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August 15, 2022

5 Tips for Hiring Help for Your Online Business

Online business can be very rewarding, but it can also be time-consuming and take up all of your attention if you’re not careful. In order to maximize your profits and keep your business growing, consider hiring help with certain aspects of it. There are several reasons why you might want to do this, including expanding your products and services, reaching new locations, or just to have more time to focus on other things like marketing or increasing your sales volume. Here are some tips to help you hire the right kind of help for your online business.

1) Understand the Different Types of Assistants

When you’re running an online business, there are a lot of different hats you have to wear. You’re the CEO, the CFO, the COO, and the list goes on. So it’s no wonder that you might need some help to get all of your work done. But before you start hiring, it’s important to understand the different types of assistants and what they can do for you. There are administrative assistants who handle scheduling, billing, payroll processing, travel arrangements and customer service. There are also operations or production assistants who manage inventory control, shipping & receiving or quality control tasks. And then there’s web design which is a specialty job that does not typically fall under the umbrella of an assistant position. It’s possible to hire more than one type of assistant at once if you’re working in more than one area of your business.

2) Know How Much Time You Need

If you don’t know how much time you need, you won’t be able to find the right person to help. Consider what tasks need to be done and how often they need to be completed. You may also want to consider your budget and whether or not you can afford to hire someone full-time or if you need someone part-time.

3) Know What You Need Done

Before you start your search for the perfect virtual assistant, take some time to sit down and figure out exactly what tasks you need help with. Once you have a good understanding of what needs to be done, you can start looking for someone who is qualified and experienced to help you with your specific needs.

4) Choose Your Candidate Carefully

When you’re hiring help for your online business, it’s important to take your time and choose the right candidate. After all, this person will be representing your company, so you want to make sure they have the right skills and attitude. Here are a few tips to help you choose the right person: 

  1. Ask if they have any other side jobs or if they work with other businesses. 
  2. Find out what their strengths are and what their weaknesses are, so that you can match them up with tasks that suit them best. 
  3. Ask how much experience they have in their field (for example: graphic design). The more experience someone has in their field, the better their knowledge of industry-specific terms, processes, rules and regulations.

5) Train Them Well

You’ve finally decided to take the plunge and hire some help for your online business. Congratulations! This is a big step that will free up your time so you can focus on other aspects of running your business. But before you hand over the keys to your virtual kingdom, there are a few things you need to do to set your new hire up for success. First, provide them with clear expectations and detailed instructions. Next, provide them with all the tools they’ll need to complete their tasks. Finally, have regular check-ins to make sure they’re getting it right and providing you with valuable feedback on how they feel about working for you.

What tips and tricks have you learned for the hiring process? Reach out and let us know!

 

 

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November 8, 2021

How to Be Brave, Get Support and Level Up for Unbelievable Success

Congratulations–you are living the work-from-home life and thriving.

You know how to hack your day for maximum productivity, what pitfalls to avoid, how to get back on track when your motivation wanes. You outsource tasks, set boundaries, stay connected, use the right apps, work smart in the kitchen to save time, and manage through periods without childcare.

But, something’s not quite right. Maybe you aren’t finding the same level of fulfillment in your work compared to when you first started. Perhaps your children are getting older, and you are ready for meatier professional assignments. Or, maybe you aren’t sure what you need or want, but you know that the current situation is not quite working for you.

It may be time to call in a coach to help you level up for the next chapter of your life. Leveling up is different than a job change. It’s an opportunity to assess where you are, consider the future, set goals, create a plan, and tackle the opportunities you identify.

Here’s our best advice for knowing when it’s time to level up and how a coach can help you make your dreams a reality.

You Are Not Alone

The media regularly shares stories about the “great resignation” that’s underway this year. Many people are rethinking their professional lives as the pandemic starts to abate. Clearly, you are not alone if you feel the desire for something new. It’s normal and healthy to want more–even if you aren’t sure what exactly that “more” is right now.

Bottom line, if you feel a longing for something new, we suggest embracing the feeling and exploring where it leads you. You don’t have to walk this path alone because millions of people–many of them moms–are walking right along with you.

A coach can help you find the path that works for you and connect you with like-minded, work-at-home moms who can help make reaching your destination an actual labor of love and shared experience.

Be Brave

Maybe you know it’s time for a change but feel trepidation at the prospect of shaking things up. We get it. It can be scary to think about moving on to a different job, launching a business, or changing career paths. We find this is especially true for moms who work at home and want to keep it that way. So much emphasis is placed on finding a work-from-home job and making it work that it can be easy to get fixated on the job you have and lose sight of what you really want.

Feeding the professional side of your life is essential. As life changes and you change, your professional ambitions may change as well. That’s a normal and expected development, and there’s no need to feel bad about the desire.

If You Aren’t Sure

Sometimes you know it’s time to make a change. But, often, the desire to change is more subtle, and it takes a while to recognize. So, even if you aren’t actively thinking about a new job or making a professional change, watch for these clues that it may be time to move on:

  • You find yourself coasting at work. If you feel like you can do your job with your eyes closed or your workday feels mindless, a new challenge may help restore your interest.
  • Co-workers often come to you for advice on how to do the job. This is a sign that you are broadly perceived as an expert at the job and maybe a hint that you are ready for new challenges.
  • You are easily frustrated or find yourself complaining about your work. Often, frustration or venting are signs that it’s time to look deeper and determine if these are temporary frustrations or symptoms of a more significant problem.

If you recognize yourself here, that’s likely a sign that it’s time to do some work to explore essential questions related to work and life.

