Welcome to the Get your act together podcast. I'm your host, Kelly Reynolds, ops strategist and agency coach at the Reynolds OBM agency. This podcast is all about building well-run and profitable businesses so that we can create the lives we dream of.

Hello, everyone, and welcome to episode 70. So today, I wanted to come in here, and I wanted to remind all of you that you do not need to go it alone in your business. Maybe I'm recording this to remind myself of that right now. Because I tend to do that. I am a DIY er from way back, like, I have taught myself to do a lot of things. Gardening, I can food, I have a whole workshop in my basement, all the things. I, I really enjoy going in and learning something. And even like, in my business, new software, totally nerd out on it, I want to learn how to do the thing. And that becomes a trap for people like me, because then we think, Well, I can learn that. And I'll just do it myself. I can assure you coming from the day, I'm about to have 10 o'clock in the morning, while I'm recording this. And the day I'm about to have, it's about 7000 things on my plate that now have to be done today. And I'm gonna run around like a lunatic because I didn't delegate them out. I have had an agency for a very long time. I coach on agency. And this is still one of the hardest things that I do to myself, is say I can do it all myself. Even me. Even now. I want to do it in one particular way. My husband will assure you that this is how I am. And it can be such a block to growth, to sanity, to remembering what your child looks like, things like that. So today, I am here to remind you, you do not have to go it alone. So let's start with the obvious things that you're going to get help on. These are usually the first things people get help on. That's taxes. I love to learn things. I actually when I went to college is going to be a CPA MBA in four years, which is insanity, especially for someone who hates 8 am classes. I do not have the time to learn the US tax code. I don't think most people do. I don't think accountants really know it perfectly. It's so cumbersome that there's no way you can learn it all and I have other things to do. So it's it makes sense to me to have an accountant. How am I going to figure out taxes, like business and like paying quarterly things? And what's deductible and all the things right? And just advise on choosing different things to do based on what would be the best thing for my business. Makes sense, right? It's a lot different from when I was in corporate and I had a W2, like one page to stick on my taxes. And it was a lot easier to figure out. Although I still had an account then because seriously, I had three states I had to worry about. That's an easy thing, delegate. And I say this because a lot of us don't think of that as delegating. We just think well, obviously, we have to get an account for our taxes. But that is something we could in theory, try to DIY. It would probably be a mess. And then we'd be in trouble. Right? We'd spend hours and hours and hours looking things up and trying to research things. And it's a big waste of time. If that is not what you really need to do. I learned a long time ago, I didn't want to be a CPA. I don't want still taxes. The tax code is terrible! So having to figure all that out. I don't want to do that. I'm not going to DIY that easy to delegate. And if you think of it that way, then you can think of all the other things in your business, that you're going to delegate just like that to someone who's better at it than you are. So that you can focus on the work that makes money and you like, and then you're good at it. Another one that's obvious and big is getting a lawyer. I have a lawyer. She has helped me with my trademarks. I'm not going to do that. I don't know what I'm supposed to do or what language I have to use. That's why she's there. She's also created contracts for me. And then I can review them, I can get advice on what I should be doing what I shouldn't, where should I be saving money, whatever the thing is. It's another thing that I am not going to go learn all the things legal to be able to create a contract when I could delegate that out. That's it. That's all it is. It's just hiring someone and delegating that out. And that's what you're going to do for the rest of your business. The thing is that these are. The obvious ones. We're not going to go learn the US tax code, especially if you don't like numbers or taxes. But then the gray middle things are a little harder, right? If you want to hire a VA who does graphics, hey, I can do graphics. Oh, I don't need that. Yeah, but I suck at it. It takes me about an hour. I've told you guys this before. It takes me about an hour to make one thing for Instagram. It's awful. That's why I like going live. I like our Facebook group, I go live at least once a week. Because it's so much easier for me. I can talk. But I don't have to make graphics or build things out. And it's so much easier to just talk to people. The line there gets a little muddier though, right? Because I can make a graphic. But should I? It's harder to delegate in my head. By the way, yes, yes, I should delegate this. Then there are different things that you want to delegate out or get help on, that are not so clear cut. Like a coach. It's not exactly delegating work. But it's bringing that person in, so you are not going it alone. When I hired my coach in January of 2021, it was the first time I'd hired a coach specifically for me one on one. I'd been in group programs before. I'd done certifications that had coaching. But this was a strict one-on-one. It was me and Melissa. And that to me, was the time in my head, I was like, Okay, I'm ready to get help on this. Because I can't go alone all the time. When I talked to Melissa, she's been in this business, she gets it, she understands what's going on. But she's ahead of this. She's ahead of where I am. So she can see what I can't see. It's also a person that's talking to me. And sometimes you feel like you can't hear yourself, or you can't see outside of where you are right now. But they can see things for you. If you had said I was going to have one on one coaching by myself, on January 1, I would have laughed. But it was an obvious progression to her. So coaches can see where you're going, and the obvious things you have working for you that you can't see because you're in the everyday of everything. And they can help guide you and give you resources, right. They can show you different ways to do things that you hadn't thought of. And they can be there for you when you're losing your mind. The biggest thing a coach can help you do though, I feel like especially if they are in the trenches, and they're doing the work, is that they can help you skip that trial and error. This is a big thing for me. And I recommend coaching with people that are in the gig or have been there and have done the thing. They have done the thing they're coaching on. And that seems like a simple concept. It is shocking how often that doesn't happen. There are so many people out there who coach on things they have no idea about. And they make it up. I wanted to have a coach who had been in this gig that has lived this life who had the same understanding of the world I was in. that they were just further ahead and I wanted them to show me how to get further ahead. So that's another way you can have that don't go it alone thing. You're not giving them the graphics work to do that they are helping to shepherd you further along, then you might even realize you want to go. All the things out there that they can see for you that you can't see for yourself. And that's a big thing with my coaching. I want to help people who are looking to get agencies together. They don't know what how to do it or what they should be doing or who they should be hiring or what offers they should be doing. All those kind of things. I'm in the trenches, and I can help them see how to build this, what they need to do all of that. And it skips that trial and error. And that can be a huge, huge jump in your business. It was for me in the last year with Melissa. Huge, huge jump in my business. But there's also another aspect of this that I want to be clear on. You need to know what your role is in getting help. For things like taxes and legal you have got to be able to talk to them, ask questions and give them the information they need. They need the whole picture so they can give you the best advice. For a coach you need to show up. It's not like some course where you just watch some videos and you fill out a template and then you put it back away and nothing happens. Like those bullshit courses that don't do anything. That's not what coaching is. Coaching is helping that person, to guide that person, but that person has to show up, like, I have to show up on my calls. When we work through a plan for, let's say, the next two weeks, I got to do it. That's my part in it, she can't do the work for me. That coach can help you guide you, but you have to show up, that's your roll. With hiring, let's say a VA for that graphics work, you have to say, here's my branding stuff, what's going on, or what I need you to be making these posts about. We're going to be opening the cart, we're going to be launching this, we're going to be selling that whatever, what does the social media have to be about? They can't create your whole business for you. You have to kind of have that marketing plan together to push through. And then if you're hiring someone from marketing, like a marketing person who's going to do strategy, if you want them to be creating a marketing plan for an offer, let's say, a course a project or whatever, you kind of have to know what the course of the project is all about. Right? You are the person who's going to be setting that vision. You need to know what your offers are. If you don't have your offers nailed down as to what you are going to be selling, and get very clear about who you're selling to or what's included, then that marketing person can't do their job. So there is a big span. In this kind of delegation deal. There is one side where it's I do everything, everything's DIY. I do everything. The other end of it is that you abdicate everything. You just walk away, and hope everyone else deals with that. And neither one is going to give you growth. You need to get people to help you. And then give them the information they need to make it work. So that's that gray middle area, and it's harder, right, there's no instruction to be like, well, when you hire this person, they need to do this. So it's much harder to figure out that gray middle area. And that's why a lot of us sink back into doing everything ourselves. Because it's comfort, and it's controlled. And we know what's happening. It's so much more comfortable for me to say, Oh, forget it, I'll do it myself. But that is also insanity making. And it also stops growth. I should be doing other things, instead of creating a spreadsheet for someone that anyone else on my team could happily do. And ask them, they will tell you that they could happily do it, if I would just get my hands off of it. We as business owners and leaders need to remember where our strengths are, and where we need to be that we need to get help. That we need to know what our job is. And then we can move forward. That's how we grow, not stuck in a corner doing you know, data entry all day, instead of all the other things we should do to grow our business, networking, and marketing or, or coaching. I don't spend an enormous amount of time marketing, if anyone's on my social. I'm not a professional marketer, I am focused on the business of my business, because that is what will move my business forward. Is there marketing? Yes. But I have to remember as well, I mean, and this is part of the reason I'm recording this podcast today. I need help just like everyone else. And it's hard for me to ask for it. But it's so important to not go it alone, to not do everything yourself. And there is a place where you can learn how to do the thing, and then hand it off to someone else so that you know what is going on and how everything works. So that you can hop in a pinch. Like if everything's going hell the night before a launch, you could pop in and say okay, I know how things work here. But it doesn't mean that you have to do all of it yourself. And I think one of my proudest things in the last few weeks has been the times where I've been like, Okay, I'm going to hire a VA to help me with this thing. The good people at funnel gorgeous and FG funnels have done a fantastic job of giving you all these videos and walkthroughs of how to set everything up. But it's just time-consuming. And one of my proudest things this week has been to hire a VA that specializes in this so that I can say this thing isn't working or I need help figuring this out, or I need help building this. And I am not going to watch seven hours of videos to figure it out. Could I? Yes. Have I been? Yes. Did I build this whole funnel myself? Yes.

