Brandee Gaar

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Brandee is a proven sales + profit strategist with a decade-long track record for helping wedding professionals transform their businesses from expensive hobbies to thriving careers. 

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“Once I started realizing that everybody had a gift, and they really wanted to be more involved, It was pretty quick that we put everybody in their zone.”

Part 1/4: How to Step Up as a CEO | Interview at The Venue RX Podcast

As a CEO, you have a lot on your plate. You’re responsible for the company’s vision, strategy, and execution. And you have to make sure all of your employees are on the same page, aligned with that vision, and working together toward success.

You also have to manage day-to-day operations, respond to customer requests, and make sure your business is profitable.

It might seem like there aren’t enough hours in the day — but it doesn’t have to be this way. Did you know that you can get a lot out of your plate, and become a coach and leader rather than the player who’s trying to do everything? And it’s not just through outsourcing! 

I recently hopped into Jonathan Aymin’s, The Venue RX Podcast, where we shared some useful insights on how you can work with your team to get tasks out of your hand and still be able to run a profitable business. 

This is the first part of the four series episodes I have lined up for you this August, where it features my interviews at different podcast shows that I believe should be in your library!

In this episode, I had an amazing conversation with Jonathan, where we shared everything on how to step up as a CEO in your business, build a team and keep them performing, and later become their leader and coach.

Some key highlights from the show

  • Introducing part 1 of 4 part series
  • How to show in your business as a CEO
  • Delegating roles  to avoid frustrations with your team
  • The Solopreneur mentality and giving up on key business departments
  • Becoming a coach in your own business
  • How to get a team to keep getting better
  • How to make SOPs while allowing freedom and flexibility
  • Jonathan explains what Pyrrhic victories are in business
  • When you need help to make follow-ups
  • How to know you hired the wrong person
  • Do a reality check before outsourcing everything

Delegating roles to avoid frustration with your team

“If I’m the owner, I should be the busiest. This is the wrong way of looking at it.”

When your business starts growing and achieving tremendous success, at first, you may feel guilty about delegating some roles to your team. 

It’s even common to start feeling like you’re not doing enough. But eventually, you will get overwhelmed. There won’t be enough time for you to do everything, however much you feel you’re the best for the task. 

The first thing you need to do is to let your team understand that they should never let you bogged down with all the day-to-day activities. Your team should take care of all these as you look for other streams of income.

Let them understand that if you get overwhelmed, you’re not growing. And if you’re not growing, there won’t be bonuses for them and they’re even at the risk of losing their jobs. 

“The goal here is to let your team control the lane as you worry about new income streams and growth opportunities.”

Defeat the Solopreneur mentality and give up on key roles for your team!

“I quickly started to realize some people are salespeople, and some people aren’t. And that doesn’t make them a bad planner or a bad employee at all. It’s just that some people love selling and just were driven by numbers.”

You can avoid getting bogged down just by changing your mentality and finding the right person for the key roles! There’s no need to hold on to everything! 

I made a mistake when I first started giving up some roles. I opted for the Round Robin option when giving out the sales roles to my team. We had four planners, each working for a week in this role every month. 

Later I realized that not every person likes sales, but likes something else. What we could have done differently is to assign each person to their zone of genius.

If you assign everyone the roles they love doing, they will be happy and you will avoid frustrations all the way. You can now become a coach in your business!

What are your roles as a coach in business?

You have assigned most of your roles to your team and now you feel like you’re not doing enough. Now what? Here are some things you can do as a CEO, coach, and leader in your business:

  1. Know every player’s strengths and weaknesses
  2. Assign your team members to their zones of genius
  3. Create new revenue streams
  4. Encourage your team members to do their jobs in the best way possible

How to keep a team keep performing better

“At the end of the day, the whole point is to hire people that are better and smarter than you.”

With your team set and everyone having an understanding of what is expected of them, you can use these tips to keep them delivering at their best:

  1. Give them a reason to be better

This could mean having a bonus structure, commission, additional time off, or even words of affirmation, or anything that could drive them.

  1. Set your non-negotiables in place

When setting up your SOPs, let your employees understand what your non-negotiables are and then be flexible on everything in between. 

Some people have their way of doing things and your way should not be the only way but just a guide they could use to a certain extent. As long as they keep delivering and not causing others to make mistakes, you can be flexible with that.

  1. Let them make mistakes

This is going to cost you money and bad reviews. But if you don’t let them make these mistakes, they’re not going to learn, and will not become better at dealing with such situations in the future.

  1. Let them make their own decisions

It’s always better to give your employees some independence in making decisions rather than sitting and not knowing what to do. Let them decide, and if it’s the wrong decision, don’t be mad at them. Back them up and correct their thoughts!

What about outsourcing? Is it a viable option?

“I’m not a huge fan of outsourcing, I think it can work. But if you can hire somebody always be hiring for the next strategic move in your business.”

Before deciding to outsource for your business, you need to do a reality check on whether “your cup is already full.”

Are you really overwhelmed to do the roles? What about your team? 

That is why it’s always important to hire a team member with additional secondary skills to work on different projects and roles rather than outsourcing.

Special thanks to Jonathan Aymin’s, The Venue RX Podcast!! Thank you for a great conversation on showing up as the CEO of your wedding business!!

Join the Movement:

Are you a wedding business entrepreneur who’s sick of feeling overwhelmed and burned out? Are you ready to build the PROFITABLE business you’ve always dreamed of? I would love for you to join us over in the Wedding Pro CEO Community on Facebook! A thriving community of CEOs who are building their dream businesses together!! I can’t wait to see you there!

EPISODE NUMBER 145