How to Scale Your Business Without Burnout: Team Building, Systems, and Entrepreneur Freedom

Speaker A: What if the key to growing your business isn't working harder, but letting go of the things you were never meant to do in the first place? In this episode you'll discover why building the right team, creating systems, and making space for strategic thinking can help create more freedom and sustainable growth in your business. Welcome to Biz Help for your. Where passionate support and practical guidance help your business thrive. Welcome to Biz Help for your. Today is episode number four in the series from the all day podcast event. One of the biggest challenges entrepreneurs face is knowing when and how to hire, delegate and build a business that can grow beyond their own time and energy. In today's conversation, Joy Roby shares practical insights on scaling a business, creating a strong company culture, managing remote teams, and finding more joy in the work we do. If you've ever felt overwhelmed, worn too many hats, or wondered how to create more freedom while growing your business, this episode offers valuable perspectives to help you move forward with greater confidence. So, Joy, welcome to the show.

Speaker B: Thank you. I'm excited to be here.

Speaker A: I'm excited to be here too. And you know, my goal is also to help entrepreneurs to be successful, but also have some freedom, whether it's time freedom or financial freedom. And it seems like your topic is right along uh, with that. So I would love to ask you, first of all, like, why did you start working with entrepreneurs to help them have some freedom in their business?

Speaker B: Because I was that person. Um, I, throughout my entire, um, career, I bounced back and forth between being an entrepreneur. I would do that and then I would get hired back into corporate and I was a startup specialist. So they'd bring me into corporations and start departments. And because I'm like, um, a startup person, the phase that you need the most in your business to grow is the scale phase. And that's the phase that I couldn't do. And the reason why I couldn't do it is because it, it's like making things automated and you know, um, regulated and it's, it's um, it was just something that uh, once something becomes like, um, something you're doing over and over again, I, I'm out of there. Like, I, I'm a start, you know, like, I'm creative, I'm a startup person. Um, and so I figured out finally how to create like blueprints around that so that people could easily follow them and get their businesses into, um, that phase that allows you to actually like, really scale because it's so essential, you know, you absolutely have to have it, otherwise you'll just end up, um, burning yourself out. Because at some point you, you bring in employees and there has to be really good communication between you and all of your employees. And especially now if they're virtual employees.

Speaker A: Mhm. Right. Well. And so many people, they don't even necessarily start a business thinking of where they're going to end up in the long run. Right. They maybe just have a passion they want to, you know, put into a business or someone said you should turn this into a business. And they start not knowing what it really takes to scale their business. You know, how to hire the right staff. So if someone is in that position, maybe they're solo right now, but they do know they're completely overwhelmed and they need to have some help. What is a tip that you would share with them to help start that

Speaker B: journey, to start their business like they're at zero.

Speaker A: Well though to start like being able to bring on team so that they can start scaling their company.

Speaker B: Well, you know, you need to hire people when you know, first of all you're working like 60 to 80 hours a week. And also that you just can't get it all done. So that's one, one thing that will tell you that you need to hire people. And what I look for is, um, I always talk about this is look, look at your list of what you do on a daily basis and look at what you love and look at what you don't love and immediately start hiring out the things that you don't love. Because if you can get somebody else to do somebody who loves to do those things, that's when one plus one equals 11, you know, because otherwise you're kind of like. You know, they say that procrastination is throwing three things. One is you don't know how to do it, so you procrastinate. Two is you don't want to do it, so you procrastinate. And three is you don't know how to do it and you don't want to do it. And that's when you know that you need to bring people in is when you're at that stage. Um, a lot of people think that you wait until you have the money to hire people. And that's actually not true. It's, it's a little risk that you take that you get to a point where you're like, okay, if I pay this person, it's not coming out of the existing pie, it's growing the pie. So now you should actually be making more money.

Speaker A: Mhm. Mhm. Well, not only that, because I Do bookkeeping and payroll and all those kinds of compliance things with clients. And often if you take something off your plate that anyone else can do in your business too, it gives you that time to do that higher level, you know, strategic planning that can bring in even more revenue in the long run. So it could actually bring in more revenue than costing you that money. Correct?

Speaker B: Yeah. One of the things that I learned during COVID actually that I wish I would had known a long time ago. And it was, um, a mentor who told me this was, um, do not work the last week of the month, um, in your business. I mean, yeah, in, in your business. Don't work in your business. Like, don't do your daily thing. Use that week to actually work on your business. And it may not look like you're sitting at your desk. It may actually mean that you take that week and you go and you go for a hike. You get, go to an art museum. Like you get out. Because that's getting out of that routine again is when you get creative and you get ideas. And as the business owner, you're always the one that's driving that. No one is ever going to drive that piece for you. That's one part of it. The other part is hire people smarter than you. That's like a really. That was hard for me at first. Um, I was a little intimidated by people who actually knew more about something. But where I've, um, landed now is that I am surrounded by amazingly smart people, way smarter than me. And they love the peace of what they do that I didn't necessarily do. And so we're able to accomplish so much more. And I learned so much from them.

