024: When Is It Time To Outsource + Set up Systems!?

Jen Thyrion: Hey there, I'm Jen Thyrion and I'm so glad you're here. I'm a former nine to fiver that dove into entrepreneurship eight years ago with zero business experience. I'm a wife, mama of two young girls, boutique owner, joy designer, and now the proud owner and coach leading Goldie links permanent jewelry. I have a passion to empower fellow business space.

This podcast is made to equip you with everything you need to succeed from actionable marketing steps. to digging deep on your mindset. I know firsthand the heart, hard work, and let's be real at times of struggle that makes up this amazing journey. You want to know what has enabled me to shine the brightest coaching plus community here at GoldieLynx.

We share openly educate and lift each other up, expect to get links with fellow PJ owners that will do just that sprinkled with plenty of fun along the way. Competition isn't old school thought and connection is the way Get ready to feel inspired. Welcome to the GoldieLynx podcast.

Hey there. Did you know that we offer handmade permanent jewelry supplies? Go to GoldieLinkSupplies. com to view our beautiful chains, connectors, bangles, and more, including our non permanent stretchy bracelets that are available to you for wholesale. Everything is created by our tribe of mama makers.

What is a mama maker? Stay at home moms that create on their own time between raising their children, serving as a self care creative outlet and supporting their families. Your items come with signage on how these supplies are made, along with gemstone property info as each gemstone has a special meaning.

If you want to level up your business with handmade supplies, not made by a machine, but made by hand with love, then check it out at goldilynxsupplies. com. Now onto the show. Hey there, it's Jen. I want to actually do a little mini episode and talk about outsourcing. So whether or not you are there or you're already there, or you feel like it's going to be obviously something in your future that maybe you're not ready for yet, but maybe just planting the seed and kind of being aware of some things.

So that way, like how I was, I am not wishing I like literally, I feel like when I was ready to hire someone, I was ready two weeks ago and I needed someone so fast. Through my lessons learned and how I feel I should have been a little bit more aware and face the facts, because I do feel like as business owners, I don't know about you, but I do feel like we have a vision and a passion for something we've grown.

Right. And I can be a little bit of a control freak. I'll admit it. I like things how I want. I want to have, I want to have my hands on everything. And I'm also this person who thinks I can do everything and that I can just fit it all in. But what happens is. prime example of maybe even this podcast. I just finishing off, I'm capping off a week of doing batching a ton of podcast episodes because what I had found as I've grown my business and honestly, it doesn't even matter.

The facets of business I have might not be yours, but if you're a permanent jeweler who's does mobile events or whether you have a brick and mortar, just having that alone. You're wearing so many hats as we've talked about, right? Like, I like, I really wish there was like a different term, but it just kind of shows a visual or kind of conjures up a visual of wearing so many hats because you can only wear one hat at a time.

I mean, you can try and stack them, right? But I'll never forget. I was actually, this made me think of a memory. How so funny I should find it in my phone. I know I took a picture. I was at the airport. It was literally a few years ago. And I think it was his way of packing because he didn't want to put hats in his bag and maybe his bag was overweight.

He was literally had a ton of hats stacked on his head. That was a total random story, but that literally happened and it just made me think of that because it was so funny and like great way of packing. We've joked around that before too, because of course, as you know, how easy it is to get to that weight limit for a bag is like layering your clothing and just wearing a ton of clothes.

Okay. But anyway, that is not realistic, right? Like no one is wearing a ton of hats every day. So using that visual, it's like how, what I would run into is like, I'd have a week of like, I'm going to focus on podcasts. Right. Because I do believe in batching. I think that is a great form of. Productivity.

Having said that, I think that everyone is productive in, you know, and it's not one size fits all. So, and I always say this about everything. It's kind of like trying to figure out what works for you. There's a friend of mine that owns a boutique in Michigan and we have had conversations before. We have tended to chat in the evenings because, and she's up, she has two small kids as well.

She stays up working till like 2 AM. That is crazy to me. Like, I'm that person who would rather wake up at 4am and get things done than stay up. Like, once my kids are in bed, you better believe I'm in bed by 9. Like, I am not, I am doing Canva things, like fun graphic things, or responding to emails at that time, you could expect.

But, so there are certain times of the day, And this is something you can test out if you feel like, you know, say one of your struggles is batching for social media or something. Right. It's kind of setting aside time and when during the day, depending on like, are you a morning person? Are you an evening person?

When do you feel the most creative? When do you feel like writing captions? Like when does it come easier to you than others? Because. There's been times where I force myself into doing something and speaking of writing captions or writing descriptions on my website where it is not come natural. And it takes me three times as long as if I were to do it at a time where that comes easier to me.

So for me, in the mornings, I tend to. Like I said, write better. Actually, that's when I love to pack and ship, whatever. And I'll, I'll get to that story about the packing and shipping and all the things, but I feel like there are certain times. And that's, again, when I put my girls to bed, like when I want to work on, that's when I will be in camp making fun graphics or using the photography for something for a post or whatnot, putting together a reel.

That's when I will kind of go through my videos and put together a video for some reason. If I were to sit down and do that in the morning, I'm much more of a physical person in the morning. Like I want to get up and actually do something, whether it even be like, honestly, if I were to create and make jewelry, it would be something I would do in the morning, not the evening.

So you know what I mean? You want to kind of figure out what works for you. And when you feel like you're not literally fighting it. and forcing yourself to do something you truly don't or feel not feel inspired to do. So my point, okay, so without sourcing, because what are the signs that you need to outsource?

