121. Overwhelmed Doesn't Mean It's Time to Hire

Speaker A: When your inbox is overflowing, projects are piling up and every decision seems to depend on you. Hiring can feel like the most obvious solution. But that, uh, first wave of overwhelm does not necessarily mean you need another person, especially not necessarily a full time employee. In this episode we explore why interior designers often hire before their businesses are ready. How hiring gets used to solve the wrong problem, and what actually needs to be fixed to. Before adding someone to your team, you're going to learn how to identify the real source of the pressure, organize the work, build simple systems, and choose the right level of support for your business. Feeling overwhelmed does not automatically mean you need to hire. Sometimes you do need another person. And sometimes you need a better process, clearer boundaries, higher fees, or fewer projects. But before you post a job opening, take a deep breath stick, set the emotion aside and let's put on your CEO hat. Welcome to Success by Design where I give you the real talk and a big reality check about you needing to stop treating your business like a hobby. Let's turn it into a profit generating machine. All while doing it in a way that works for your life. I'm Katie Decker Erickson and I am taking what I learned by building a multi million dollar coast to coast design business and sharing it with you right here. If you are wanting to generate more profit and not be burnout and possibly even have a dream design business, you are in the right place. There is a moment in almost every growing interior design business when you as the owner think, I cannot keep doing all of this. I need to hire someone. And it looks like this. Your inbox is full. Clients are needing updates, orders need to be tracked, proposals need to go out, install details are changing, and somewhere in the middle of all of that, you're supposed to be doing what you set out to do. Designing. And so hiring feels like the obvious answer. But overwhelm does not always mean that you need another person. Sometimes it means you actually need better systems and sometimes your projects are underpriced. Sometimes you've just taken on too much, and sometimes too many decisions still depend on you. By the same token, sometimes you actually do need more support, but you do not need a full time employee. The first wave of overwhelm is not a hiring strategy. Instead, that is information. It is your business telling you that the way you have been operating is not going to support the next stage of growth. Or as I always like to say, what got you here isn't going to get you to where you want to be. So the first question should not be. I'm overwhelmed. Who should I hire? The better question is, what is actually creating the pressure in my business? Hiring is a solution to a true capacity problem. I do want you to hear that, but it is not the solution to every business problem. And those two things are really intrinsically different. For example, imagine you're spending hours every week correcting purchasing mistakes. You probably think that you need a procurement coordinator. But what if the mistakes are happening because specifications are incomplete, approvals are scattered across emails and text messages, and there's no final order review process to make sure we're getting it right before we write the check? I'm going to tell you now, another person is not automatically going to fix that. You may need a better purchasing process long before you need a person. Another idea maybe clients are constantly asking for updates and you go, gosh, I could really use a project manager to handle all this. But what if the clients are asking because they don't understand your process, they do not know what happens next and they're not receiving that beautiful Monday update, so they're positioned for success for the week. And knowing what you're going to be working on for their project or do it on Friday so they know what decisions they need to talk about with their spouse or significant other over the weekend. And can you get you answers for your Monday to get you off and running? The first solution may actually be a project roadmap. It may be that weekly update email, or it may be clear expectations out of the gate. If you don't have a welcome packet, that's something we should talk about because that is your chance to front end manager what it's going to look like to be in this dance with you Leading along the way. See, most people cannot fix unclear processes and they usually make unclear processes more expensive. Which means the very person you hire to come in and make this better potentially could make it even worse. And it wouldn't even be their fault. So before you hire, ask yourself what this person will actually be stepping into. Is the role clearly defined? Do they know what they own, what you own, and where that handoff magically happens? Is there a standard way your firm starts a project, communicates with the clients, approves selections, places orders, tracks procurement, even prepares for your installation? Or is the business still running from your memory, your inbox, your text messages, and your ability to keep everything moving? Because see a new hire, they're not going to read your mind. And without systems, they will have to ask where things are.

Speaker B: How?

