Your Guide to Building a Strong Support Team: Home and Work

As an entrepreneur, you’re likely balancing multiple responsibilities—not only within your business but also in your personal life. The weight of handling everything can easily lead to overwhelm. The solution? Building a strong support team that can help you manage your business and personal life effectively. By having the right support in place, both at work and at home, you can free up time to focus on what truly matters.

Here’s how to evaluate your current support system and build a team that allows you to thrive in both areas.

Step 1: Evaluate Your Current Support Team at Work

Start by assessing the team you have in place at work. Take a critical look at who is currently supporting your business, whether they are employees, contractors, or virtual assistants. Ask yourself:

• How well are they performing?
  On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate each person’s contribution to your business? Are they helping you achieve your goals or holding you back?

• Why did they receive that rating?
  If someone received a low rating, what is the underlying issue? Is it a lack of skills, poor communication, or misalignment with your business goals?

This evaluation will give you insight into the strengths and weaknesses of your current team and help you identify areas where you may need to bring in additional support.

Example:

• Virtual Assistant: 7/10
  They handle administrative tasks well, but there’s room for improvement in managing social media.

• Bookkeeper: 9/10
  Excellent at keeping finances organized and providing timely reports, which frees up your time for strategic planning.

Step 2: Evaluate Your Support System at Home

Just as you need a strong team at work, having support at home is equally important—especially if you’re balancing family life with running a business. Think about the people who help you manage your household responsibilities and ask:

• How effective is your home support?
  Are you receiving enough help at home to allow you to focus on your business without feeling overwhelmed by personal tasks?

• Why did they receive that rating?
  If certain areas of home life feel like a constant source of stress, it may be a sign that you need more support. This could involve hiring help for childcare, cleaning, or meal preparation.

Example:

• Childcare Provider: 8/10
  Reliable and caring, but would benefit from taking on additional hours to give you more focused time for work.

• House Cleaner: 6/10
  Cleans the house weekly but doesn’t always complete everything on your list, leaving you with extra tasks.

Step 3: Identify Gaps and Areas for Improvement

Once you’ve evaluated your current support systems at work and at home, you’ll have a clearer picture of where there are gaps. The goal is to identify areas where you could bring in new team members or provide additional training to your current team.

Work Support

• Do you need more specialized help?
  Perhaps you’ve been relying on generalists, but now your business would benefit from someone with specific expertise—like a marketing expert, project manager, or assistant to handle client relations.

• Are there areas where delegation could free up your time?
  Tasks like scheduling, customer service, or bookkeeping may be taking up too much of your time. Consider delegating these to a dedicated assistant or virtual team member.

Home Support

• Is your home support enough to give you the mental space to focus on your business?
  If home responsibilities are taking away from your ability to run your business effectively, it may be time to invest in additional support, whether that’s more childcare, a personal assistant, or someone to handle daily chores.

Step 4: Build Your Dream Team

With a clear understanding of where you need more support, it’s time to take action. Whether you’re hiring for work or home, here are a few key steps to ensure you build a strong, reliable team:

• Create Clear Roles and Responsibilities
  Write detailed job descriptions for each role, outlining the tasks and responsibilities that will help lighten your load. Be specific about the skills and experience needed for each position.

• Set Clear Expectations
  Once you’ve hired, be sure to communicate your expectations clearly. Establish performance metrics and regular check-ins to ensure your team is delivering the results you need.

• Provide Training and Support
  Invest time in onboarding your new hires properly, whether at work or home. Show them how to perform tasks to your standards and offer ongoing feedback to help them improve.

Conclusion

Building a strong support team at work and home is essential for achieving balance and preventing burnout. By evaluating your current support system, identifying areas for improvement, and hiring strategically, you can create a team that empowers you to focus on the high-impact activities that drive your business forward.

Remember, you don’t have to do it all. With the right team behind you, you’ll have the time and mental space to lead your business more effectively and live a more balanced life.