Now What

Moving on just for the sake of moving on is often counterproductive. If you jump to the next job or opportunity that comes along, you could end up feeling dissatisfied again in short order.

We find that a better approach is to take the time to answer some big questions to make sure you land in the right place and feel confident in your path going forward. Consider:

  • What does success mean to you in the next season of life?
  • How does that definition translate to goals?
  • How will you get there?
  • How will you develop a plan?
  • Who will hold you accountable for achieving your goals?
  • How will you find the support you need to make the changes to help you achieve your goals?

Answering these questions can help you move from where you are today to where you want to be in the future. Putting work in now pays dividends later.

But, these are BIG questions, and it’s often difficult to know how to answer them. That’s where a coach or group program can really make the difference.

Consider Coaching

Finding meaningful success without sacrificing family time is a team sport, and a coach can help you move to the next level of play. As a work-at-home mom who deeply values family time, finding the right coach is essential.

We all need support in business and life. It’s easy to feel stuck or overwhelmed–especially as you raise a family and navigate career space. An experienced, independent, outside voice can help provide feedback on what’s not working and give you the clarity you need on the best way to use your time and energy.

A coach can help you define what success means for you, guide you as you start or grow a remote career or business, and help you smash through roadblocks or fears that hold you back. If you know you want to make a change but aren’t sure what you want to do, the proper support can help.

HireMy Mom’s Mastermind & Coaching programs can help bring out the best in your business and in your life. It’s specifically tailored for moms who want to work and home and find professional success without sacrificing family time.

We currently offer two options:

  • Elevate YOU: Mastermind & Coaching for Women can help you gain the clarity and focus you need to pursue your dreams while connecting you with a community of like-minded moms. Through the program, you’ll find the path for meaningful growth and success based on what matters to you. You’ll create deep and authentic relationships with women on the same path and benefit from coaching from our founder and HireMyMom CEO, Lesley Pyle.
  • One-on-One Coaching with Lesley Pyle can help you move ahead in life and business. Research shows that working with a coach is the most effective and efficient way to experience the breakthrough you need to grow personally and professionally. You can benefit from Lesley’s 25 years as an entrepreneur and her insights into balancing work and family from a wife and mother who’s been down the road you are traveling.
  • Coming soon! Small Business Owners Mastermind, which is designed to support entrepreneurs as they grow their business. The group will start in 2022, but you can sign up for the waitlist now.

Join us!
This is the time to invest in yourself, your future, and your family. You won’t regret it. Your goals await.

 

 

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October 18, 2021

Turn Your Idea Into a Supercharged Business With These Four Easy Steps

While making dinner or driving carpool, many thoughts likely go through your head. If one (or more) of them includes a new business idea, congratulations-you have the heart and mind of an entrepreneur (and a momtrepreneur)!

The business you are considering can be anything–it doesn’t have to be a wholly unique new product. Perhaps, you’d like to put your top-notch project management or administrative skills to use by launching a virtual assistant business.

Or, maybe you know you’d like to work for yourself and are thinking of launching a business that fills a need in your community–like a dog walker or child care provider. 

Whatever your interest, the next step is taking the idea and making it happen. So, how do you take the kernel of an idea or a desire to hang out your own shingle and turn it into a full-fledged business? 

While the prospect may seem overwhelming, a few initial steps can quickly put you on the road to success. The HireMyMom team talks with successful entrepreneurs looking for help every day. Here, we distill what we hear from them into four easy-to-follow initial steps to get you started with whatever business you are considering.

 

Talk About It

It’s exciting to consider launching a new business, and it’s fun to talk about your vision. So, the first step is easy–talk with trusted friends, family members and other advisors about your idea. Share the big picture you have in your head and get their reaction to it. Encourage them to ask questions and poke holes so you can refine your plan and create a clear vision of what you want to do.

We encourage you to seek out the enthusiastic and skeptical for this step. In this phase, it’s crucial to have a wide variety of input, and each perspective will help you get a better sense of how you can massage your idea for the best chance at success.

That said, establish a timeline for this phase–probably two to three weeks. That gives you time to have many conversations and chew over different ideas but still lets you move forward with the plan in a timely manner.

 

Conduct Research

Next, embark on a research project. The goal is threefold:

  • Find out what other businesses are operating in your space–this is called market research.
  • Determine where your business fits in–this is called competitive analysis.
  • Learn about any permit or licensing requirements to open and operate your business. Knowing about any required permits or licenses can help you avoid potentially costly situations down the road.

The information taken together can help you refine your business plan and position you for success.

Start with market research. Aim to learn more about other, similar businesses. Ask potential customers what they are looking for and what they value in the service. Find how much they charge and what their customers think of the service. Ask potential customers what service is missing from the current mix. Find out more about the demand for your product or service.

The U.S. Small Business Administration offers a helpful guide for conducting market research before launching a business. 

Next, perform a competitive analysis to determine how your business will fill a niche. For example, you may decide to offer a twist on a product or service to make your business stand out and solve a problem you saw in the marketplace. For example, if you were thinking about a child care business, you might learn that parents are looking for evening care during your research. As a result, you may decide to offer child care after traditional business hours to cater to families who need help in the evenings or on weekends. 

Or, you might learn that the only infant night nurse within 50 miles is cutting back her workload and the need for that service exceeds what the market offers. You might then steer your business toward short-term overnight care so new moms can get some sleep. You could offer to do laundry while on duty as a way to make your business stand out.

In some cases, you may find that the area you are considering is currently underserved, and standard product offerings plus availability are enough to get your business off the ground quickly. 