Let's just go there first. Okay. Number one, obviously again, with wearing all the hats, when you feel like you're always neglecting something because when you're, I'm focused on the podcast, then I'm not fulfilling orders or I'm working on making supplies. I'm not spending time on my own permanent jewelry business.

Like there's always something. That obviously when you're focused on something, you're putting something to the side. But when all in all, when you have so much going on and say there's 100 hats versus 10 hats, right? There comes a point where it's like, which one of those hats can you outsource? Which one of those hats can someone else do maybe even better than you?

And that's what I've come to realize too. Having a business, it comes a point where your business can Can elevate faster if you actually had help and also help in an area where you're not the best at if you don't really know at this point, kind of like, first of all, what you're best at is one thing, but also what you enjoy doing, because in the end we have businesses and we should love it.

Like we have our own business. Okay. It doesn't mean it's always easy. Okay. But at the same time, like we choose to do this. So some, you know, we are choosing to have a business and the beauty of it is we can make it and create it. How we. Choose, right? So if you are somebody who like just does not feels overwhelmed with DMS and emails and you're at that place in your business, okay, is a VA the right answer for you?

Is hiring a teenager down the street or your daughter's friend or you know what I mean? Your niece or a friend even who just wants some extra work and she's a stay at home mom and she would just like do these little things. I mean, think outside the box too. It doesn't have to be a, like an actual put an ad out type of employee, but it could be someone.

in your family and your circle that could help out with certain things that you think to yourself, like who would be good at this? And someone comes to your mind, right? So, because in the end, if you feel bogged down with email or it's mentally draining and it kind of plays into your mental state, and that's also playing into the rest of your business and the rest of your day and your productivity in general.

And also, if you feel like that is such a time suck that you could be working on things in your business that truly moves the needle and truly is something you enjoy. That's the stuff, right? And so, honestly, someone else. Could be doing like, whether it be social media could be doing that portion of your business so much better because that isn't what you enjoy.

Or if you even need like photos, for example, and you don't want to sit down and learn how to take great photos of your chains or have a branding. session, like by yourself and try to figure it out. That's obviously what is for a person who, yes, you have to spend money, but in the end, how much time are you saving in frustration and trial and error and trying to create this photo session of all these amazing shots that how can you do yourself or if you were to hire a professional.

So the outsourcing for me is especially since PJX, you know, things really sped up with the online supplies and training new makers. And so I feel like there'll be one week where I'm like training makers and I'm totally focused on that and getting them going. And then like something else again, would be fall to the wayside.

So there were a lot of things like, especially after PJX, not being prepared with orders and being very behind, it was very overwhelming. And there was just literally, if I would have had someone to chip away at my orders while I was also trying to tend to my membership and do photo sessions for the membership and then also do my own events and all the things, you know, mean that again, as business owners, you can all relate to, I then would be focused on this.

And then I would have to like, it'd be so overwhelming to then step back into packing and shipping because I even got more orders and I'm even more overwhelmed. And so it felt like I was always catching up. So in the end, it's like when it's time to outsource, you're facing issues like. Consistency, like missing deadlines.

And when I say a deadline, basically I see that as like, you know, I have a certain expectation and I want to stick to that as shipping things as fast as I can. And if I'm finding that I can't meet that because I have this and this and this and this to tend to, then it's time for me to find someone who can fulfill it.

Right. Because in the end it's playing into my customer service is playing into really the future of that side of my business. Right. And so does it make more sense to like try and pull my hair out and be so stressed? And try and do that myself or actually have someone that can do that because that is, there's certain things in your business, as you know, that you can only do like listing out the things that you know, you don't have to do.

Anyone could do like packing and shipping, for example, in my, you know, for the, for my example. I don't have to do that. Like someone else can do that. I mean, but as for like this podcast, obviously I can't hire someone to do the podcast, right? That would be a little weird. So, and then also I enjoy it.

That's what I want. I want to be in places where I want to put all my energy and that I feel is truly kind of doing what I want to do. First of all, and. And playing into the fulfillment of my business, but also, you know, growing in the direction that I want to grow. So if you're experiencing high workload and it's also due to rapid growth, which you can probably experience as like, okay, maybe you're getting inquiries to do parties and events and you're saying no more often.

So at this point, I think we have Angelique coming up next week on the podcast and she was actually on already and I actually had her come back. It was literally during this time, it was probably two months ago and I called her up. She's local here in Colorado. And I'm like. Can you be on the podcast again?

versus: 1099

And also I think it's episode 20, Bluebird permanent jury. Okay. Literally, this is why I love this podcast. I say it again and again, it's kind of selfish because a, I learned so much, but B, I get inspiration. And like, honestly, sometimes you're just so close or you always are so close to your business. Like, as I, one of the things I always say too, is like, when you're inside the jar, you can't see the label.

Okay. And I can be stubborn. I admit it. And I can, again, think I can do everything. So listening to Bluebird because they're a partnership. So one person had, they have distinct, Things that they do in their business, distinct roles. One is a welder. One does not weld at all. She does the inventory. She is more marketing.

She's social media. She's answering the DMS, the email, and literally Brooke is the person who welds. Okay. So I found that so interesting. And my wheels are turning. It's almost like a light bulb went off when I was talking to them. And I kept saying, I need a Michelle because Michelle is the one that is like, does the inventory.