Speaker A: Mhm. Right.

Speaker B: Like accountants.

Speaker A: Right. Well, I was going to say we're not able to do all the things too. We're not good at everything anyway. We might be wearing all the hats as entrepreneurs, but that doesn't mean we're good at all of those things anyway. And it can cause that overwhelm because again, people don't start businesses thinking, I'm going to work 60 or 80 hours a week. Right. And so they're, they're stuck in that. So if someone is thinking then, well, I'm not sure I could find someone who could, you know, do it like me. You know, what would you say to them about how to change that mindset?

Speaker B: You're not going to find someone who does it like you. Like, that's like don't, don't even set that expectation up. I mean, you, you create standard operating procedures. You have a job description. So the, there's guidelines. But you know, it's really interesting hiring people today because there's so many skill sets needed, there's so many different types of software. Like even if you're an accountant, right, there's so many softwares that you could be an expert at, you know, and so when you have a business, you're always looking for people who you can plug in easily that already know your systems and software. But that's going to be impossible. So just look for the piece that you really, you know, that that's the, that is the highest priority. And the other thing is that people are trainable. You know, look for people who are self starters, look for people who can pick up the ball and run. That's probably the hardest part, I think about business today is finding people who can really like, take initiative. Um, and with AI, you know, all of that's changing so fast.

Speaker A: Mm, right. Well, and you were mentioning earlier too, in your fourth week, not be doing, you know, work in the business, but on the business. And that might be a hike or something like that too. And people might think, well, if I'm not behind my desk or in the office and I'm out doing something, my employees might think, you know, why does she get to have this extra time off, you know, and not realize it's really strategic planning and all of the things too. So what would you say to someone about how they can frame that as well to realize, like, this really is important for your business and it's not just like, oh, I'm just not working, I'm just going to go for a hike.

Speaker B: Make it part of your company culture. So like at our, at my company, Solopreneur Productions, our, our values are the four agreements. And um, part of that is, um, you know, always doing your best and you have to have space to be able to do that. So Fridays we have a four day work week, but people work on Fridays. It's just that Fridays we don't do business, we don't do meetings. You know, nobody schedules meetings. I mean if you have to. Absolutely have to. But it's just kind of a given that Fridays are days that if you want to work 40 hours Monday through Thursday and get it all done, go for it, you know, I don't care as long as the work is done. If you want to use Friday to catch up or to like get better at something, you know, learn, learn. I mean, uh, we're all having to learn all the time, right? You know, want to learn Some more, some more about AI if you want, if you want to take it for that time, then it's, it's part of our company culture that Fridays of every week are used that way. And then the last week of the month is what we call team leadership. And all of the, um, food first layer, you know, the, the SE suite people are the ones that are taking that time to get out of the office so that they can just get that clarity of mind. So it's just part of our culture. Like, um, it's on the calendar. You don't have to explain it. Um, but we just, like I said, we live by the four agreements. Um, and we just. You get your work done. I don't want to ask you every day if you're here from, you know, this time to this time. We're a virtual team, you know, just m. Get the work.

Speaker A: Mhm. Exactly. So if someone is looking to hire team and maybe this is something new to them, they haven't had to find team members in the past. Now they're working on building the team so they can scale. Do you have any tips on how to find those ideal candidates that do fit their company culture as well as be able to do the actual tasks that they want to delegate off to them?

Speaker B: First, ask within your company. You know, so if you can get people who can refer or recommend people, qualified people, and that's always good. You know, if you've got employees that like, I love my team, I have a great team. So a lot of the people have come in because of the people that are already there. Um, another great place to get employees, but be very careful is your email list. You know, your clients, your customers could also be really awesome employees. If they love your business and they like doing business with you and they have the right skill set. Um, they make good employees. Other than that, you know, it's, it's the typical places. It's hard to find people these days. You know, there's, there's a lot of people out there. But especially if it's a virtual team. Um, yeah, I mean I've been a virtual business since COVID 100. Well, yeah, 100%. Everybody works online. Um, and it's, it, it is tricky, you know, but there are really good people out there. There are really, really good people out there. I don't usually find them in the typical employment places though.

