Many entrepreneurs start a business because they either enjoy the work they do or they find they have a special talent for the work they do.
The trouble is, the more you grow, the less time you get to spend doing the thing you actually enjoy doing, or the thing you are good at. The result is you either shift your focus away from your passion and skill towards “business” or you find your business getting passed up by others who aren’t as good at what they do, but they focus on the parts of the business that you would rather ignore.
Either way, if you want to grow you are stuck hiring people. If you are a skills driven owner doing plumbing or accounting or floral design you will inevitably find yourself hiring people who aren’t as good as you at soldering pipes and crunching numbers and arranging bouquets. It’s frustrating, I know.
There is a trick you can employ that may put you in a position to have it both ways. To be able to not only do the work you enjoy, but also build a business full of people who are as good as you… Sometimes better.
Become a domain expert.
I know, it’s easier said than done right? Sometimes you may be surprised how easy it is.
Most people who create a blog, YouTube channel, podcast or newsletter do it because they want to attract customers, so the content they create is customer focused. If you are a wedding photographer there is only so much your customers want to hear about wedding photography.
However…
If you create content for OTHER wedding photographers with all the nitty gritty details and step-by-step processes, THAT is something that few take the time to do. Not only will some customers be attracted to the local wedding photography expert, and not only will it be a great resource for training your own employees. Most of all, it will create an enormous magnet for other wedding photographers who would love a chance to work with you.
You can create local meet-ups of wedding photographers, you can do local Q&A sessions, you can do workshops and classes and many will even pay to be part of them.
The best way to build your team is through your network of people you know personally. What better way to build a network in your own profession than to be seen as the expert in the very thing you want to hire for.
I know what you’re saying… I can hear you all the way across the Internet: “Bryan, there are already way too many auto mechanic podcasts, blogs and YouTube channels.”
Or you may be thinking, “Sure, I’m good at what I do, but I’m certainly not the best.”
There are others out there creating content, and there are others that may know more than you, but if you focus on building a tribe around your specific business type and maybe in your specific locality, you may be shocked how people will be attracted to your particular style.
Remember that you do won’t be for everyone, and that’s okay! If your main desire is to build a community to help you grow your own business, you don’t need everyone; all you need are a few people who enjoy your craft as much as you do and who want to do it alongside someone skilled and passionate like yourself.