And like I said, everything else. And I was like, Oh my God, I need a Michelle. Like, I don't know what here I was in the middle of overwhelm. Like it was a week where I was batching podcasts, you know, interviews at that time with them, but I had major guilt knowing that I was letting go or putting to the side, I should say, shipping and doing all the other things in my business I should be tending to.

Right. So I was like at the end of that episode, I'm not kidding. This is also how I work though, because once I have the aha or the gut feeling, I act on it right away because I'm like, okay, like it just feels so right. I know. Like. I don't know why I didn't think of this before. Like also too, which is hard as a business owner, because, you know, like, obviously it's an expense as well.

Right. But when I look at what that expense can cost me in the long run is huge, right? If I'm not like building trust in my customers and people know if they, they order from me, I'm not going to ship it for six weeks. Like, no, no thanks. Right. Who is going to continue to order from someone? So I then right away.

Went on Facebook and we have a group, which is where I find most of my mama makers that make the chain that get great response. It's Castle Rock jobs, right? So I post and I'm very, um, you know, clear about the position because one thing I have to say in any experience I've had of hiring just kind of like, I never had a full time full time employee with my, my boutique business, but I would have like basically independent contractors come and go and do little things for me.

And, you know, there was like good experiences and bad, but what I have to say through that whole experience was me just being as clear as possible on what this person is doing. You want to set the expectations exactly because I remember in the past, my boutique business, again, is out of a merchant market, right?

It's my own brick and mortar. So when people come and work, they're not, they're not imagining when you say work for a boutique, you're imagining working in this cute boutique and folding clothing and ringing people up and chatting and just like, so fun. Well, It's not that structure like in the past when I've hired somebody, they're literally working out of my home because that's where I get all my inventory.

They are going up and down my base because I would have like basically house all my clothes. I had a ton of clothing racks in the basement basically where I housed all my inventory and I was like, you know, they would show up in this cute outfit and some heels and I'm like, Okay, cool. Like, but just so you know, like you understand you're working from my house, right?

And you're being, you're going up and down the stairs to like take up and down clothing and unpack boxes. And it's literally not very glamorous, right? Like, so I think really setting those expectations of even what their environment looks like, what their day to day looks like, like what exactly they're doing.

So in learning that lesson, I put it out on Castle Rock. And I did get a great response. I had one day again, spending another full day of doing interviews, which again, like hiring someone is also a job, right? So you have to be, you know, it's taking another couple of days to go through applicants and interview.

And there was one girl in particular that really stuck out to me and I thought she was, she was quote unquote the one, right. And I offered her the job and then I could tell after, and it was kind of like, again, a. Still, I still, I feel like I'm really great at going with my gut, but there's still red flags that happen that I choose to look beyond.

Right. And right after I offered the position to her, she was very much like, you could tell she was wary. Like she kept asking me questions like, okay, you can assure that you can give me this many hours per week. Right. Because I know she was coming from a job where she was, she was a single mother. She was used to a W 2 position.

I understand. And I understand in the end her decision because working for someone who's a small business, you know, kind of more sporadic work, right? Um, starting off as a, as an independent contractor turned W 2, but I knew that, and she understood too. And I was very clear about the fact that I, this is going to be kind of a growing position.

I know what you're, what you're going to be doing, but I would love for it to grow. But this is the thing, this is what it is right now. So although she, I think, love the idea. And liked me, but in the end, I think that it just wasn't a right fit for her to be able to fit that and like be have that be a reliable source of income for her and her family.

And that's okay, you know, but it was, she literally was supposed to start and she messaged me and text me that morning saying that she couldn't take the position. So that was such a bummer. And I ended up going with an applicant that also I liked for sure. I did enjoy. And so she ended up was very excited to take the position and has been with me for the past couple of months.

But these are my lessons I've learned even through hiring her. So in the beginning, I beginning, I have to say I was apologizing a lot because I'm like, listen, you're coming into a position where I don't really have systems in place. And so this also comes into play when it comes to outsourcing, but also if you feel like you're kind of running with your head cut off and you know, whether it be the way you set up at your pop up or the way you organize events or reaching out to people.

Or your social media. It's like systems are so important. And I'm talking about that all the time. I'm always tweaking my systems. I'm always trying to figure out a system. Literally, I just finally implemented a system with my mama makers because the way they would like drop items off and really we didn't have a great Solid invoicing system and sensor and independent contractors.

They should be invoicing me. So we had, we just recently started that and that just makes so much more sense. It is easier for them and me and also not being unpredictable with payouts and knowing what to expect. So not only maybe it's not outsourcing for you yet, but is there anything in your business that you feel you need to set up a system?

Does it feel like a hot mess? Okay. When you're ringing people up, keeping your inventory, like what is it that can make your life easier? And maybe you don't want to outsource or have the funds to do that, or you're not there yet. But also too, if you systemize things, it does also free up time to just, again, it plays into your productivity.

So let's just say you feel like a hot mess with social media. Like you're always just like, Oh, I'm going to post whenever. And then two weeks go by because you just get busy and you don't really have it systemized that it just becomes this like second thought, third, fourth, fifth thought, and you're not really making it intentional.

So when I say systemize that, it's more or less like, yes, do you need an app? Do you need to like, do you need to really schedule it? Scheduling it in your life where you're like, okay, every Sunday evening for an hour and a half, I'm going to sit down and plan out my social media. I'm going to make the captions.