For example, in your research, you may find that a shortage of qualified administrative assistants has local accounting firms struggling to return calls and schedule meetings. In that case, you might tailor your virtual assistant business, so you cater to industries with high demand.

Or, maybe you are considering a pet-based service, and you learn that there aren’t enough dog walkers in your neighborhood now that people are heading back to work. You’ve found a gap that you can easily step into to meet the need. 

Market research and competitive analysis are both necessary because they position you for success by uncovering your competitive advantage in the marketplace. 

 

Write a Plan

Next, craft a business plan and put it in writing. Your business plan doesn’t need to be MBA thesis-worthy. You can use an online template from sites like hubspot or the balance small business. 

If that’s not your style, you can write the plan out on a piece of notebook paper or pull up a document on your laptop. The U.S. Small Business Administration offers helpful tips for writing a business plan.

Generally, your business plan can be as comprehensive as you desire. But, at a minimum, it should reflect the basics elements of your idea. 

Start by documenting your vision, hashing out your overall mission and the details of the product or service you plan to provide. Peer into the future and include an aspirational statement to help you guide you along the way.

Suppose you are launching a virtual assistant business. In that case, your vision may look like this: Start a virtual assistant business that focuses on calendar management, customer callbacks and spreadsheet support for small business owners in the real estate industry. Over five years, grow business sufficiently to add three part-time employees providing similar services.

From there, your business plan should answer these questions:

  • What is the name of the business?
  • Who does this business serve? 
  • How will I find customers?
  • How will they know about my service?
  • What’s the competition?
  • What’s my competitive advantage?
  • What obstacles might I face?
  • How much does this product/service cost the customer?
  • How will I staff this business to meet the demand?
  • Do I need money to launch this? How much? How will I get it?
  • What are my promotional plans?

 

Then, set a few short and long-term objectives to help you move along. Many people find that creating specific action plans with deadlines helps them set and achieve goals. Make sure your goals are SMART, that is, specific, measurable, actionable, relevant, and timely.

 

Make It Official!

Armed with your great idea, backed by research and fueled by the concepts documented in your business plan, it’s time to get moving. 

Complete any legal and tax forms required to launch your business. You can find guidelines for selecting a business structure and instructions for getting federal and state tax ID numbers from the Small Business Association. The NOLO website offers low-cost legal forms.

Line up support to help ensure your success. While the specific support you need will vary by business type, some likely sources of support include:

  • A banker who can help you set up a small business account and offer basic bookkeeping guidance.
  • A mentor who has small business experience and can guide you as you launch, run and grow your business. Check out the Small Business Development Center for information about programs sponsored by the federal Small Business Association. They offer specific counseling for women-owned businesses.
  • A community of like-minded business people to share in the joys and struggles.

 

Call Us

The HireMyMom team can’t wait to hear about your success! When you are ready to find a work-from-home mom to supplement your staff, or you have an opportunity to give a budding, at-home professional some work, visit HireMyMom.com to find the resource you need.

 

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July 12, 2021

Seven Keys to Conducting Productive, Low-Stress Performance Reviews for Remote Teams

If the idea of delivering a performance review strikes fear in your heart, you are not alone. Many people rank receiving or giving a performance review right below getting a root canal. That’s because performance reviews are awkward. When you have a virtual team, performance reviews can feel that much more uncomfortable because you miss out on the benefit of seeing body language.

Although awkward, performance reviews are also essential. They can become comfortable affairs that lead to rich conversations and serve as a catalyst for growth for you and your team.

Having the right mindset for performance reviews is an excellent first step to making them more effective for you and your team. Specific tactics can help ease the planning and delivery process. Read on to find recommendations for both.

 

Keep the Objective in Mind

As you start thinking about performance reviews, remember why they are essential. Performance reviews lead to better performance and greater connection. They are not designed to serve as a “gotcha moment” or a time for recriminations. It’s not a report card like the ones issued in school. It’s a chance for two professionals to honestly discuss how things are going and to look to the future to consider possibilities.

All feedback sharing, and particularly performance reviews, are a tool to deepen relationships between you and your team members. As team members, you share the same goal. But, you both have different perspectives on success. As a business owner, you want to see your business succeed and likely derive great personal satisfaction from that success. Your employees crave personal success through a job well done. In the end, you know your people and understand that they care about the success of your business. Discussing performance is simply a shared acknowledgment of your relationship and its importance for your mutual success. It reflects a commitment to each other’s development.

 

Make Feedback an Ongoing Process

One way to make performance reviews easier is to share feedback throughout the year. Like any skill, practice makes progress. If you only share feedback at specific intervals, flexing the feedback muscle will feel unnatural. You can normalize the sharing of feedback to set a tone of open, two-way feedback with your team. 

Try adding the phrase: “in the spirit of continual improvement” to your vocabulary when communicating with your team. Then, add observations of your performance as well as the groups. For example, try closing meetings with a few comments about the week and encourage employees to do the same. Encourage people to share thoughts about what’s going well and what’s not. Ask people what they are learning. Share your observations about how work is flowing and what you are learning. Be honest about the things you wish you’d done differently and point out that that it’s all in the spirit of continual improvement.

People feel heartened when their leaders are honest about what’s working and what’s not. Constant sharing promotes growth and normalizes the feedback process, especially when feedback is flowing in all directions. 

 

Establish Set Intervals for Performance Reviews

As important as it is to offer ongoing feedback, establishing specific intervals to conduct performance reviews is also essential. 