Speaker A: Sure. I have a fully remote team as well. And I know sometimes people think, well, that would be really hard to manage or how do you train someone when you're not in the same room. So do you have any tips for anyone maybe who doesn't need to have someone in an office side by side with them? You know that they can bring on that remote team member and have them be effective.

Speaker B: We'll be back after a quick break.

Speaker A: If bookkeeping is a task you keep pushing to the bottom of your list, you are not alone and it does not have to stay that way. You don't need another system to manage on your own. You need reliable support that gets it done correctly and fully off your plate. At AB&P, we support entrepreneurs who are ready to invest in professional bookkeeping and payroll services so they can feel confident in their numbers and focus on growing their businesses. Visit ABNP.com to learn more. Your business deserves accurate numbers and peace of mind.

Speaker B: I love this question, Candy. Okay, because, um, this almost took my business down. Um, having a virtual team, you know, you don't have a water cooler that you can go hang out with. You can't like stop by people's offices. So, you know, little things can slip through the cracks. You have to have a really good like human resource online management tool. Um, and there's, there's a bunch of them out there. We um, actually ended up building our own out of notion. But you have to have some way that people can communicate, understand their um, their um, you know, whatever projects they're working on, that's all in one place online. Because if you've got people in the Philippines, you know, they might be working at different times than you're working and you have to be able to allow people to have that ability to keep momentum going without people actually being in the office. So, um, online teams are tricky, but I think that the tool, you know, having a tool in place and then also having regular meetings is really important too. You know, meeting with your team once a week, once every two weeks, depends on, you know, um, your particular situation. But having regular meetings that everybody always knows, we always meet on Tuesdays at 11 or whatever, that's how, that's what's helped me.

Speaker A: Mhm. So if somebody is also thinking, well, I want to bring someone on and teach them what I know, I'm not sure how to go about doing that. I have a lot of things in my head or I just know how to do them. I don't think about the steps. Like what would you say to them about how to actually train someone effectively?

Speaker B: Okay. This is, um, where this is, hire somebody better than you. Because I am a visionary. I am, you know, in Fact, I have a joke in the company where I say, you know, CEO with a wrecking ball. CEO with a wrecking ball. Because, like, Monday morning I have all these new ideas, you know, and the team's already going forward. Um, if you're not a good trainer, like, if you know that about yourself, I know that's. I'm not a good trainer. Um, I'm, I'm good at like, inspiring people and moving them forward, but I'm not really good at processes and things like that. Find somebody who is. There are people out there who love that piece. Um, I found somebody who is. And it made all the difference in my business. It not only makes your life better, it makes your people's life better. Because, you know, having the training and the resources for them to be able to do their job is just, it just makes everybody happy.

Speaker A: Mhm. For sure. Well, I read in your bio too that you have this term plurk, and I would love for you to talk about that a little bit for the listener who's like, what does that mean?

Speaker B: Yeah, um, play plus work equals plurk. Um, and this came to me, um, actually it was given to me by one of my clients. Um, and she and I, um, are business partners in a different business. And when we first started out, we would be working side by side. We were traveling the world, doing events, and we'd be working side by side, you know, on the computer like this, on the, you know, with our laptops, wherever we were. And um, um, um, she's a channel, she's a spiritual, you know, she brings in spiritual messages. And one of the messages she got was, um, that you guys have to learn to plerk. And um, plurk is play plus work. That if you can make joy out of anything, then it never feels like work, you know, and there's no reason why your work can't just be pure joy. I mean, you, you, it doesn't mean that you have to love everything and do it like you should give those pieces away, but it does mean that, you know, you can find the joy in the work. We use the term work for how we make a living.

Speaker A: Mhm.

Speaker B: And to me, I don't know about you, but that feels heavy. Like when I say I got to go to work, you know, um, versus, you know, I'm going to go play. That feels light. Right? Well, why can't work be play? So we use the term plurk.

Speaker A: Plurk.

Speaker B: Just meaning we are playing and we're making money.

Speaker A: Sure. Mhm. So how would a business owner also kind of get that concept of Plurk through their whole team? Right. So the team also feels like they really enjoy coming to work, even though sometimes there are things you have to do that aren't always as fun and they're required because of whatever. You know, every business has some of those things, you know, but how do they share that with their team to also have them feel the same way?