I'm going to set aside pictures I want to use. I'm going to like maybe make notes of things I want to talk about in stories. And that way it's not like, it's not like every day you wake up. I don't know if you guys ever have the, like, I know that it's paralyzing. When you wake up and you think this is the way at least ideal right away.

I have these thoughts. Sometimes I wake up, I'm like, okay, what day is it? What day is it? Like, you're trying to figure out like, what am I doing today? And then all you get flooded with thoughts of like all the things you could be doing, should be doing need to do. Especially if you don't have like a system or something that was in place already where you're like, okay, I know that I plan social media.

I'm not worried about what to post today. I know that's what's being taken care of. And it's not a source of guilt either, because that's my problem too. And that plays into a lot. I was actually telling my girl, Ashley recently. because I've gotten more systemized with my online products. And I am so, I can't tell you, it's like, I don't know if you have this feeling where you organize something that's been like, say your pantry is out of control.

Right. And you spend it, you spend some time organizing it. How good does that feel? Like, doesn't that seem to free up time? Cause you know, exactly where you're, you know, your noodles are, you know, you're not searching and being like, I swore I bought noodles. Where did they go? It's literally like organization and just, and again, creating systems because actually speaking of that.

My friend, Adria, she was actually, um, turned friend. She was actually a nanny for Harper. She used to come over my house twice a week when I first had Harper, my firstborn. And she then started an organizing business. And she organized my pantry, um, a few years back for basically, essentially, just, For her portfolio.

So we, I just paid for the, you know, anyway, it was amazing. And, you know, I thought it was organized ish before, but once she set up a system where it was like, all the dry goods are here, all the snacks, like chips and stuff are in this container, like all these separate containers that were very easy to locate and be like, Oh yes, this great container is this, this is a, rather than sitting there and like scrolling my shelves and trying to find.

The Pinto beans, you know what I mean? Like everything I thought it was organized and I realized I wasn't right. So anything like that just makes life so much easier. And that's literally a system. So I was telling Ashley, once I set up the system for my online supplies, because have in mind, I, when I hired my employee, I got, again, going back to that, I kind of apologizing a lot in the beginning and being like, listen, You're our first person sent, you know, hiring this on, everything's not super organized.

And I found myself like, here I am hiring somebody who has no experience in jewelry. They don't know gemstones and I have literally six at the time. I, I, now it's five different types or styles of connectors. Okay. In 16 different stones plus, right? 16 different gem, like birthstones in general, plus extra gemstones.

Okay. In five different styles. And then I have many different chains. And then I have all these different metals and bangles being thick and thin and hammered and smooth. And you know, for me, it's easy because I know this stuff and I created this stuff, but to actually expect someone to look at a glow up and know that that style one in aquamarine and this is style two in pearl.

And like, so in the end I just kept getting better and better at my systems at organizing. So I bought all these containers. I had all the bangles organized and labeled on the front with a label maker of this is like gold, thick, smooth. Gold thick hammered. Right. And then like, I thought that was good enough.

And then I realized there was still mistakes being made. Okay. And I almost, I had this chain launch, which by the way, another chain launch is coming up in the middle of November. So stay tuned. But I had a chain launch of all this ready to ship chain. And there was just one example was she was, you know, packaging up some chain and she took one, a spool.

And she was like, this is Opal, right? And I was like, no, and probably the look of fear on my face, because when you have ready to ship chain, I mean, that's all that I have. Right. And a lot of them were just one of a kind style. So it's like, if she ships out the wrong chain and like mixes things up, it's just going to be really hard to like, you know, I don't have anything else I can replace that with.

So I think she saw the fear in my face, but right away I was like, and I feel like I'd always said to her, I'm like, I don't want you to think I'm, I'm upset with you, but that is not it. It's more or less everything that's being messed up. It makes me think. What's a better system? Hey, busy entrepreneur, as you know, being a business owner, you have to wear all the hats.

You're a social media manager, marketer, graphic designer, accountant, photographer, videographer, web designer, business coach, scheduler, and the list goes on. I know how overwhelming it can be, and this is why I created the Golden Link Society. It's our monthly permanent jewelry membership. We have a weekly call to talk about all the things, but not only that.

including monthly photography and video to use for your social media and marketing, Canva templates, monthly business expert, monthly training, support group, discount and first dibs on GoldieLink supplies and more. My intention is to create a beautiful community of permanent jewelers that want to level up their businesses together by creating lasting friendships and having fun.

This is what I wish existed when I started my business almost 10 years ago. If you want to know more, check it out at GoldieLinksSociety. com or at AllTheThingsPermanentJewelry. com. I hope to see you there. So is something always being mistaken or something like a mistake being made, I should say, in your business and something's being overlooked all the time.

It's like in the end, you know, especially if you have an employee currently and you feel like that's happening, it's like, well, That's not the employee's fault. It's actually a system fault. Maybe you know what I mean? Like something is like not operating correctly that that keeps happening. So I was then like, okay.

So I spent literally another week, of course, just like hardcore going into all my listings and then updating all of the glow ups and bangles and, and labeling them with a number. I've only got this question once where someone at Etsy was like, well, what does this like code in parentheses mean? And I'm like, Oh, just for us on our end, because basically when we print out the shipping and invoices, we need to see that code of what you purchased.

So in parentheses, when you see for a glow up, for example, GLO dash 33, that's for us because we need to know, you know, that's the way we're not going to mess up. And rather than a, just saying turquoise gold style one, and then honestly that has made it so much easier, even for me, like, even though I know my stuff really well, when you have, when I'm adding inventory, like crazy.