Many people find that an annual cycle offers the best timing for employee reviews. Annual reviews provide sufficient time intervals between reviews, allowing people to apply feedback from the prior year. This schedule generally works best for long-term employees who work on complex, long-lead projects.

Quarterly review cycles might be suitable for your team if your team members are less experienced, have a shorter tenure, and work on shorter-term projects. In this case, more frequent formal feedback can aid in development.

The key is that review intervals aren’t a one-size-fits-all affair. You might even use different cycles for different team members or at different points in your business. You’ll find success comes more effortless if you have a process in mind and share it with your team members, so you all know what to expect.

 

Set Yourself (and Your Team) Up for Success

You can take a lot of the stress out of performance reviews for you and your team by establishing a few rules of the road designed the ease the process for all parties.

  • Follow a “no surprise” policy. One way to reduce trepidation is to avoid holding a year’s (or quarter’s) worth of developmental feedback until the official performance review. Instead, share developmental input along the way, so employees have a chance to act on it. Any feedback shared during a formal performance review should be a repeat of themes you’ve already discussed. Establish a policy that the performance review is not a time to share previously unheard grievances.
  • Encourage two-way communication during the review. Approach the meeting as a discussion, where you and your employee both openly discuss feedback, not a lecture about all the things that went right or wrong.
  • Take stock of the entire period. It’s easy to be swayed by recency bias and focus on the projects completed most recently. But, with a performance review, it’s vital to have an objective look back at the entire period encompassed for the review. To ensure you have a complete perspective, look back at notes, consider previous projects, and add results from work done across the review period.
  • Gather more than one perspective for the person you are reviewing. If your team is large enough, ask team members to review each other and share their perspectives. If applicable, ask for customer and vendor feedback on each person’s performance. This practice can give you a fuller view of someone’s performance.
  • Ask your team members to complete a self-evaluation as part of the review process. Encourage them to include perspectives on strengths and weaknesses over the last year and set goals for the coming year.
  • Remove money discussions from the performance review. Let your team know that the review will take place in two parts. The first portion will focus on performance over the last period, looking forward to the coming year. The second part of the review process will include a discussion about pay, bonuses, and raises, if applicable. Setting this expectation makes for a more productive performance review and makes it easier for employees to hear your feedback rather than eagerly awaiting pay news.

 

Create a Comfortable Environment

Another way to reduce the stress associated with performance reviews is to create a comfortable situation for you and your employee. Here are some ways to do that:

  • Schedule the review well in advance. About a month before the review, send an invitation to the employee so she can plan accordingly. Setting time aside makes it easier to focus on the review and shows that you see the review process as part of a meaningful conversation rather than just another task.
  • Set aside enough time to talk. A good rule of thumb is to add 30 minutes to what you think you’ll need. That way, you won’t feel rushed, and you’ll be able to have a fuller conversation. If you are only sharing positive feedback, resist the temptation to cut this short and only schedule a brief review. Sometimes the richest conversations come about when time is available to talk. You can always end the call early.
  • Share a written summary of the feedback in advance. Giving the employee a chance to review your feedback before the formal review leads to a more productive conversation, an opportunity to ask questions, and a fuller discussion of performance. It also means that you won’t have that awkward feeling of reading a review to your employee during the time set aside for the review.
  • Use a comfortable format. If you regularly use Zoom or other video conferencing to connect, do the same for the performance review. This isn’t the time to try out new video conferencing software. An old-fashioned phone call is a great option if that makes it easier to talk more openly. Meet in person if schedules and distance allow.
  • Be open to hearing the employee’s perspective on your thoughts. Her thoughts can provide you with greater insight into her performance and give you hints for coaching opportunities.

 

Arrange Your Own Performance Review

When you run the business, feedback on your performance can be tough to gather, and a formal performance review may not seem feasible. But, both are essential for your growth. Encourage contractors and employees to review you and offer feedback on areas where you excel and those where you can improve. This can open your eyes to some blind spots you might have in your performance and help you grow as a leader. 

As you make the request, share this document with them and remind them of the no surprise policy. You will benefit when your team is open and honest with you.

 

How to Handle Negative Reactions

Despite your best intentions and after following all the guidelines outlined here, you may still encounter negative reactions from employees during a performance review. While it can be unsettling, try not to take it personally or to respond in kind. When employees are upset by performance evaluations, it shows they care and take their work seriously.

In some cases, it may be best to pause the review and let the employee take some time to regroup before finishing the discussion. Depending on the feedback, the two of you can decide the best way to move forward with the review and your relationship.

Finally, don’t shy away from performance reviews to avoid adverse reactions. Reviews are critical tools that can help your business grow, help you develop as a leader, and help your employees as they work toward personal success.

 

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June 21, 2021

Five Keys to Building Time-Saving Systems for Your Small Business

When you run a business and lead a team, a lot is happening each day. And, you are likely involved in managing all or most of the work. The chronic stress of shouldering this responsibility can wear down the most dedicated of entrepreneurs. What’s more, it can prevent you from the meaningful work that can help you grow your business and expand it to the next level and beyond. 

The good news is that by creating a system for portions of your work, you can achieve a level of automation that lets you work more effectively on the things that matter, add predictability to your business, gain some time back, and make your life easier. 

The trick is identifying the processes that are ripe for systemization and selecting a system that works for you.

 

What is a System?

Simply stated, a system is a set of processes, tools, people, and strategies that all work together to solve a problem or achieve a goal. 

Creating a system for your business makes every day easier because it lets you have specific actions on autopilot. When routine processes run on autopilot, you are freed from investing mental energy or time into those processes. In short, creating a system for your work can make you more productive. 