Do I have other things to do now? Yes. As I'm building all these things out, I want to know everything and it's very hard for me to step back. I want to do it all. I get it. But building this program is a great reminder that I don't have to do at all. I have a fantastic team. They're great. I don't need to do anything. They could probably run this whole show without me. Get the help you need so that you can create that great business. And if that business that you want to create as an agency. Come talk to me. The new program, get your agency together is starting January 1st. The waitlist right now, as of this recording, the last week of November is open. If you are interested in growing your agency get on the waitlist, you will get the first spots available, you will get incredible bonuses. This is the beta round. I'm kind of throwing everything in there right now. I want to make sure you are covered and you have everything you need. This will be a small group, and it will fill up fast because there's a lot of people who want to grow an agency, and there's not a lot of guidance out there about agencies. I had to do everything trial and error. As I've told you guys, I don't want that for you. This is the place where you can get that help so you don't have to go it alone. So if an agency is right for you, or you're even thinking about it, get on the waitlist, and I'm happy to get on a call with you and chat with you about it. So go to Reynolds OBM dot comm slash get your agency together, you can get on the waitlist there, you can join the Facebook group, all the other things and get help in your business. Alright, so I will see you on the waitlist. And I will see you next week. 

Thank you so much for joining me this week. If you have an agency or want to create one, come join my Facebook community,  Get your agency together, where we talk all the things growing and scaling your agency for show notes more info on all the things, head over to Reynolds obm.com Follow me on Instagram and Facebook at Reynolds OBM. And finally, if you enjoy this podcast, I would love for you to give us a review on iTunes.