And I'm also scanning the front of the like little containers looking for turquoise, turquoise, turquoise. I'm like, there's more time than me just going from, from one to the, just finding 33 when they're numbered. So in the end, it was a blessing for me too, because again, it was like, all this is lessons learned of like, Part of it is like, you know, starting a new thing in your business or just starting in general and being like, okay, why?

Like, I just feel like setting up is always a hot mess. Like, how can I systemize this? You know what I mean? Like, how can I make this easier? How can I make this less dreadful? Right. Especially if there's things that we dread. Okay. So going back to things like packing and shipping. Okay. I also, when I first started the boutique business, that was back when like, Facebook, you know, groups were definitely more popular.

p back in like, I want to say: 2015

I thought what I wanted to do was put all my jewelry and everything I made on, My website. So I did that. I put on Etsy. I spent many, many hours taking pictures of everything and doing all the things and putting on my Shopify, my Etsy and all the things. And honestly, in the end, did not enjoy that. First of all, I did not like make to order.

I was like, okay, this is way too complicated for me to go from like, uh, you know, a gemstone hanging to a dried floral poke because I had, trust me, I had a ton of stuff that I handmade on there. The point is though, I've never loved packing and shipping. And I think I put that in my head to where I'm like, I just despise this.

I don't like this. I don't like this. Yeah. And so if you feel that way about something, whether it be, I'm, I want to keep going back to social media because I feel like so many people I hear either struggle with social media, do not like it, but this is the thing is like finding something and maybe trying to challenge that thought.

What about this? Can I enjoy? You know what I mean? How can I switch this around? So how can I make packing and shipping more fun? You know what I mean? Like this, it's such a lame thing to me, but I'm like, literally. So Jennifer, when she first started my employee, we literally, I'm not kidding. I fought.

Getting set up in my basement. Although my studio is basically in my basement. It looks pretty cool It's not like a dingy basement and my husband suggested me going in the basement with everything with you know All my supplies and it's like about packing and shipping thing and I'm like, no, no I'm like, it's too dark down there.

Like I don't like the lighting like it gets cold like no I'm just gonna do it up here. So literally what I would do I wish I could show you As I'm at my dining room table now, this is actually usually where I record my podcast, but I literally keep things in my TV console behind me. We do not have a large home by any means, right?

I stuff things everywhere. Okay. My husband's like, you could write off our whole house in our Texas for your business because literally like it's everywhere. So I would house things there. I've housed things on the, the basement steps, which are also right behind me. I would in my pantry, which is not far from me either, because it's kind of hidden as our pantry is kind of like hidden.

You can't see anyway. So I have all my jewelry. Things over there as well and have little like literally like a bench that I store things in. And so the process of packing and shipping, when she would come over, it was like taking out the label printer, plugging it in, taking out all the trays of connectors and all the bin of chain and all the like little compartments of the globes that we house stored in the basement, like the bangles and the glow ups of like these multiple containers of those.

Like, it was just a process to set up and so that's why I also dreaded it because especially if I want to just ship out something on my own and there's only two shipments to ship out and I'm home with my girls. It is such a process just to ship out those two items when I have to like take out everything and plug it in and like literally make my workspace.

How silly, right? So through doing it though, like through going full force and doing it with somebody, especially and like kind of bouncing ideas off of her and seeing like what works. I had for a while that it was made to order glow ups and bangles were just, you could endlessly purchase them. There was no inventory.

And I would just then tell the makers like, Hey, I need this. I need this. Right. But that was the first time. So stressful. I literally would get scared to look at orders because I was, I'm telling you, I take such, like, I get such satisfaction being able to ship something to you, like literally with like same day, if I can ship it to you, I'm get so excited, you know, because I know that's what I want.

And it just feels like this accomplishment. Anyway, with that way, it was also hard because say I ran out of something. And for some reason, as you know, sometimes suppliers, like things are just, there's shortages for things or something happens with shipping and you're shipping your shipments behind for two days.

And you can't, you're waiting for this wire from UPS to make bangles. Like it's just, it's very stressful. And so then I changed around all around the same time when I started operating with her and started doing this together. And I was like, okay, I'm getting frustrated. I'm always irritated. Like what needs to change?

These little things would pop up that I'm like, okay, after like the Maybe mix up with chain and how she thought it was a different chain. Like, okay, nope, we are labeling things. We are systemizing things up codes. You should not know what a gemstone, like what you don't have to know what a Sapphire it looks like.

You shouldn't have to know. You should be able to just look to see what that this number 34 is a Sapphire chain or something, right? There, there should be codes. And I think about this, I think about this in a way is like, if you systemizing things in a way That if you had to take a break or you were ready to hire an employee, how easy is it to train them?

Right? Like, how easy is it to like, because for me to have to train someone, teach them all about gemstones, what, like what thick versus thin bangle, a hammered versus smooth. Um, a style one verse style to a two millimeter verse three millimeter. If I have to explain all that to a new person, that's a lot to take in.

And that's a lot to expect of them to not have any error. There's going to be error in general. We're all humans, right? Even if there's codes, but what can lessen that? Right? Like, so I know now I feel confident in the system I have of these codes, the way things are laid out, that it wouldn't be such a process of me spending four days trying to train somebody and really nail in and send, send home like freaking postcards to study on a two millimeter versus three millimeter versus four versus Rondell versus round versus like.