Many of the companies you patronize every day have systems in place to automate some element of work. For example, when you order from Amazon, a team follows the steps to get your package to you. The team follows the same steps for each package, which means they have a system in place. Likewise, if you order pizza from a local shop, the workers follow a process to ensure the quality of each pizza. 

At the extreme, emergency responders have a system to respond quickly and efficiently when calls come in. Imagine if the fire department had to start from scratch and wait for each person to gather needed items before proceeding to the call. Firefighters have a system for collecting all needed equipment and getting on the truck as quickly as possible. 

 

Why You Need a System

Finding the right system can free you to focus on more significant, big-picture issues for your business, like business development. It can also make it easier for you to outsource portions of your work to a team. The right system can also help you find more personal time, too. 

If you are just getting your business started, having an organizational system can help make tasks seem less overwhelming. For example, if you produce a video each week, at the beginning the process can feel like a lot of work. But, with a system in place, you can see the steps you followed last time and replicate them, saving you the mental energy of going through the process each time.

In all likelihood, you probably already have a set of systems you use every day. You just don’t see them as official systems. Once you start to see processes as a system, you’ll find more and more tasks that could be moved onto a system. Once that happens, you are well on your way to saving time and energy.

 

A Closer Look

Before you start thinking about developing a system, it’s helpful to look more closely at the elements that comprise a system. 

  • Processes: Developing standard procedures is a large part of creating an effective system. Identifying and documenting the process involved for each system is the lynchpin of the process. For example, consider the case of sending a mass email to customers. Having a standard procedure in place frees you from thinking about the best way to send the messages each time one goes out. Having your processes documented means that someone else can step in and send the emails. Having someone create the content, check the mailing list, proofread the text, and test the email could save you several hours of work.
  • Tools: As you develop systems, you may find the specific tools are a part of the plan. The right tools for your system will vary based on the industry you are in and the types of tasks you are creating the system to accommodate. Tools can range from templates that make it easier to draft routine messages to equipment or software that makes a job more manageable. Part of developing a system is assessing tools and considering the associated costs and benefits of a tool. As you think about the cost of tools, calculate how much time a tool could save you and assign in a dollar value.
  • People: Identifying the people or person who will perform different tasks is an essential part of creating a system. In some cases, you are the person performing the task. In other cases, your system may include adding to your team to outsource jobs. Once you have systems in place, you may find that a Virtual Assistant or another team member can manage the task. Having a system in place makes it easier to find the right person for your team because you can look for team members with the skill sets needed to manage the system effectively.
  • Strategies: A strategy is a plan of action or a policy designed to achieve a goal. When you are working on creating a system of your business, you are doing just that–creating a plan of action with the goal of growing your business by automating certain functions.

 

How to Get Started

Developing systems takes time and patience, but the payoff is significant. A system that works for you and your team is the key to success. Aim to develop a sound system that becomes great over time. As you begin, set aside time to consider which tasks are ripe for systematization. To do this:

  • Track the work you do in a typical week. Write down everything you do to get a close look at how you spend your days. You may be surprised by the tasks that eat up the most time.
  • Identify tasks you frequently do throughout the week by putting a star next to them.
  • Of those tasks, pay special attention to the jobs that tend to be hands-on or time-consuming. 
  • Consider if you can stop doing any of these tasks and eliminate those that don’t add value.
  • From the remaining tasks, consider which ones could benefit from the creation of a system. Look for items that are routine, multi-step, repeatable, frequent, and predictable.

 

Find the Right System

There are a lot of ways to create a system. The easiest way is to work with an Online Business Manager or coach specializing in helping business owners create systems. Hire My Mom is a great place to find an experienced person to help. 

When you post your job, you’ll quickly have access to a wide array of qualified candidates who will be dedicated to helping your business succeed and grow. The site attracts job seekers from across the country with specialized skill sets and a desire to work hard for you.

If you need help sourcing a candidate, HireMyMom’s Concierge service can streamline the process for you. The service was created for busy entrepreneurs and small business owners, like you, who need to hire help but don’t have the time or desire to go through the time-consuming process. With our full-service Concierge service, our HR Specialists will do it all for you from start to finish and present you with the top candidate(s). Once you select the candidate that’s right for you, the two of you can start creating systems to make your business more efficient.

If you aren’t ready to bring in a person to help, several free online resources can help you build a system for your business. Research the options and consider which might work for you. Popular options include the  Productive and Free website and the YouTube series How to Build Systems for Your Business with Greg Hickman. 

Or, head to your local bookstore and library, where you can find several books about creating business systems. Good options include Work the System by Sam Carpenter or The E Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber. If you don’t have time to read a book, search audible for the right option.

 

You Can Do It!

While the prospect of creating a system may seem daunting, you can do it. Start small and focus on the core tasks that can move the needle to free up your day. Soon, you’ll be enjoying the fruits of your labor and the success that comes with a growing business.

 

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May 3, 2021

How to Accomplish More: Organization Tools and Hacks for Work from Home Moms

There is no one trick pony to being a mom, because let’s be honest with ourselves—motherhood is no perfect equation. Over the history of time and the long evolving course of motherhood however, some ancestral knowledge has been passed down from generation to generation. These “wives tales”, in combination with modern technology capabilities, can be used by modern moms to take on the day, and slay any dragons that might come their way. Here are some of the top insider tips we have allocated that can serve as mother’s little helpers.