Speaker A: How do you normally handle this situation? Which File is current and, um, can I make a decision without you? Especially if it has a fiscal complication. They may start thinking, gosh, it would have been faster if this person who owns this company did it themselves. And you may feel the exact same way. It may have be faster if I just did it myself. That's the worst place for everybody to be. Because neither one of you is positioned for success. When there is no process for someone to follow, you are setting that new hire and yourself up for frustration. And this is where I need you to hear me. It is time to put on your CEO hat. When the overwhelm hits, I want you to take a breath and set the emotion aside. I realize this isn't where you normally go. It's not where I normally go. We're human beings, we're highly emotional. But you have to put it in a box on a shelf. That means putting on your CEO hat and separating your feelings from the facts. This feeling may be, oh gosh, I just can't do this anymore. It's overwhelming. The fact may be that you had two installations, three presentations, and a major proposal all due in the same week. And that is one hell of a week. It is not necessarily proof though that you need a full time employee. Look at a longer period of time. That's what a CEO sees, not a business owner. Track where your hours are actually going for the next two to four weeks. How much time are you spending on design or client communication, sourcing, procurement, handling bookkeeping, administration or business development? And then I want you to start looking for patterns. What do you see emerging? Are you losing time searching for information? And are you writing those same emails repeatedly? Are you approving decisions that really don't require your expertise? And are projects piling up because you have no limits around how you can start or how many you can start at once? Are you providing more service than your fees can support? And see, this is the work of the CEO. You're getting in there and you're diagnosing the source of the pressure before investing in a solution. You can't fix a problem that hasn't been properly diagnosed. So start by writing down everything you want someone else to handle for you. And be specific. Help with projects. See, that's not a role. Send weekly client updates, maintain project schedules, collect vendor lead times, track orders, prepare meeting agendas, and document follow up tasks. Now that's much clearer. We're drilling down. Then we're going to evaluate the actual work. Does this task even need to be done at all? Why are we still doing things. Have we asked ourselves that question? It reminds me of the classic story of the daughter who would always whack off the ends of the ham and put it in the pan. And she said to her mom, why do we do that in our family? And then she's like, I don't know. Grandma always did that. And following up the chain of command, it's because grandma didn't have a pan that was big enough to support the ham. So how many generations are we still whacking off the ends of the ham? This happens in organizations all the time. We just keep doing things because of inertia. Does this task even need to be done at all? Ask yourself that question. If it does, can it be simplified? Can it be automated? Can you create a template or a checklist for someone else in the organization? And can it be grouped with similar tasks and maybe just completed once or twice a week? Now here's the real kicker. Does it require an employee? Or could a contractor or specialist handle it and then start organizing the work before you start building the position. We're going to scaffold into the position from the work when normally most organizations work backwards and then no one is winning. Once you improve your process and calculate how many hours of work remain, you may discover that you do need a virtual assistant assistant 10 hours a week or a uh, bookkeeper for a few hours a month or a freelance drafter or project based procurement support. And that is great. There is a wide range, a ah, huge wide range between doing things yourself and in hiring a full time employee. Choose the smallest level of support that adequately solves your problem. Not just for today, but potentially for the next six to 12 months. And that's where being a CEO is important. Because you're going to project out what do I need? So that person has something to grow into and you can see where your company is actually going. If you are listening to this and you are ready to take action and

Speaker B: go all in on getting to work, creating a design business that is wildly profitable, then head over to SuccessByDesign Coach and book your call with me. That's SuccessByDesign Coach. Okay, back to the show.

