Anatolii Labinskyi is the Founder & CEO of Golden Stream Media where he leads e-commerce entrepreneurs to generate 7-figure results.
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So many successful businesses begin with one person and a dream. Backed by a good idea and a strong work ethic, a single person can build something incredible while working out of a garage. But if the goal is for that business to grow, one person cannot do it alone—it will eventually take a team to bring that business to the next level.
I was a solo entrepreneur before founding my e-commerce company, and I can vividly remember when I began generating more business than I could manage alone. Recently, I was a guest on the MentorRupted podcast, where I was invited to discuss this phase of my career. During that conversation, I discussed several key personnel lessons that allowed our company to break through multiple ceilings, growing into a team that delivers seven-figure results.
1. Become A Mentor
You’re not the only one with a dream—there are lots of hardworking people out there who are hungry to learn and prove their potential. Once you’ve honed your skills to become a successful solo entrepreneur, you have the opportunity to share your valuable knowledge with others who can support your goals.
In the earliest stages of team building, mentorship can be one of your most powerful tools. You must be generous with your time and expertise, but the golden opportunity it provides tends to attract the most driven individuals. Successful proteges will help you grow your business as they learn, and while some may start their own companies and become your competitors, others may become founding members of your team.
2. Look For Good Help Everywhere
Quality team members can be hard to find, so you should always be searching for prospects as you’re working, networking or even taking personal time. Don’t be afraid to engage with people who express interest in your work; you never know who’s looking for an opportunity just like yours.
Several of our earliest hires came from an unexpected place: our client base. When our first e-commerce clients noticed the kind of results we were producing, some saw an opportunity that was even more enticing than the brands they were working to launch.
3. Emphasize Mindset When Evaluating Prospects
There are all sorts of legitimate reasons why good workers can be a bad fit for a young, growing team. Perhaps they are risk averse, or are looking more for leadership positions than support roles. On the other hand, there are plenty of good workers who are built for the challenge of making your dream come true.
I look for prospects who possess a long-term prosperity mindset—those who would rather collect knowledge and work to realize a shared vision than make a quick buck. They should be dedicated, flexible professionals who see their time and effort as investments in their future success.
4. Let Go And Delegate
When you start your own business from scratch, it can feel like raising your own child—and it can be hard to entrust that responsibility to anyone else. But when you’re the founder, owner and CEO, you’ll quickly run out of time to do your own hands-on management as your business grows. Hiring managers you can trust—and then actually trusting them by relinquishing some degree of control—is a daunting but essential step in scaling up.
5. Ask Your Team What They Want
As you motivate your growing team, you’ll undoubtedly share details of your personal goals and the goals for the company. But you must take care to also look at every team member as a unique, complex person with their own goals and needs. Give each member individual attention and ask them what they want out of their career and life. You may be surprised at how well positioned you are to connect them with those goals, and if you succeed at that, the rewards will come back to you in the form of loyalty and dedication.
6. Encourage Fun, Team-Based Competition
Teams need big, meaningful goals to chase, but it can make a difference if some goals are more fun and lighthearted. Establishing an incentive system that spurs a sense of friendly competition is a simple way to maintain an elevated baseline of motivation among your team. Prizes can be big or small, depending on your budget, but they should be desirable—think back to your conversations with employees about their personal goals and needs. They could be intangible workplace perks like paid time off, or they could be material rewards like jewelry, electronics or even vacations.
7. Embrace Automation
If your business is constantly scaling up, you may encounter new bottlenecks that are particularly cumbersome for your team to manage. And when you see that your best and brightest are getting bogged down in certain tasks, you should look for ways to automate those processes with technology. Give your team as much time as possible to deal with the jobs that require a human touch, and use machine learning, AI and other innovations to clear the way by automating the more mundane tasks.
8. Plan For The Next Phase
As you grow your business, you’ll reach plateaus where you feel like you’re fully staffed. You may even feel like it’s not the right time to grow further. This is natural, but you shouldn’t expect these moments to last. Your next opportunity to expand may come along faster than you think.
Never stop thinking about the next step in your growth journey. Even if you’re not sure how quickly that step will arrive, you should be thinking about who that next hire will be, or what new department you need to create. When the time comes, this preparation will ensure that you’re ready to act the moment your company is ripe for growth.
Building your dream team is one of the most challenging aspects of growing a successful business, but if you want to reach seven figures and beyond, it’s a crucial step in evolving beyond your beginnings as a solo entrepreneur.
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