I mean, there's a lot of things we have going on. We have stretchy bracelets. We have, you know, so there's a lot of inventory. It's not like it's just glow ups, right? There's a lot of different facets of the supplies. And we're, I know we'll keep growing as I just, of course, I'm like squirrel and just keep thinking of new ideas.

So then first was the coats, right? And then as I was doing that, I was like, you know what? I'm done with this process of bringing everything out and plugging things in. This is crazy. So now we're moving everything to the basement. Exactly what my husband suggested. And I just fought him for the beginning because I am stubborn and I did not think I needed it.

And now I'm like, do you know how much I love that shipping station downstairs? It is so cute. So I spent like three nights and I would just like kind of tell myself, okay, I'm going to spend like an hour and a half down here, either when I put the girls down or whatever, and just kind of clear things out.

I went to Walmart or I just cut a couple of different organization things I needed. It's beautiful. There's a long table, The label printer's plugged in. The printer's ready to go. Everything is within arm's reach. I turn around and there's globes behind me. Bangles are in front of me. I have all these bins where like little plastic bags for the free connectors and the, and the postcards and all the containers to put the stretchy bracelets in, the connectors, like the, everything is there.

It's amazing. And I have to say the codes, even though I feel like I need it for an employee or someone else, it's been so, so helpful. Helpful to me, like for me to actually package orders to is so much faster, like just seeing a code and being like, okay, and then even I, I labeled my ready to ship chains or chains.

It's like, okay, D S B is double single opal. W O is double single white opal. Like, okay, all I have to do rather than like search for the chain and find the correct opal. I look at the label. And I know it's that chain, you know what I mean? So there's no, it's less of human error because, you know, I mean, depending, you know how it is sometimes where you're just not a hundred percent or you're doing something and you're tired.

I mean, I can't tell you how many times when I would stamp jewelry and I would literally write, I would like spell a word wrong because I was so tired or I would, you know, I remember I made this custom necklace for my cousin who just had a baby and I did the birth date wrong because I was tired and I wasn't thinking and I was like, it's just like, you know what I mean?

So if you can make it as simple as possible, I say that in every way, honestly, even for your customer. That's why, you know, with pricing, all the things, but even for yourself, right? Like you don't want to have to spend unnecessary time having to figure something out that you can make easier. And, and like, and also just again, more room for error.

That has been huge. I have to say hiring. Sure. But having said that Jennifer comes and goes, it depends on like what I need, but I have to say, since setting up that system, getting caught up, setting it up to where I have an inventory, what globes I have, what bangles I have. There's no question. Everything is labeled.

Nothing is like, why don't I have this yet? It's ready to ship chain or pre order chain. Pre order chain takes one to three weeks, depending on workload, uh, ready to ship. We're, we're shipping it in one to three days along with globes are in stock. Bangles are in stock. There's no question. Okay. That has been a huge weight off my shoulders.

So with you too, like as something just kind of stressful, like what's the biggest stressor in your business, right? How can you either systemize it or outsource it setting aside times? Like I said, like, you know, that is what's helpful. Like literally putting it on your calendar. Like you were to go to a dentist appointment.

Okay. It's like social media. Make it an appointment. Make it an appointment with yourself where you sit down and you plan out your week because trust me, I'm, I'm telling you because I'm telling myself within the membership. That's something I've been talking about. I would love to create a content calendar and actually us have like a session where I post every Sunday and be like, Hey, this is my plan for the week of social, uh, What are your guys's plan and kind of create some accountability with that.

Because as I'm, I'm like really want to fulfill and help people what I see they are struggling with in their business and more and more, especially this past week of interviewing people for the podcast, I'm seeing more and more and hearing more and more people struggling with social media and I do too, I really do.

And really, it's not so much a lack of content. I have photos and video inside Goalie Link Society, which I use as well. Those are my photos and video essentially, other than my own personal, personal, obviously, which you obviously still need to take, but there are plenty of photo and video to use for content.

So I have no shortage of that, but it's literally just making the time. It's making the time to create the captions and just making it intentional. So when it comes to. Packing and shipping here. I hired someone so grateful to her because not through her, I learned. And what I had to do to create a system because I'm so close to it and know it so well, that's actually, if you have a question about that, like, and you're wondering if you do need to, or like maybe something you're like, I'm not sure, could you go ahead and like train someone super easily in doing what you do, or like, you know, is it easy to.

Like outsource, I mean, is it easy to like have them take over essentially? Right? Like, because I can confidently say that now, whereas two months ago and I, I don't know, my, my mind is a, I'm trying to think when exactly I hired her, but it was like definitely a little over two months ago, I believe so much has happened and we've just created.

And honestly, I have to say, because I created this system, And because I created this beautiful environment for me to pack and ship, which I was fighting with and did not think I would like it. I enjoy packing and shipping. And that is like the first time I've ever been able to say that on and off of selling online for over 10 years.

I really do enjoy it. Like I actually, I know when I talked to him earlier about not being a control freak, but I think because I'm enjoying it. And I am, I, I love that I can do it on my, um, obviously I end up waking up before my girls and that's kind of my packing and shipping time. I try to do it early in the morning or if I feeling crazy, I do it at night, but I am actually loving just like writing little notes in there and saying thank you and just knowing that everything's in there.

