The Starting Point: Your Online Business
Imagine standing on the precipice of your business’s next big growth phase. You’ve spent countless hours nurturing your online empire, pouring your heart and soul into it. You’ve built a loyal customer base, streamlined your processes as much as you can on your own, and now you’re ready to scale up. To do that you need to bring in some additional help. The thought can be intimidating, right? But, as a successful business owner, a CEO, or an online coach, you know it’s the next essential step in your business’s evolution.
The first step is understanding the varied roles needed to grow your business online. Each role plays a unique part in the orchestra of your enterprise. Like a symphony conductor, your task is to identify which instruments (or roles) you need to create a beautiful harmony.
Let’s take a deep dive into the various roles in the world of online business, and identify which team member would be the best fit for your growing business at this time. Small business owners or independent contractors frequently need support with and hire for these roles.
EA – Executive Assistant
Why You Need an Executive Assistant
When you’re scaling your business, the workload can quickly become overwhelming. An Executive Assistant (EA) is your right-hand person who can handle a multitude of tasks and help free up your time by:
- Managing your schedule
- Calendar management
- Checking your inbox and support with correspondence
- Scheduling flights, hotel reservations, travel organization
This can be similar to a personal assistant but usually, a personal assistant lives locally and helps with shopping, picking up dry cleaning, running errands, etc.
Think of an EA as an extension of yourself — someone who’s there to help make your life and business run smoother.
OBM – Online Business Manager
Enhancing Operations with an Online Business Manager
An Online Business Manager (OBM) is the maestro who conducts your business’s symphony. They oversee all daily operations, ensuring everything aligns with your business goals. They’re responsible for project, team, and systems management. They can identify gaps in your processes, suggest improvements, and implement new strategies.
Bringing in an OBM can feel like a big step. As your business expands, you’ll find it increasingly challenging to oversee all aspects of your operations.
- An OBM can help bridge this gap, ensuring no aspect of your business slips through the cracks by:
They are usually great at seeing the big picture versus being bogged down in individual tasks. (Birds eye-view) - Project management
- Systems & processes
- Team support/accountability
- Strategic thinking
- Automating systems and creating processes for all day-to-day activities in the business to streamline and simplify how things are run.
- Organization of company documents, SOP’s & information storage systems such as Google Workspace.
An OBM is essentially the CEO’s strategic partner. They translate your vision into actionable plans, ensuring your team executes them to perfection. With an OBM by your side, you’re no longer a one-person band but a conductor of an orchestra, creating a beautiful symphony of growth and success. An OBM is typically hired when a small business has reached a gross revenue between $250k-$1m per year. Typically, the business owner will hire a full-time employee over this amount.
VA – Virtual Assistant
Boosting Efficiency with a Virtual Assistant
A Virtual Assistant (VA) is a versatile addition to your team, capable of handling a wide range of tasks. There are different kinds of VAs including technology VAs that excel in tech and VAs that focus more on the admin side of things.
– Customer service
– Data entry
– Administrative duties
– Funnel building
– Newsletters
The beauty of a VA is their adaptability – they can fill in gaps in your team, and take on tasks as needed.
As a business owner, you may wear many hats, but it’s impossible to do everything yourself. A VA can take on the tasks that consume your time, allowing you to focus on growth strategies and big-picture thinking. Your OBM can assign tasks and track your VA activities while assisting when needed, ensuring success.
Think of a VA as a multi-faceted role that can adapt to a variety of situations. They’re not just assistants; they’re problem-solvers, efficiency-enhancers, and time-savers.
Graphic Designer, Social Media Manager, and Bookkeeper
Now let’s delve into some more specialized roles:
A Graphic Designer can take your branding to the next level, creating visually appealing designs that resonate with your audience. A well-designed logo, website, or marketing materials can significantly enhance your brand perception.
Next, a Social Media Manager can propel your brand’s online presence, managing your social channels, crafting engaging content, and interacting with your audience. They can help you reach a wider audience, increase engagement, and boost brand awareness.
- Your social media team can assist with helping you in a variety of ways:
- Creating reels
- Repurposing your live streams/Zooms into YT content, podcast content and more
- Pinning your events and products
- Strategy
- Tracking stats
You can decide how much help you need with your social media. Consider if you only want to hire one team member for all things social media or if you’ll need a social media team. As a general guideline, once a company reaches an annual revenue of around $1 million, they may start considering dedicated resources for social media, if their audience and strategy warrant it. This isn’t a hard rule, and many smaller businesses with lower revenues may still choose to have a dedicated social media person or team if social media is a significant part of their marketing strategy.
Finally, your Bookkeeper is a critical player in your business’s financial health. They keep track of your income, and expenses and ensure that your financial records are accurate and up-to-date. The generation and explanation of financial statements show the health of the business and its money flow. Some bookkeepers even provide Payroll services, bill pay as well as estimates and invoicing to help take more off their client’s plate.
They’re the guardians of your financial peace of mind, allowing you to focus on scaling your business without worrying about the numbers.
Closing Thoughts
Scaling your business online involves building a team that fits your needs perfectly. As a CEO or business owner, understanding the roles of an EA, OBM, VA, Graphic Designer, Social Media Manager, and Bookkeeper can help you form an all-star team. Each role brings unique skills to the table, contributing to a harmonious symphony of growth and success.
Remember, the journey of business growth is a marathon, not a sprint. Take your time to understand each role, consider your needs, and make informed decisions. The right team can propel your business to new heights, turning your vision into reality.
So take that leap, check in with your intuition, attract the right team members for you, and watch your online business grow beyond your wildest dreams.
Are you facing a bottleneck in your business operations?
Do you find yourself struggling to keep up with demands or facing obstacles that are impeding your growth? Are you scaling, expanding or need a professional by your side? It could be time to hire me as your OBM. As an OBM I help aligned business owners free up their time, and energy so they can focus on the things only they can do in their business. Don’t worry, if I don’t have any openings available I can point you in the direction of my colleagues with availability.
Here are some additional resources if you are looking for reliable, recommended team members.
Ashley Kay Bookkeeping – Virtual bookkeeping and payroll Services for small business owners.
Seva – Bookkeeping, Human Resources, and Operations.
Soultivity Studio – Digital Marketing Agency
