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Scaling a business is a giant leap toward success, that involves some serious business investment. But before blindly making that Business Investment, there are a few signs that you should look out for.
Every year, a colossal number of businesses are launched, but unfortunately, most of them fail to take off.
Why is it and what is it that pushes your business to a backseat? What are the things you need to invest in and how important is team building while working on your business so you thrive, instead of closing down within a few years?
Starting my own agency and team building 4 months ago, was a challenge. Though I knew how to market myself, lead gen was never a problem, but the backend operations, team building, and managing it all was a challenge.
Meeting Diksha Vohra was a turning point in my business. She helped me with team building my team, and work on my backend along with other minute details.
Today we have a guest on our podcast, Ms Diksha Vohra, Founder of Digital by Diksha Vohra a Dubai-based entrepreneur and a renowned content writer. With over a decade-long experience in creating, engaging, and impacting various corporates and publications and leading a premium lead generation firm specially designed to help micro-businesses and SMEs increase their organic growth by 50% within 3 months effectively using the digital space to market their products and services.
Instagram handle – DigitalbyDV
With a writing career that got her into Young Times (UAE magazine), and later pursuing B.A., specializing in Film, Television and Media Studies and Econometrics from the University of Auckland, she moved on to working as an Editor in lifestyle magazines like Elegante and Signe. Her hunger for knowledge landed her in Cardiff, the UK for Masters’s in International Journalism.
Honoured with Arabian Business Start-Up Award 2017, Iconic Personality of the Year 2019, Young Entrepreneur- Emirates Women Award 2019, Female Entrepreneur of the year CISO MAG 2019, Pearls of Rajasthan 2020, 10 Days of Existence Fiction Novel 2020, and Launched Icon of Maharashtra 2021, Diksha today heads a team of 10 dedicated professionals, 20+ support staffs and has served over 300+clients.
She says, “The focus is mostly on educating people on how to use content to better your overall content and sell through that.”
Could you share a few tips on team building?
Teamwork makes the dream work. It’s a no-brainer that an amazing team is an incredible asset to any organization. But team building is no cakewalk, and sometimes building those high-performing teams can be tricky.
“Figure out-
- What are we trying to sell? What is our product or service?
Sometimes there is not much clarity on that so start off with finalizing and understanding what it is.
- Do I require a physical setup or an in-house team?
In the team building process, think about whether your team would be needed in a physical setup, in a certain geography or not.
eg: if your client is in construction, there are certain jobs that you cannot do remotely but then again there are a lot of jobs, thanks to AI and globalization we can actually work very well online.
If it’s not necessary, cut it out and invest in necessary systems.
There are certain myths connected to team buiilding-
When building a team, people tend to think productivity is brilliant when everyone is physically present in the office, but times have changed and change people have changed, so figure out what is required.
- Understand the post-pandemic dynamics. The disposable income and the cash we have in order to invest in different places have actually become quite low.
- We need to invest cash wisely- To be able to scale up online, maintain brand visibility, and generate leads, make sure you are spending wisely. Invest in the right places to actually build your brand and grow, and being a little cautious about investment is important.
- Research what is new in the market. Find out how are other people growing online and invest in those arrangements.
When I started out in 2016 initially, I was very lucky to be judging a Freelance Writing Competition, when I got hold of a few freelancers. There on, I hired them on a freelancing basis.
But then I understood that you cannot rely on freelancers completely, you need to have an in-house team and you need to invest in support staff. So later when things stabilized, I planned on hiring a full-time team.
2019, I had a physical office and I started off by investing in one person so I can pass on my work to my team and focus on other stuff. I always recommend entrepreneurs create a list of things that they want to delegate.
How to draw your Boundaries in Relationships, Business, and Life?
Being an entrepreneur, we try to do everything. If you have limited resources and you still want to grow, put down all the things that you want to delegate immediately, so for me, I wanted to delegate the admin work. My priority was investing in the administrative executive when I had a physical office.
Challenges with the physical office were rent, electricity, and India’s environment is different- there are strikes, festivals, and traffic, so we decided to sit at home and surprisingly employees increased their productivity a lot because they were not spending their time in traffic.