And like, I'm just, I'm finding a lot of satisfaction and feeling empowered by shipping. Isn't that crazy? That's such a weird thing to say, but I really do. Because I think when you fight something for so long, and you have it in your head that you hate it or you're not good at it, and then you actually, like, turn a corner and be like, Wow, this isn't as bad as I kept making it seem, you know?

And in the end, it wasn't pecking and shipping as a problem. It was my systems, and it was my mindset around it, and it was the fact that I should have made it in a way where I feel comfortable, and it was honestly even fun. So, I tend, I want to, you know, tack other things along those lines. When I can like certain things to outsource, like see pecking and shipping, it can be definitely one of those things I outsource outsource, not like full time in the future.

But I have to say certain things I know for sure. I don't want to touch it all right. Like Ashley, SEO, working on SEO, no interest. Do not want to do that. Time suck. No, thanks. Making, you know, kind of like. Editing my podcast, for example, I'm not going to try and learn that and how to edit things out and put in an intro.

No, I'm going to leave that to the experts, right? There are certain things that like, for sure, I am not going to spend my time. But then there's certain things where I'm like, okay, like I actually, cause social media for me, my business, and I'm sure you can feel the same is a reflection of me. Like my brand is me, you know what I'm saying?

So when I'm I do have help with social media with Kristen, who's been on the podcast and in the membership teaching about social. She does my photography video and social media. Granted having said that, like I make all the captions. She just helps with kind of creating some reels and some, you know, things like that.

But that is one thing I know that I. Need to still have, still be present for because I don't feel comfortable someone else talking about my business. Right? Like I don't feel comfortable with someone else making a caption. My stories are so personal. I show up there a lot. I talk, that's how I connect with my people.

I share my girls because they're obviously the biggest part of my life. And for me, because I know that, and I actually do, I do like the creative side of social media. I think when times I don't like it is because when I feel pressure or feel like, you know, I'm kind of, again, like falling to comparison or feeling bad about like, I should be doing better.

I should be getting more responses or something like that. But I have to always check myself and think, okay, no, it doesn't, that is not like my intention. Right. I always go back to intention, but it's so true. It's like, I, Just want to share what I feel people will find value in and share myself because I think that, you know, that's been a great way for meeting actually me meeting amazing people on social media.

I look at the bright side of social for sure. I mean, there are people that I would never, ever have met. I mean, this podcast alone, like everyone I've met probably And have talked to on this podcast is through social media, you know, so kind of really focusing on the good parts of things that you find that you don't love, but also to like, for me, that's why it's helpful to have someone bounce ideas off and have Kristen in the photos and video.

I have to say, I do have help with social because I have someone literally creating the content video and, and, and like photos. That is a part that I don't enjoy. That at the most, that is the part that I don't want to spend time and also capturing my brand. Like having a professional photo of chain versus my phone is still like a huge like difference for me.

Like I just feel like there's a different look, there's a different feel that I can only capture with professional photos and something that is really like an intentional photo. You know, not just something I'm just laying off my, my kitchen table and trying to take a photo of that for me, I'd rather outsource that part.

And then me have a voice and obviously creating the caption and having a say of what we're talking about because no one else can do it like me. In the end, these are things I think about what's difficult in your business right now. What do you not want to even learn about and care to know about that you, you know, needs to be done, but you'd rather outsource because you don't want to spend the time and the effort to learn, right?

Is it like creating a Google profile? That's very important. People find you on Google is something that you want to learn how to do. And, or is it something that you rather just find someone to be able to do for you? And again, it doesn't have to be any like crazy expensive professional. It could be someone who's just interested in knowing and someone who wants to build a portfolio, putting it out there in your Facebook groups, asking if anyone has experience or wants experience.

I mean, there was a couple of times my boutique, I reached out, there was photographers that would post on next door and be like, Hey, I'm just trying to grow a portfolio. Anyone out there have a business, or can I take family photos of you for literally just donation basis? Perfect. You know, I mean, there's someone out there, whether it be again, a family member, a neighbor, someone that maybe wants some experience that you could possibly outsource things to.

So there's always that. Fiverr and Upwork are a great place for, you know, even if you were looking for some graphics or something, you know, Canva and just trying to make some graphics for your pop ups and things like that. That there's a lot of sources out there that aren't too expensive. And if canva's not your jam and you really want some cool graphics and you know you need to make some, but you don't wanna spend, like for you, it takes you two hours to make something that looks decent, then you know, not a bad idea to spend $10 and have someone make it for you.

Right? So, yeah, I hope this is a help. Um, it's just like, I've been meaning to make this episode for a while because I feel like it's a good thing. Um, and I think it's really important to always, because as you grow, more things are going to like, obviously be happening in your business. And as you grow to, like, are you being bombarded with people wanting you at their events and you just can't be there.

So that's another like, and going back to Angelique, she'll talk about that in our podcast episode, or if it's already out, I'm not sure exactly the order this is going to go into, but that's why she ended up hiring. Because also too, it's like playing into the freedom and you're to that point where you're like, maybe you don't want to like have every weekend, but Being soaked up with doing permanent jewelry and things are coming up for you and knowing that, say you get sick, there's someone else you can rely on and all these things to consider as you grow your business.