 

Top All Around Tips and Tricks

All help is good help, and these tricks are passed down to help cut down time wasted so that you are efficient throughout the day, or god willing—maybe even able to have a moment to yourself.

Meal prep: Defrost meat in the fridge, cut up veggies, shred cheese, and do all the preparation needed for your family meal the night before or in the morning. That way when you get up in the morning you can easily assemble everything into a pan to throw back into the fridge or a crock pot— and then dinner is served whenever you are ready.

Make a to-do list: Create a to-do list the night before so you know what you need to tackle the next day and can hit the ground running when you wake up. Having a written record can help to remind you when you get distracted, something that happens easily with children around. With the ability to keep on task your day will be more efficient, and what is more—a study by professors Baumeister and Masicampo from Wake Forest University showed that, while tasks we haven’t done distract us, just making a plan to get them done can free us from this anxiety. Less anxiety is always a good thing as a mother.

Set healthy boundaries: Say yes to the things you can do, but remember to allow yourself to say no or not now to the things you really can’t take on. Don’t spread yourself too thinly to the point where you don’t have time for yourself or your family. Because “mom” is often synonymous with the word “superhero”, a mother has a tendency to try and take it all on. Remember that the best version of yourself is the best for your family, so take the time you need to when necessary.

Create a family organization hub: This can be shared notes on your phone for frequently needed items, or if your kids are younger, this can be a white board or note pad. The lists can include functional things such as shopping lists, or even be a space to share creative thoughts. Centralizing this in a place that is a common traffic area, such as the kitchen or the mud room, makes it available to everyone to have access to it. You can also couple this with a digital calendar that allows you to invite family members to the clan’s various extracurricular events. This allows for every member of the family to post their events and highlight the ones that are special to them. It also helps to put appointments on the calendar, with reminders, so no one forgets important dates. 

 

Modern Day Motherly Applications

If  as a mother you find yourself asking: “Is there an app for that?”—then the answer is yes. Here are some of the more useful apps we have found for moms that need a little technological assistance. 

Delegating duties: TaskRabbit is an online marketplace that will connect you to helpers that can do everyday tasks. Their helpers can assist you with moving tasks, handyman help around the house, gardening, or any other errands or responsibilities you might need assistance with.

Planning proficiency: Cozi is an organizer designed for families, and a game changer when it comes to being a mom with a plan. It can help coordinate schedules, grocery lists, activities, to do lists, and facilitate communication for the entire family. Cozi is one of the best calendar apps for moms because they have truly thought of everything that goes into a mother’s day.

Mom matchmaker:  Peanut is the ultimate app for moms to meet moms. It connects mothers in your geographic area with similar interests. Referred to as “Tinder for Moms”, Peanut can help you meet other moms similar to you or maybe even needing help with some similar challenges you are facing.

Splendid savings: Ibotta is a cashback app that helps you save money on groceries, beer, wine, pharmacy, clothing, beauty & wellness products, restaurants, home & electronics items, and travel. You simply scan your receipts and earn cash back. What a beautiful world we live in when we can get cash back on wine. 

No one ever said that motherhood was easy, but it has always been a worthwhile endeavor. Balancing the many roles, tasks, and extraneous superhero responsibilities is no small feat either, so as they say “work smarter, not harder”. Whether you’re a new mother, a seasoned one, a single one, or an expecting one—we hope these tips will help you in your honorable maternal journey. 

 

 

 

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March 31, 2021

How to Outsource Like a Boss for Home and Work

Have you ever looked at your to-do list and realized you need about 30 hours to accomplish everything you outlined as critical for the day? If so, you aren’t alone. Caring for a family and working are both hugely satisfying undertakings. But, let’s face it, it’s also a tremendous amount of work. 

Here’s some good news–you don’t need to tackle it alone. By strategically outsourcing some tasks, you can find more time and energy to put toward the people and projects that mean the most to you. Here’s a round up of the tasks–work and personal–that are great candidates for outsourcing.

Business Tasks

When you run a small business, it’s tempting to want to do it all. You became an entrepreneur because you’re motivated and hardworking.This combination makes it tough to let go of the reins, even for a task you don’t enjoy or could easily outsource. It helps to have a framework for considering what tasks/jobs make sense for outsourcing. When considering outsourcing, think about:

  • What are you great at doing?
  • What do you like to do?
  • Where would you like to grow professionally?

If a task doesn’t fall into one of those categories, it’s a good candidate for outsourcing. 

 

Quickly Find Virtual Help 

When you are looking for outsourcing help for a business task, consider a virtual team member. With remote employees, you don’t need to provide office space and you aren’t limited by geography. You can find and hire a team member who’s located anywhere with good internet access. 

Using a platform like HireMyMom is a great way to source qualified candidates who are specifically looking for remote work. You can save time and money by turning to a site dedicated to connecting driven mom professionals with small businesses. 

If the prospect of a nationwide search daunts you, consider our concierge service to help reduce the amount of leg work you need to do. HireMyMom’s Concierge service was created for busy entrepreneurs and small business owners, like you, who need to hire help but don’t have the time or desire to go through the time-consuming process. With our full service Concierge service, our HR Specialists will do it all for you start to finish and present you with the top candidate(s). 

 

Build a Remote Team 

Here’s a list of jobs that are often outsourced:

  • Bookkeeping
  • Social Media management
  • Graphic Design
  • Writing/Editing
  • Marketing/Email Marketing
  • Project Management
  • Customer Service
  • Facebook Ad Manager
  • Online Business Manager
  • Virtual Assistant (VA)

 

Consider a Virtual Assistant

In some cases, a virtual assistant (VA) may be the right fit for you. A VA can take care of many tasks, including email response, appointment setting, travel planning, and calendar management. You can find a general VA, who does a wide variety of tasks or one with a speciality in your industry or need. 