Speaker A: Also, we spend so much time preparing the person for the business, but what if they walked into something that was already there? So your systems don't need to be complicated. It can be a checklist, an email template, a standard folder structure. Maybe it's a project timeline or a meeting agenda or written definition of what ready to order actually means. It's not here to be Business rigid. It's to make good work repeatable. Before you bring someone into your organization, they need to know what they own and what success actually looks like so they can hit that ball out of the park for you. They want to do it. They need to know how, which decisions can they make, what requires your approval as the CEO and where do they find the information they need. They should be stepping into a role. They should not be stepping into your overwhelm. See, the right hire inside the right structure creates meaningful capacity. And that is what we are going for now. By the same token, the right hire inside the wrong structure can give you one more person to manage inside the chaos and be a hit to uh, your bottom line. So the next time you feel that first wave of overwhelm, I do not want you to ignore it. But do not immediately turn it into a job posting either. Take a breath, look at those facts, identify the real constraint and be brutally honest with yourself. It may be you. Maybe you do actually need a person. And maybe you need part time support. And maybe you need a better process, stronger boundaries, higher fees or fewer active projects. But hiring should come from clarity and not from panic. The goal is not to find someone who is going to save you. If you are looking for a life jacket in the midst of the ocean, you we have a lot of questions about how we got here and we're not in the right place to get out. See, hiring should come from clarity. It should not come from panic. And the goal is to build a business where another capable person can step in and help you succeed while also succeeding themselves and most importantly, setting the client up for success. I want you to hear me. Overwhelm is information. It is not proof that you need to hire in a difficult week. I get them. We have them all the time around my organization. Right. But they're usually temporary because it's the nature of business. It ebbs and it tides and some weeks are hanging on with your hair on fire. And other weeks you get a week to recover. Look for patterns. That's the key. Over several weeks before making a permanent decision. What is your business actually doing? What is ebbing? What is tidying? What needs more of you? What actually needs less of you? It needs to be deleg with the right systems, the right processes and the right training. Also, hiring only solves a true capacity problem. I'm going to tell you right now, it's not going to clean up unclear processes, underpricing, weak boundaries with clients, or inconsistent communication whatsoever. Third, I want you to organize the Work before creating the role. Simplify, eliminate, remember the ham story, automate and document tasks before deciding who should actually handle them. Don't put someone out there to try to save you when you don't even have a path forward for them. Choose the smallest appropriate solution, but also be looking six to 12 months out. The answer may be a contractor, a specialist, or a part time team member rather than that full time employee. And that's a great solution. Don't hire just to solve the overwhelm of today. Think about what you're building, where you you want your company to be in six to 12 months and hire someone that can meet you where you are today and then walk that journey with you as you continue to grow and go. And then finally, I want you to prepare the business for delegation. You cannot grow when everything is still you. You cannot scale when you are at the base of every single decision. See, a new hire needs clear ownership. They need decision making authority, not responsibility. They need decision making authority. And what financial number comes with that? In our organization, we have a number up to $500. You can make a mistake up to $500. If you were trying, you had a good reason why and you didn't want to inconvenience me with it. If it costs the organization $500, I'm willing to pay that. Because here's the thing, as CEOs, we get something called responsibility fatigue and decision fatigue. Everything becomes our responsibility and consequently every decision becomes ours. That is the worst place that you want to be as a business owner. Your job is to get that burden off of you by empowering the people that you are bringing aboard so that they can take on that responsibility and they can start because you can't make all of them and then continue to scale. So before you decide you need to hire, I want you to track your time for the next two weeks. Ideally four. I get that four feels like a really long time, uh, especially in the peak of summer. Write down where your time is going, which tasks are repeatedly creating pressure for you, things you don't enjoy, things you're doing two, three, four times. Also think about which problems could be solved with a clearer process. And then ask yourself, and this is the brutal, honest question at the heart of this episode, do I need another person or do I need to make the business easier for another person to step into? That's a big question, because I get that if it's the latter, you're going to have to do some more work as a CEO to build the company you want to build so that when you bring someone in, they have a path forward to deliver on your desires. I want you to share this episode with an interior designer who is considering growing their team. And also make sure and subscribe so you do not miss out on future conversations about building a more profitable, sustainable business. If that is what you want, you're in the right place. Because hiring can feel like the quickest path out of overwhelm. But adding another person to an unorganized business often creates more work, not less. And your bottom line is taking a hit in the process because you're paying them. The next time you feel that first wave of overwhelm, I don't want you to ignore it. But I also don't want you to immediately turn it into a job posting. We're going to take a breath, we're going to step back from the emotion and we're going to look at the facts and what the business is actually trying to tell you. Maybe you do need another person. Maybe you need five hours of specialized support each week. But hiring should be that result of clarity, not panic. Because that's when your business is working for you rather than you working for it. If this resonates with you and you want to have a deeper conversation, head over to FixMyDesignBiz.com again, that's FixMyDesignBiz.com I would love to visit with you free of charge and hear what's going on inside your business and whether or not we can make it a better place for you and and those that you either now have on your team or are, uh, looking to add. Until next time, take care. That's your real talk for today. If you found this helpful and you are ready to truly move the needle in your design business, head over to fixmydesignbiz.com and let's get started. That's FixMyDesign M Biz with a Z.com and if you want to stay connected, head over to my Instagram at Success by Design, Underscore coachorpodcast and give me a follow. Don't forget to mention you came from the podcast because I would love to meet you and I personally respond to every dm. Until next time, take care.