When I invested in an administrative executive, I understood how much my work got lesser. The second person I hired was using a trick- understanding how much are you spending on freelancers.
eg: If you are spending around 20,000 rupees on a freelance graphic designer on a monthly basis, in that amount, you can invest a full-time resource and actually have someone exclusively for yourself and build a stronger team.
My second employee was a graphic designer and from there I hired more people and realized my work got lesser and I could invest my energy and resources in selling better, meeting more clients, and growing my business because every employee is adding some value.
And then the third business investment was a content writer. So from being a solopreneur, and then starting off with one person we are a full-time team of 10 people and we have a support staff of 20 people so it’s a big family.”
How do you get into the mindset of going from a solopreneur to building a team?
The thought of paying someone on a monthly basis is scary, but there is a cost to your time and this is something the majority of entrepreneurs don’t understand. Team building gets easier when you understand-
- Every minute counts. If you are getting someone on board, there is a cost of coordination. There is a cost of training, there is an issue of them leaving or breaks, so invest in one person and encash that value with the products that you are selling, so it’s a lot better.
- Hire through recruitment agents. Another big mistake entrepreneurs make to keep money safe and secure, is they do everything themselves. Or they hire friends and family, that’s a big no. make it calibre-based, keep a professional approach, and invest in recruitment agents to get them to do background checks.
- Most importantly, more than qualification and skill sets, have a behavioural check of the candidates because from my experience an employee who has a good learning behaviour can switch and become a brilliant employee but a person who is coming with an attitude, it will take him ages to train you into your system.
So break that barrier and hire people who want to learn and grow. Those kinds of people are going to be your assets. Keep them, give increments, and keep your employees happy. Keeping your employees happy is an entrepreneur’s first goal because if employees are happy, clients are automatically happy.”
How important is it to invest in systems and workflows when you are managing a remote team?
“It is 100% important to have a structure in your organization and even though I haven’t explored the full potential of remote work, with technology, managing a remote team has not only become easier but also cost-effective.
I usually propagate a software system ZOHO. It comes with a suite of 45 different applications which you get for a hundred Dirhams/month per user. In that, your invoicing is taken care of, there is the proper VAT combined software and it’s super simple. We also have CRM which we use for keeping a track of deals and projects.
Having online contracts – The Best Business Investment. There is a lot of automation. So investing in a system and giving your employees the right resources and having a manual to tell them what to use and how to use that’s important but the basic philosophy remains KISS- Keep it short and simple –
eg: I follow a 15-minute call every morning at 8:30 my time all my team knows they need to come online. Each person, each department head is given 2 minutes to speak. In 1 minute they have to present what they did of the day and in another 1 minute, they have to tell what they are doing today.
Then 4 to 5 minutes for me to answer their questions and queries. This sets the agenda for the day after that it’s about you following up with them and then towards the end of the day we have a certain form which is called The End of the Day Reporting, so all the employees sit and fill up the form mentioning what all they executed during the day, following the catch up call.
It also helps them be on track and understand what needs to be done and there is another column called Activities for the Next Day.
And on a weekly basis, every Friday we have a Business Success Meeting, wherein we discuss the revenue, invoices, collection targets, leave requirements, payroll issues, and projects.
We create a form and then every week, every team member knows they need to create a report. It’s a one-hour power-packed meeting, and targets and goals for next week are prepared, so your employees won’t come back and say they don’t have clarity. There is no element of doubt for anybody!
I would definitely recommend having a system where you have lesser people to monitor yourself.
eg: I monitor my admin lady, my junior marketing executive, my staff, and my operations. I manage only four people. These four hold accountability for one another so it creates a proper hierarchy. The lesser people you have to manage; the happier you will be.
As an entrepreneur touch base with every employee and build a relationship with each of the employees, be it only once a week to make them feel connected.
People are not logical they are psychological. Nobody cares what you know until they know you care for them. Keep them pumped up, and charged, and keep an open door policy for your team.”
How do you manage your own personal calendar?
“Everything is calendar centric for me. I am a person who is tied to the clock. For me, it’s not very difficult. I wake up early at 4:30 to do my morning rituals and prayers. I have time slots for everything.