 

Personal Tasks

Personal tasks can easily add up and cause stress, making it more difficult to manage the day-to-day workings of life. What’s more, many of them are urgent and important and time sensitive. (For example, dinner must be served every night.) Tasks that can wait tend to grow in time commitment and urgency if you put them off. (I’m looking at you, piles of dirty laundry.) Here are some ideas to help relieve some of the steam:

 

Put Meal Prep and Grocery Shopping on Auto Pilot

Planning, serving and cleaning up multiple meals a day takes a huge time investment. (Especially if your whole family is home all the time.) But outsourcing some meal-prep tasks can make every day easier.

  •  A weekly menu hanging on the fridge takes the guesswork out of each meal. If you don’t enjoy menu planning or just need a break from it, consider using an online meal planning service. Several are available and they allow you to quickly select a week’s worth of meals based on your health goals, family preferences, and budget. Once you select your meals, you can automatically create a shopping list for the meals selected.
  •  We all need groceries every week (sometimes more). But driving to the store to collect them is a major time commitment. You can regain that time by signing up for grocery delivery. Several companies such as Amazon Fresh, Peapod, Shipt, and Instacart, are ready to make it easier for you to fill your pantry. 

While it takes some time to initially get set up with these services, it’s well worth the initial time investment. Chances are you make many of the same purchases each week, so many items will stay on your list for each order. You can even use a menu planner that automatically creates a grocery list and sends it to your preferred delivery service. 

  • If you don’t have grocery delivery available locally, consider the pick up service offered by many large grocery store chains. You submit your order online, pull up at the appointed time, and drive off with a car full of groceries. Both pick up and delivery help you save money by limiting impulse purchases.

Cut Down on Cooking

There are several ways to lighten the cooking load through outsourcing. Consider:

  • Sharing the load by finding four like-minded families and forming a cooking co-op. Each family makes four, family-sized servings of one dish. Meet to swap meals and go home knowing that you have five homemade dinners ready to roll–even though you only had to make one. Keep your circle of chefs small until the COVID-19 situation is resolved.
  • Ordering a meal delivery kit to take away the prepping, planning and chopping.
  • Finding a local chef who offers pre-prepped meals for pick up or delivery. 

 

Find Help with Child Care

You choose to work at home to spend more time with your kids and avoid the expense and hassle of day care. But, that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t benefit from some help with the kids. Finding a good babysitter, even if it’s only for a few hours a week, can really change the flow of your day. Having a few hours set aside without interruption makes it easier to power through your work. Also, depending on the age of your kids, the sitter can help with other tasks, such as:

  • Driving a carpool route for you.
  • Running errands with your kids–think the post office or picking up dry cleaning. This gives you a few hours of peace and quiet, keeps the kids busy, and eliminates tasks from your to-do list.
  • Working with the kids to go through their toys or books to find things they have outgrown.
  • Picking up the stray items you forgot to add to your online grocery order.
  • Walking the dog or other pet care needs.
  • Putting laundry away.
  • Supervising homework/online school instruction.

 

Clean with Ease

Everyone loves a clean house, but the work to get it sparkling can take all day. The easiest way to keep the house spic and span is to hire a cleaning service. If that’s not practical based on your budget or circumstances, these ideas can help lighten the load:

  • Buy a Roomba or other automatic vacuum or mop so you wake up to fresh floors every morning.
  • Drop your dirty laundry off at the laundromat for wash and fold service each week. This frees up an enormous amount of time and cuts down on the anxiety created by looking at baskets full of clothes–some clean, some dirty, and inevitably, one that’s mixed between clean and dirty clothes. 
  • Hire a service for big jobs that can really nag at you. For example, window washing or other seasonal jobs.

 

Reduce Yard Work

Many people find yard work relaxing, but elements of it can be outsourced to free you up to focus on the things you like most. For example, mowing and weeding are good candidates to outsource. With that out of the way, you are free to focus on tending to flowers or other things that truly bring you joy.

 

Don’t Wait to Reclaim Your Time

Outsourcing tasks is a great way to focus your time and energy on the things that matter most to you. Don’t delay–identify the things that someone else could do for you and start enjoying the increased time and energy it provides. 

Tell us what you’ve outsourced and how it changed the game for you.

 

 

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April 4, 2019 0 Comments

5 Springtime Tips You Need to Do Now

Springtime means fresh starts, new beginnings and a renewed purpose, so it’s the perfect time to clean out the clutter and prepare for new growth! To help you get on track, we have 5 springtime tips you need to do now!

 

Clean Your Workspace

Let’s face it, if your desk is messy, it will not motivate you to do your best work. It will also keep you from being productive. One of the most important things to have on your desk is your to-do list. Write down the important tasks you need to accomplish each day with deadlines for each task. The other main thing you should have on your desk is the current task or project you are working on. Everything else should be placed neatly in a file or an organizer to keep your desk free from clutter.

 

Refresh Your Materials

How long has it been since you freshened up your resume, business materials and/or website?  Take some time to review all of your materials to make sure they are up to date and come across as top notch.  Spring weather tends to give us a more positive outlook, so use that energy to restructure, update or overhaul your materials.

You will be amazed at the renewed passion you will feel when you and your business are putting your best foot forward!

