? This is when matchcom and all these online dating platforms were coming out. That are at least when I started learning about them, and I thought what if I created something similar for moms and small businesses where they could find their perfect match? And so that's when I got the idea for hire my momcom, because I knew there were many, many, many talented women, men, singles out there looking for remote work, and I knew there were businesses that needed help and not necessarily full time employees. So I thought that would be so perfect. So that's how I got the whole idea. And here we are, almost 17 years later Wow.

Speaker 2: 7:07

Congratulations. I have so many questions, but my most curious question is how was working from home in 1995? I'm pretty sure the internet was different. There was no zoom, I don't think. Did you have sky?

Speaker 1: 7:22

during that time. No, it was way different. We didn't have email, we didn't have really the internet. I learned about the internet in 1995. I don't know when it first came out, but that's when I learned about it and it was so basic back then like nothing like what we have now, and so I had to figure out how to create a website. I was like that's, that's my golden ticket, like if I can create a website, then I can reach people across the country. So I bought this was back when you bought computer programs in a box and I bought a box on Microsoft front page or something like that and learned how to create a website. And that's how it all began.

Speaker 2: 7:59

Wow, that's amazing, and there was no social media, of course you know you didn't have that either, so yeah it was way different than it is today. Yeah, that's so true. So you've been in business for 17 years, so you've been in a lot of changes already. You know personally, you know, like you know, you had a baby and then, of course, now your baby is a grown up child. Now, you know, then you've been through economic recession as well, Right, and now we had COVID just a few years ago and still at the moment the economy is not where it should be. So in the last 17 years, you know what were. I'm pretty sure you had so many struggles, yes, but what were the struggles you had when starting your business and how did you overcome them? So maybe share the struggles you had as you were starting out your business and your recent struggle, because you know you've been in business for 17 years.

Speaker 1: 9:09

It's a lot it is, and I could tell you for me personally, one of my biggest challenges has been web developers, because my website, hermamom, is very complex.

Speaker 2: 9:20

I love that.

Speaker 1: 9:21

Yes, and there's a lot of moving parts and there are a lot of pieces that have to work together. So it's much different than a static website. That's more of a brochure website. Like you know, when I started my first website, it was a static website, which is pictures and words. Now I've got all these different modules and things that have to interact, and so I'm in the process right now, working with a new company to revamp and clean up and, you know, help the website be even better and it's just along the way. You know, that's one of the things where it's almost like, if you don't speak Chinese, you can't understand what they're saying, and that's kind of how it is with a web developer. So I got burned a few times hiring people and companies that did not come through, you know, but still took payment and that sort of thing. So that was definitely one of the tougher challenges. And then, just like you were saying, the economy it goes up and down and up and down, and up and down and to try to stay in business and be relevant and keep. You know, like when I started hiring my mom, there weren't very many job platforms, especially for working at home. I think, maybe one other one that I knew of at the time, and now there's, you know, hundreds, and I can't compete with the big daddies like Indeed and LinkedIn, and so it's just trying to stay focused and, in my lane, who I serve, and serve them well, because there is, there is enough business out there, but if they can't find you or you don't do a good job, then you can go out of business.

Speaker 2: 10:53

Yeah, exactly, wow. So I mean even up, I feel like, based on our own experience, you know, because we provide website design and also SEO and Google ads services, and those three technical skill sets are hard to find even nowadays. You know, in recruitment nowadays it's not just about hiring people with great skills, you also need to make sure that that person is the right fit to your culture, right? So how much more you know? Back then, during 1995, you know people, websites are not very common during that time, right, like I, there were Squarespace. I'm pretty sure there's probably WordPress already during that time, but it was probably still booming. But how about recently? You know what was your like? What was the lesson you've learned?

Speaker 1: 12:00

Well, definitely, covid was a lesson, I think, for all of us and you know, when that first happened in March of 2020, it felt like everybody went into a cave and, you know, definitely took a hit my business, I think almost all businesses took a hit, at least for a couple of months, and it was again okay, no, what are we going to do? How are we going to come out of this? And you know, I've really been intentional about focusing on primarily moms, but anyone can sign up and small businesses. Almost all of the people who use our service are. You know they might be a solopreneur, a coach or something like that, or a digital marketing agency with, you know, 2050 employees and just being very intentional about reaching those companies and businesses and doing the best job we can so that they want to come back and refer other people to.

Speaker 2: 12:51

Right, yeah, exactly hey. Are you sick and tired of being overwhelmed because you are doing everything alone in your business and can't scale because you don't have a team supporting you? Well, you don't have to worry anymore, because smart VAs can provide you with a team of experience virtual assistants that can do different tasks to support your growth From admin to bookkeeping, to social media, video and podcast editing to website graphics, seo and customer service. Smart VA's team can help you grow your business without any worries or stress from all the tasks weighing down on you. If you are a business entrepreneur who needs help with your day-to-day tasks so you can focus on growing your business, then you have to visit smartvirtualassistancecom. When it comes to knowing how and when to hire for help for small businesses, what do you think are the signs that a business owner should look for when they want to hire?