I plan my full day we have a To-do list but until your to-do list translates into your Google Calendar, you don’t see where it goes. So the best idea is- to pick up your phone, create calendar entries and you will be able to manage everything.
I am someone who invests 10 hours into my work. In those 10 hours, I spend-
- 20% of my time on operations and reviews.
- one operation review at 1 o’clock and then at 4 o’clock
- 20% of my time is for my existing clients and the rest is completely on sales for my own strategy and business growth.
- rest 60% is for sales
- Fridays are booked for my strategy.”
What’s your plan for the next 5 years?
“I am now venturing out into the franchise model. From Dubai, the next step is in Canada. I am actually investing in expanding in Canada. I have invested in a setup in Australia and now, I am on my way to building in Canada, so in the next 5 years I intend to grow this brand in different continents, only through the franchise system, so we are repeating the same model there.
We will be investing in Indian service providers and it’s not to keep the cost low, but because India today has the most talented people. They are forward and into the market, into trends. I do it to give them a chance, to train those people. My job is to continue cultivating leaders so within 5 years I plan to grow in three more countries.
When you are hiring people from India, it’s not about cost cutting, but it’s about investing in talent, dedication, and recognition. We have been in situations where we have wanted people to recognize what value we are bringing to the table.
If anyone is talented and people in India want it, why not give them a chance? If you want to build a sustainable future why not start from the root, and do our bit for society it’s like a win-win situation.”
How do you work on your own marketing strategies? What are the best platforms? How are you generating leads?
“ I do 5 things to generate leads-
- For B2B business I would recommend LinkedIn outreach. LinkedIn appointment letters are brilliant. Look out for companies that can help you with appointments. Post content on LinkedIn and engage with people.
- Focus on SEO.
- I am part of BNI, which is a networking organization. I would recommend being a part of some networking organization where you can get access to people on a weekly basis number 2
- Conducting workshops. my next workshop is coming out on the 29th of July about Sales Content, basically doubling your sales revenue through effective content
- I also do newsletters that really help target and retarget my clients.
This is overall how I do my lead gen. The whole idea of having all of these modules is that we entrepreneurs need to have a consistent flow of leads having a proper sales strategy.
When we were starting out we did not know any of this and if we knew this would have possibly escalated up much earlier, so for me it’s like whatever you know, share and give it back. So if you are viewed as listening and implementing to grow you will have a better economy, especially for women owners who are looking to grow and implement.”
Read more on how to Skyrocket your sales
Now since we talked about starting the beginning stage know if you work to start off again on a limited budget what are the most important resources you would result invest in?
“If I had limited resources the first thing I would invest in is a lead generation plan. If there is anyone who wants to know more about LinkedIn appointment setters. Please get in touch with me and get someone to fix appointments for me and get started with that so at least some money is started getting in from thereafter some sales, I would hire an administrative assistant to take care of the paperwork and who would handle your freelance recruitments.
Initially for a new business, do not hire too many people. In order to grow your new business, you need the right mindset. If you are starting something and if I am going out for an investment then I am anyway putting a burden on myself to prove something to other people
So,
- get someone to book an appointment.
- hire an admin executive and then ask him to hire freelancers who would work for us.
Once work starts coming in, join a networking organization so you start getting referrals and you start growing. Then you can also collab and brand and hire people.
Do not be scared of putting money into your business. You can’t be splurging, but you need to be understanding what needs to be taken care of.”
Any final lines you want to share?
“Most importantly
- ask for help.
- Raise your mindset into a theory of abundance. If I am going to be losing a bit and gaining peace of mind, there are people who would be offering you free resources so go and ask for help. The worst that can happen is they can say no. There is nothing worse than staying stuck at a place for a fear of losing.
Ritesh Agrawal founder of OYO is someone that I look up to. He mentions constantly looking out and investing in someone to do my job so I can find better things to do.
This is exactly what I have done to grow my business. I put down a certain set of things I wanted to go let go of, so I can do better things and that helps to cultivate new leaders. The minute you start delegating and growing people you have more free time to invest in places where they need your personal presence where you could do good.”
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