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3 Keys to Increasing Your Workforce on a Shoestring Budget – Part 2

by Laura Lee Rose

3 Keys to Increasing Your Workforce on a Shoestring Budget – Part 2

Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose – author of TimePeace: Making peace with time – and I am a business and efficiency coach that specializes in time management, project management and work-life balance strategies. I help busy professionals and entrepreneurs create effective systems so that they can comfortably delegate to others, be more profitable and have time to enjoy life even if they don’t have time to learn new technology or train their staff. I have a knack for taking big ideas and converting them into smart, sound, and profitable projects.

At the end of the day, I transform the way you run your business into a business you love to run.

Today’s comment came from a busy professional and an entrepreneur:

I am starting a new company and know I need help, but I don’t have any money to hire staff. What are some ways to get staffing without much money?

This is Part 2 of this topic. Part 1 we discussed how to set the right expectations and priorities. This article we are going to discuss where you can find good people on a shoestring budget.

Finding the Right People

In the previous article, we discussed objectively categorizing the different tasks and role into the minimum skill set and quality – that will allow you to get to the next goals. We agreed that not every task needs to be done perfectly. The task just needs to done at the quality level that allows you to move on. Just because a Senior Level employee can accomplish the task, doesn’t mean that this is what the Senior Level employee should be spending their time on. Your rationalization is that your Senior Level employee is already on staff and available. They seem handy and you are already paying them good salaries to do your bidding.

BUT you may be wasting more money than you care to admit. Paying your Senior Level employee $65/hr for a $10/hr task is actually wasting $75/hr (or $3,000 a week). In this case, it would actually save you money to hire a temp or intern to accomplish those lower level tasks, freeing your Senior Level employee to accomplish Senior Level work that actually brings in revenue.

Different workforce categories

In the previous article, we asked you to objectively categorize your tasks into the minimum skill level required to accomplish the task to the level to get you to the next goal. The reason we asked you to do this is because there are different workforce categories that you can resource.

If you have a limited budget, you will need to experiment with alternative resources. Some of the more common resources are:

· Barter

· Volunteer

· Referrals

· Interns

· Outsourcing to affiliated partners

· Adding a strategic partner with resources of their own

Each resource has its own set of challenges. For a detail discussion of each area, please setup a chat session with Laura Rose with this link: Schedule An Appointment

Bartering for work is an inexpensive way to acquire temporary help. The key to Smart Bartering is to barter things that are valuable to both parties.

Many times, I am asked to barter my coaching services. I only barter my services if they are offering something I not only value at the equivalent price but that I need at the time. The biggest mistake is to barter your time and services for something that you know you will never take advantage of (and vice-versa). Make sure it’s a good match and is relevant for immediate consumption.

Some appropriate barter situations

Below is a short list of situations that are appropriate for barter. The list can be endless.

· Limited access to your products or services

· Advertizing space on your website or newsletter: If they are not interested in your products or services, then you can offer some advertizing services. This works well if the temporary person is an entrepreneur or starting their own business.

· Providing them a speaking or training venue: If you are already planning an expo, trade shows, or conference, offering them a booth or speaking spot in your program might be attractive to them.

· Training or certification: If they are interested in a full-time position in the future, offer them training and certification program to help them toward their career goals.

· Incorporate certain employee benefits as temporary compensation

· And many more

Visit opposite sides of the spectrum

If you have a budget constraint, focus on both the young and the retired groups. The young people need the experience on their resumes; and the retired folks need something to keep them active and engaged.

Focus on your target client

Another path is reaching out to your raving fans and advocates. Your major business goal is to continually attract your “target” clients. It’s accepted that people surround themselves with others of the similar (within 20%) socio-economic standing. Therefore, it’s logical that your current customers have friends, family, co-workers and social acquaintances that fit your “target client descriptions”.

Reach out to your current clients that already love your products and services. More often than not, they will love to work with you in exchange for additional products and services. Take advantage of their inherent sales and marketing benefit. Setting up referral programs, having them available at trade shows, expos, training and speaking engagements provides added excitement to your events. This excitement will attract other clients to your booth and will easily convert to sales.

Within the organization

One last tip is to look within the organization. Let go of some of the things that you normally do to provide advancement opportunities for others. Even if you think you can do “xxx” better than someone else, let it go. The fact that someone else can do it means that they probably should be doing it. You should focus on things that ONLY YOU CAN DO.

Conclusion:

We quickly reviewed the different places where you can find inexpensive help. We also mentioned that each option has its own set of challenges. The next article will go into detail on how to manage the different categories.

If you need additional help on this topic, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

I am a business coach and this is what I do professionally. It’s easy to sign up for a complementary one-on-one coaching call, just use this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ

Author: Laura Lee RoseHello, this is Laura Lee Rose – author of the business and time management books TimePeace: Making peace with time – The Book of Answers: 105 Career Critical Situations – and I am a business and efficiency coach that specializes in time management, project management, and work-life balance strategies. I have been in the software and testing industry for more than 20 years. I've worked with such companies as IBM, Ericsson, Staples, Fidelity Investments and Sogeti in various client advocacy and project management roles. The techniques I used in my business coaching and client advocacy work saved these companies both time and money, which resulted in on-time, quality product delivery with higher client satisfaction. Even though I excelled in the corporate environment, I felt a calling toward something more. I now uses my time management, work life balance and personal development skills as a life coach and Corporate Exit Strategist. I help people blend their goals and dreams into their everyday lives. I use creative transition strategies to help my clients realize what really matters to them. Combining inspired action with practical, tangible techniques easily lead you toward more autonomy, freedom and balance. I am a business coach and this is what I do professionally. It's easy to sign up for a complimentary one-on-one coaching call, just use this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ With enough notice, it would be my honor to guest-speak at no cost to your group organization.