Speaker 1: 14:16

Yeah, I think. Usually I tell people. I think there are five signs and if you answer yes to any or all of these, then it's time to hire. The first one is your customer service is slipping and you're no longer taking care of your clients and your customers like you used to. Another one is you're wearing too many hats. You don't have time to do what you love and what you're really good at in your business, because you're doing all the daily tasks and all the things that take up your time. That might be administrative, that might be social media, counting, whatever it is, and whatever your zone of genius is or what you enjoy the most, whether that's business growth, marketing. You don't have time because you're doing all the other things. Another one is you're working too many hours. If your goal was to work 30 hours a week and you're working 40 or 50, then it's another key sign to hire. A big one is you don't have the capacity to take on new business. You just are at your limit. And then the other one, I think, is if you do have current team members and they're doing more than their regular job and they are overwhelmed. So if you identify with any of those, then it's most likely time to hire.

Speaker 2: 15:59

Right, exactly, and what do you think is a good first project or task to hire for?

Speaker 1: 16:07

Yeah, I always say virtual assistants and I know you can help them with that, with your service, and for me that was my first hire too is I just wanted to get some of the daily tasks, and that for me was email, some customer service responsibilities, calendar management. Let's see what else was in there Just taking care of a lot of the clutter that I felt like was bogging me down. So, my virtual assistant now. It's just such a blessing because once you get them trained and going, it's like they simplify your life and now I can focus on more doing things like this, podcast, things that I enjoy doing and getting to meet other fantastic entrepreneurs and business owners like you, and networking and things like that. That's what I enjoy doing.

Speaker 2: 16:58

I love that and that's what we're supposed to do as business owners, as founder and CEO is like network with other like-minded individuals so that we can help grow each other. But if we're too focused and we're in our business, we're just lost in the sea of too many tasks, right? We won't be able to have the focus that we need in order to grow our business. So, outside of virtual assistants, what are the different types of roles that you think small businesses need to consider hiring?

Speaker 1: 17:35

Right. So if you have your virtual assistant, I always think that's number one that helps you kind of get a clue on where else you might be able to outsource. So some other things to consider are bookkeeping, accounting, invoicing, social media management, creation, blog writing, editing, graphic design, marketing, email marketing, project management, account management, customer service, facebook ads and online business manager, which is another name for operations, someone that can kind of be your right hand person to. Once you get to a point where you've got a team, then an online business manager or operation person is really helpful to help. Basically, you only have to go to one person and they can kind of handle your team from there.

Speaker 2: 18:30

Right, yeah. So what if I'm experiencing all of these five things that you mentioned, the five signs that I need to support, If my customer service is not working well, I'm wearing too many hats and I'm working too many hours, no capacity to take on new businesses and I'm overworking my team members as well? What if I want to hire support, but I don't have the budget? I just don't have the money to pay for extra help. What should I?

Speaker 1: 19:09

do you know? I think that's one of the scary things for hiring is like where's that money going to come from? And I tell people, start small with whether you think you need. You know. If you want to just start out hiring someone five hours a week or 10 hours a week, do it and then see how your time is freed up, even if you have to take a small pay cut. I've taken pay cuts before in order to hire someone because I knew that if I could do that temporarily I would get to a place where my business would be bringing more income. So it's like an investment in your business to me. And so start small, you know. Hire that person for five to 10 hours a week. I'm sure that your network of virtual assistants can handle smaller jobs just as well as they can handle bigger jobs. And I think that's a common misconception for business owners is they're afraid to hire because they don't think that they have enough work for them or they're afraid that they won't be able to pay them. So you know, if you can just take a small you know a cut in your pay temporarily, I usually I feel like it's a payoff in the end for you and then from there you can grow their hours and grow the time you have available to continue working on your business and growing your business.

Speaker 2: 20:21

Yeah, that is a good suggestion and I think sometimes we're afraid to hire because we see it as an expense. We don't think about the ROI and even though VA's or even other independent contractors, even though they may not be able to give us a return on investment in terms of monetarily, you know, depending on how you utilize the time that you had back from hiring a VA or a support, you know what they can give you in terms of return of investment is your time, your freedom and your flexibility. And that's why I always tell people you know when you have that extra time already. So let's say you hire a VA for 20 hours a month, that means you have earned 20 hours back. You know, in your personal and professional life. So you got to have to use those hours wisely. You know, if your family matters the most to you, then spend those hours for your family. If you want to grow your business, you want to scale, spend a portion of those hours to scale your business. I think it's all about utilizing those hours that you can get back from hiring a virtual assistant. But if you don't know how to manage your time, if you don't know how to use those 20 hours that you have back. You're dead Because you know you spent 20 hours on a VA and then you did not make the most out of it. You know like you have to learn how to delegate and prioritize your tasks Right and have a plan.

Speaker 1: 21:55

you know.

Speaker 2: 21:55

I'm an hire, a VA. You have a plan?

Speaker 1: 21:56

exactly yeah, and I'm going to use 10 hours of that to grow my business. I'm going to use five hours to spend more time with my family and I'm going to use you know, delegate those hours up and be intentional with it.

