As your business begins experiencing growth, it’s vital that you bring on a right-hand man (or woman) to help you in your quest for success.
The sooner the better, because when your business is expanding, it’s difficult to take time out to train another person for tasks you need to delegate.
Still, you can’t just bring anyone into the equation. You need to make sure they have the same passion for your business and ideas that you do. How do you achieve that? By compensating them based on their performance or by giving them a percentage of the sales.
1 Use Performance Incentives
Incentives go a long way in motivating any staff, but with an assistant who works closely with you to realize the ultimate goals of the company, it’s even more effective as a benefit and reward.
You have to be willing to put all of your trust into this person. You don’t want to worry about what they’ll do or how they’ll go about something. They should always strive to make your company look good in the eyes of your customers and business associates.
The type of person you want to hire on as a right hand man or woman will be highly motivated and able to handle their tasks with minimal input from you once they’ve been instructed on how to do something.
The person should be willing to learn new ideas – and eager to take on more responsibilities in the company. Don’t hire anyone who sits back waiting for an opportunity, or who scoffs at the idea of having to do more work.
2 Motivate Them With Vision
Your goal is to get them excited about the business – help them recognize the possibilities so that they actively work with you on accomplishing everything the business needs to grow and succeed.
Someone once said that hiring the perfect right hand man is like finding the right suit – they have to fit in just right with the company or else you’ll feel uncomfortable allowing them to handle certain responsibilities.
In a best-case scenario, the right hand man should be able to fill your shoes in any situation – without missing a beat. But this doesn’t mean you have to look for someone exactly like you – in fact, it’s better if his talents and skills complement your own – skills he possesses, you lack, and vice versa.
You have to be careful not to hire someone whose only goal is to replace you within the company… or steal your idea to launch his own business. His loyalty to you should be paramount.
If there are other employees within the company, make sure you hire someone who earns the respect of the others. You can’t have a right hand man who treats your staff with disrespect.
3 Be Very Selective
You may have to go through several assistants before finding the right fit. You’ll realize that not everyone has what it takes to stand in such an important position. When you do find the person, you’ll know it – because you’ll instantly feel a sense of relief that your business is on the right track to success.
After finding the right person, the two of you will work in sync to help the business experience growth. Having a right hand man will free up your time so that you can focus on more important tasks.
If he’s good enough at what he does, then you can double up on tactics that show promise in your company’s financial future. If you’re both good copywriters, then you can double the amount of high-converting content you write.
If sales are your forte, but he’s better at customer service, then divvy up the responsibility for the betterment of the business. You can constantly assess both you and your assistant’s capabilities and leverage each of your skills to their maximum potential.