 

Get Back on Track

Studies show we tend to put on a few pounds in the winter, but now it’s time to get back on track. Use the momentum of springtime to get more exercise in the fresh air and choose healthier foods.  Look for accountability groups online or download a new app to help you stay on track with getting exercise and making good food choices.

It’s an ideal time of year for fresh fruit, healthy smoothies, and grilling nutritious meats and veggies outdoors.  Look for seasonal produce for even more health and nutrition!

Fresh Air and Vitamin D

Fresh air, especially with the coolness of a spring day, is good for your mind and soul! And after months of winter, we need some sun and Vitamin D! Get outside as much as you can during this time of year.  Start looking for local outdoor events in your area. Go to outdoor concerts, take your pets to a dog park, go to outdoor sporting events or simply make time for daily walks.

Being outdoors gives us renewed energy and a much-needed boost, so it’s only fitting that it would be a perfect start to the new season ahead.

Take Charge

How was your winter schedule? Did you find yourself slacking because of the gloomy, cold weather? Take some time to review your schedule. Where do you need improvement? Have you set any new goals for this season for yourself, your family, your finances and your business? What is one thing you can do in each of those categories to make a small step in the right direction?

Need encouragement and accountability? Join our Facebook community for both!

And if you’re seeking a freelance or remote work from home job, take a look at the recent Job Postings on HireMyMom for some options that may be just perfect for what you are looking for!

 

 

 

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March 15, 2019 0 Comments

9 Tools to Help Your Virtual Team Succeed

In our last article, we gave you 10 Key Questions to Ask during the Interview and prior to that we shared 4 Tips on Writing a Great Job Post.

Now that you’ve hopefully found your virtual professional, we wanted to share some tools to that can help you and your team be more efficient, effective and organized. Below you’ll find a variety of tools from time tracking to management to organization to help your team soar to success!

Harvest makes it easy for users to keep track of the time users spend on tasks and projects. It also allows you to spot trends and compares someone’s work hours vs their capacity week over week. Here are four other time tracking options to consider.

Slack– a platform to connect teams with apps, services and resources. From Slack’s website, “When your team needs to kick off a project, hire a new employee, deploy some code, review a sales contract, finalize next year’s budget, measure an A/B test, plan your next office opening, and more, Slack has you covered.”

Loom allows you to connect with your team via videos. You can record yourself, your screen or both. Save time by videoing notes, how-tos, directions, and more without spending valuable time emailing back and forth.

Asana  is a free team management tool that allows you to delegate and organize tasks into projects. You can track the progress of group projects while also displaying individual to-do lists.

Trello is a task management tool that gives you a visual overview of what is being worked on, who is working on it and what’s next to do.

Zoom is a great tool if you are looking for face-to-face meetings, a way to share your screen or conduct online meetings.

DropBox and Google Docs let you share and access files remotely. No more emailing files back and forth, now you can easily edit and share files instantly.

idonethis makes it easy for your team to provide quick daily status updates and helps you run your team more efficiently.

And don’t forget we offer, our personal “Small Business Concierge Service” which includes:

    • consultation to learn about the position,
    • writing a professional, descriptive and thorough job post,
    • posting the job on our website (once approved by client),
    • reviewing all applicant resumes and cover letters, including a check of LinkedIn to reality check the resume.
    • Scheduling interviews – Reach out to selected candidates, coordinate interview scheduling,
    • Interviews -prep & conduct interviews, record interview notes, save interview recordings, etc. ,
    • Select top candidate(s) to pass along to client, write candidate summaries, upload interview video file(s) to Dropbox, email client with resume, summary and link to video file.
    • Follow up with client, answer questions about candidates, etc.
    • Wrap-up – Send turndown email to candidates interviewed but not selected, etc. along with final notes.

Contact us for details!

 

 

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January 3, 2019 0 Comments

3 Steps to an Amazing New Year

The beginning of a new year is always a great time to reflect on where we are and where we want to be. Focusing on where we can improve and making a plan to get there is imperative. Here are 3 steps to getting your year off to a great start. 

 

First Things First: Get Organized

The new year is a great time to get organized. Start with your desk. If your desk is messy, it will keep you from being productive. Keep only what’s necessary on your desk such as a to-do list and the current project you are working on. Create a filing system for everything else so that you can work without the distractions of everything else. 

Once your desk is organized it will help you focus better on your tasks at hand and motivate you to organize other areas.

 

Second: Set Small Goals 

Once you’ve gotten organized, set some small goals. Goal setting can be intimidating. Who wants to set some monumental goals only to never achieve them? You may have a big goal but you may find it easier to break it down into small daily goals. Once you have those set, you can add weekly goals and monthly goals.

Take some time and think about the different areas of your life (self-care, marriage, kids, health, fitness, career, spiritual, social, etc.) Now set aside a few minutes to set some small, achievable goals. Next turn those into a daily to-do list.

By setting monthly goals, you won’t be overwhelmed. And you won’t feel like quitting if you have a small set back. It’s all about making progress not expecting perfection.

 

Third: Accomplishing More with Time Blocking 

If you aren’t familiar with time blocking, it is a way to schedule your time for maximum productivity. You take your to-do list and create blocks of time on your calendar to complete those tasks. It reduces interruptions and allows you to focus on that one task until its done. You can start by setting up one day for time blocking which may consist of a 30 minute block for email, one hour for social media, and a two-to-four hour block for writing or a project that you want to complete.  The idea is to focus exclusively on the task at hand so you are not starting and stopping and wasting time. If you’d like more insight on time blocking, watch this video.

So there are your 3 steps to an amazing new year in 2019!

 

 

 

 

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