Speaker 2: 22:08

Yeah, exactly hey. Are you looking for a community to learn how you can be effective in delegation so you can focus on the things that matter the most in your business and grow to six to seven figures? If this is you, then today is your lucky day. Join our Facebook group today to get your questions answered on delegation, outsourcing, business growth, hiring members and many more. We offer so much value in the group, so join our growing community by going to facebookcom. Slash groups. Slash master delegator. See you there. I know you already mentioned about. You know when hiring somebody to help you in the business. You already mentioned about starting small, but tell me about, in your experience you know, in your 17 years of experience in running your own business, what is. What do you think is the most effective way of delegating to either VA's or to other? You know, team members, right?

Speaker 1: 23:13

As far as tools In general, yeah, yeah, so for us we use Asana, and I know there are several other project management tools out there, but that's how we delegate and keep track of all of our different roles and tasks. So we have a board or a task column for each of our roles, like one one for content creation, one for blogs, you know, one for podcast, one for administrative tasks. So everything lives there. It's easy to find and tag people like okay, I've finished my role, now it's time for you to do your work, you know, and that sort of thing. So that's worked well for us to have that place to keep everything central and organized. And then you know when we're onboarding someone new. We have Google Docs where we have all the tasks listed out, how to do it, you know, with links to videos, if there's like a how to video and that sort of thing. So it not only makes it easier to onboard, but it also helps in the training process because that person has something to go back and refer to. You know, and we have like a FAQ at the bottom like here's questions you might get asked by a customer and you know they can click on it and review it that way they're not having to come back to me or another team member. You know, and everybody's more efficient when you have those things outlined and organized for your team.

Speaker 2: 24:43

I love that, and what sort of tasks at the moment in your business do you delegate to your team members?

Speaker 1: 24:49

Yeah, so we currently have a team of six plus me. So we have my virtual assistant, who does the administrative, the email, the customer service, social media outsource, and she just happens to be my oldest, who was my inspiration for starting. So she does. If you're ever on our Instagram or social media, she's the beautiful blonde that appears in a lot of our social media. I'm not biased, am I? And then I have an email marketing person that does a lot of our emails and helps with blog writing. Then I have just a general VA that helps with all the different, like miscellaneous tasks that don't fall into the daily things that my VA does. And then we have two HR specialists who work on our concierge service. So our concierge service is for the small business owner that needs to hire whatever role, but they're too busy or they just don't like the hiring process. So we have two HR specialists who basically could take the job post and do the entire project for them and then present them with the top two or three candidates, and those HR specialists also do what we have as our jobseeker advisor. So if you were curious, what kind of jobs should I apply for? Help me with my resume, my cover letter. They also do those types of jobs. So we'd really try to be a one-stop shop for both people looking for work and people looking to hire. So we have all those extra little services that we offer and we also have two courses one for our jobseeker and one for our business owners on tips on hiring made easy. So we really, really try to help our audience grow and be successful.

Speaker 2: 26:38

That's pretty cool. I'm going to visit your Instagram again and look at your daughter, but I believe what you said, because you're a gorgeous woman and she's your daughter, so you're gorgeous and there's a hundred percent chance that your daughter looks the same as you do. So yeah but kidding aside, going back on a serious note, what is the most crucial thing for a business owner to look for when hiring for support?

Speaker 1: 27:15

The most crucial traits in a candidate. Yeah, I like to look for candidates. Of course, their resume should speak to the roles and responsibilities but, even more important to that, I like to look for people that are aligned with our mission and our values and who are resourceful, who are eager to learn and figure things out, because one of the things that makes it hard on you if you hire is someone who requires you to hold their hand. When we work remotely, we become very independent workers and thinkers and of course, we do team meetings and collaborate on things, but for the most part, most of our jobs in tell us just working solo on a task. So knowing that the person isn't going to need you to hold their hand, that they have experience either working remotely or independently, is important. Someone who really aligns with what your company does and is passionate about that too, versus someone who is just looking for a paycheck. Someone that says I love the mission of your company and I love what you're doing, and that really resonates with them, because when you hire someone, you want them to stay with you long term. You don't want to have to keep replacing people. So just knowing that they really resonate with what you do, I think is a crucial key to look for.

Speaker 2: 28:39

I love that, and I know you have a resource or a freebie that you want to share to our listeners. It's called Top 10 Interview Questions to Ask. So where can people find you online and how can they work together with you?

Speaker 1: 28:52

Yeah, so course. Our website hire my momcom. I'm on LinkedIn at Leslie Pyle. Pyle is P-Y-L-E, and then we're on Instagram at hire my mom. Those are the places that we most hang out, but we also have Facebook, tiktok, twitter or X, pinterest, youtube. We're on all of the platforms.

Speaker 2: 29:17

Yay, I'm going to put all of those links in the show notes so that they can go to your website and visit your Instagram account, but thank you so much for your time today, leslie. It's very insightful and I'm sure that our listeners are going to learn a lot from this episode.

Speaker 1: 29:30

Well, thank you, kristie, it's been my pleasure.

Speaker 2: 29:32

You're welcome. Thank you so much again for listening and I'll see you again on the next episode.