Speaker B: Well, um, first of all, I truly believe that if. That your business, no matter how big it is, is a trickle down of the owner. So if you don't like your business, if you're not having fun, look in the mirror and ask yourself what's going on? You know, start there, start with yourself. Um, and then from there it's just really like, if you decide that you want to have fun and you decide that you start building in, ask yourself, like, what would be the job that I would want? Like, what's my ideal situation? Right. And then create it. Because, I mean, that is the beauty of having your own business is that you do not have to follow the same model as everybody else. You know, it's easy to follow the same model because we know it, but that doesn't mean you have to do it that way. I mean, our model is very different. And, um, and we also did it. We, we changed midstream. We, we implemented a four day work week midstream, um, and we implemented the, um, fourth week leadership, um, week midstream. And it was hard on some people. Um, but in the long run, I think everybody loves it. And again, look in the mirror. If you love it, everyone else is going to love it.

Speaker A: Sure. Well, and sometimes you have people who are a little more comfortable with things as they are, how they always have been. Right. And then you may have some people who love change. So how do you manage a team that maybe have people who see change in different perspectives and it might be a little bit more challenging for someone if you're trying to implement that.

Speaker B: I mean, there's a part of me that goes too bad, you know, again and again you have to look in the mirror. Right? Because I love change. Um, I'm, I'm constantly, you know, um, implementing change. But so during COVID when, you know, everybody got kind of thrown upside down and had to reinvent themselves, um, I took a look at my company values and that's when I decided that I live my life by the four agreements. I don't know if you're familiar with that book. Okay, so. And just for your can, can I say, just for your, um, listener, four agreements is be impeccable to your word. Don't take things personally, don't make assumptions. And um, uh, uh, let's.

Speaker A: Oh.

Speaker B: Always do your best. Okay. And I, I had, there was a point in the beginning of COVID that I was really struggling because my business grew like four times. And uh, I mean, I had a good Covid and um, because of that my team was really thrown out of whack and we had like all these really fluffy company values that I don't think any really meant anything to anybody. And so I decided, you know, that we were going to just. I was going to, um, my business was going to function the same way that I live my life, and that's by the four agreements. And some people really pushed back. You know, um, the other thing we incorporated with, it was 100% transparency. You know, we go through all of the company numbers every single week. So everybody always knows the finances of the company and what's happening. And that made a lot of people at first, it made some people uncomfortable and those people left, you know, and so I didn't really try to make those people comfortable. Um, the people who stuck around were the ones that, you know, these values resonated for them too. And I think that you can't always please everybody and I think that's a big mistake if you're, if you're a business leader or business owner and you're trying to please everybody. You can't please everybody. So, you know, please yourself first, you know, and then if you're happy and it's working for you, it's probably going to work for other people as well.

Speaker A: Mhm. Perfect. Well, I know we are coming to the end of the time we have together today, so I wanted to ask, do you have an offer that you would like to extend to our listeners and how can they contact you if they want more information?

Speaker B: Um, thank you. Um, yeah, uh, they can come to my website, which is Solopreneur. Let me spell it. It's S O U L O P-R-E-N-E-U-R.com and there's lots of ways that we can connect there. I do have a special gift for you and that is how to find your soulmate client. Because I feel like that that's where business starts is when you know who your client is, your business will take off. And it's, it's a ChatGPT prompt that gives you instant clarity on who your ideal client is by asking you questions about your business, and you can get that at solopreneur.com forward/yes-please.

Speaker A: Perfect. Well, thank you so much for that. That's going to be amazing for those who are like, so curious about all of this and they're not quite sure where to begin. So perfect. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of uh Biz Help for you. I hope you found this conversation interesting and gained some valuable insights into building a stronger team, creating effective systems, and finding ways to enjoy the entrepreneurial journey while growing your business. One of my favorite takeaways from this discussion is the reminder that scaling a business is not about doing everything yourself. It's about surrounding yourself with the right people, creating a culture that supports growth, and making time to work on your business instead of constantly working in it. Be sure to check out the Show Notes for additional resources and if you found this information valuable, please consider supporting the show financially through the link in the Show Notes. Your support helps us continue bringing valuable content and expert guests to help you succeed. And finally, please like, share and subscribe so more business owners can discover the podcast and benefit from these conversations. Until next time, remember that success is not just about building a profitable business, it's about creating the time and financial freedom to truly thrive. Thank you for tuning in today. Would you please share this episode with those you know and leave a review on your favorite platform? And, uh, if you find our show informative, would you consider being a financial sponsor to help me continue my mission to educate business owners? A link is located in the episode description and no amount is too small. I'd really appreciate your support. If you are interested in connecting with our guest and receiving the offer they had to share, a UH link to our resource page is in the Show Notes. Finally, if you have any bookkeeping or payroll needs, reach out to us at 310-534-5577 or contact@uh abandp.com My team and I are eager to assist you. Until next time, have a great day. Thank you for listening to Biz Help 4 U.

Speaker B: Please join your host, Candy Messer again next time.

Speaker A: Have a terrific day.