So, and think about those things that you do not enjoy and how can you make them enjoyable? Like my packing and shipping. Oh, can you make it something I honestly am not can tell you how many times like I even my friend that I was saying that owns a boutique, she has this amazing, very successful online boutique and I'd love to have her actually back on the podcast.

had a short lived podcast in: 2020

Like, I just don't know why it drives me crazy. And so sure enough, but here I am. I don't know. Like I'm loving it. And so I hope that if you're saying like, I hate social media, I wonder, I mean, I'm hoping that you will find out what you don't like about it and try it and just make it fun. You know what I mean?

Try and find a way. To make it enjoyable. And also too, I think the last thing I'll say about all this is that one of the things I'm not great about in my own business is numbers. Like I don't enjoy that part. I'm like, I'm more the creative if you can't tell, but I feel like I've really become empowered with knowing more of my numbers.

Even if that comes to knowing my numbers on social media, for example, like what's working, like what's not, and really knowing the stats of things, but really when it comes down to like. You know, obviously tax time, which we will talk about, you know, very soon. I'm not a fan, you know what I mean? But the more I learned about it, and I actually met a new accountant recently who I am loving.

And that's also too, like, if for this is also a good lesson because I had this accountant I worked with until she retired recently, and she was the one who really helped me with my taxes. In my business up till now. And I realized, although it was nothing terrible, you know, but she didn't describe things in a way that it felt like I understood or felt empowered by it.

You know, so once I met with my new accountant, I'm like, God, like this actually feels empowering, like, and actually facing these things that I was uncomfortable with made it so much easier for me to go forward and do it and not be like, I'm going to put this off. I'm gonna put this off and put this off.

Because most likely things we're putting off is things we don't enjoy or things we're fearful of, right? And it could be the dumbest things. When I say fear, it doesn't mean like something insane. It could just be something so little. Like when I, and this isn't a little, I wouldn't say, but like for me, when I was really behind in orders and I have all these emails.

Do you know how scared I was to look at the emails because I knew I'd be disappointing people and being like, nope, sorry, it didn't ship yet. We're working on it. We'll be hopefully ship next week. Hopefully ship next week. Like trying our hardest over here. And having said that, like it's, that's just want to know, let you know, that's not really happening anymore.

Because again, I said, everything's like ready to ship other than the chain. And, but even now I'm dealing with unexpected halt on my opals. Okay. I'm waiting for a huge opal order. I'm so excited about it, guys. I can't wait to show you these new opals. I have new shapes. I'm so excited about it. I'm working with somebody who's literally custom making them for me.

Supposed to be three weeks to get them. It's turning into five or six weeks. Okay. And that's hard because here I promised even, you know, a chain to somebody. I'm like, okay, if you weren't willing to wait for these, it'll be about three weeks. That is not my fault. I don't know. I have to wait for these opals and it's driving me crazy.

But like, you know, of course things are like that are going to happen. Okay. But having said that, like, it's not what it was. Okay. So like, was I procrastinating on emails? Bye. Yes, because I was so fearful to look at an email that I had to respond to in a way that I don't want to respond to. Did I literally slack on my taxes for a very long time and getting my numbers together and filing late and doing it the very last second I could have possibly done it?

Yes, because I didn't want to face doing it and I was just seriously so, I was just dreading it. Like I did not want to face it and didn't know what to expect. But after speaking with a new accountant and actually like literally forcing myself to just like, do it. Afterwards, I'm like, that wasn't that bad.

You know what I mean? And now it's almost like, I don't want to say fun, but it is empowering to know my numbers and to actually be very intentional in the future about like, you know, that's also like, there's power in knowing that stuff. Like even your social media and you get going and you can kind of look at your numbers of what things, what things are performing.

That's powerful. Like it's empowering to know kind of what's working, what's not. What's not. And that way, because also too, when you approach things and you're kind of like head in the clouds and there's no like literally a plan or like some kind of direction. Like if you literally, it's like trying to, you know, drive to Texas and not, not have a map.

You know what I mean? If you have no direction, you're going to be going in circles or who knows where you're going to end up in like New York, right? Like you don't know. So it's the same thing. It's like, that's why I think like, obviously it's more enjoyable if you know exactly what roads you're on to get to Texas.

Okay. Do you know how stressful it would be? Just get in your car and say, I'm going to drive to Texas. Although I have no idea how to get there. It's kind of like the same thing, right? Like, you know, when you're just like, Throwing things up there on social. It's like, you know, if you, if you have more of a plan and more intention and like kind of know what's working and what you want to say, I think that might be the issue more or less than people being like, I don't like social.

It's like, well, okay, let's pinpoint exactly why, but also what's your intention behind it? Like, let's talk about that. Let's talk about direction. Let's talk about clarity. And like, that is huge. That's literally almost like it's a necessity. I should say it's literally not even huge. It's a necessity. It's clarity.

And when you have that little breakthrough, you know, it's so amazing. Even my ship packing and shipping breakthrough. So amazing. Feels amazing. Feels like I can talk about products. Cause honestly, there was a point where I'm like, I don't even want to talk about my products on like, you know, permanent jewelry groups and stuff.

Like, I don't really want to market it too much because I don't know how fast I can get these orders. I'm scared of what I get in. And then I have to like produce them and make sure the makers are making them and have this person be making this, this person making this. And they're like, it was just way too much to It's like now I'm to a point where it's like, okay, I had to tweak it and make it enjoyable, make it so I'm not fearful.

And now I'm excited. And now I'm ready to just like, keep going and, you know, talk about it and excited about all the improvements we have made. So it's a time for you to outsource time for you to systemize all great things. To consider and having said that with hiring, it's not always, no matter who you are, you're not always going to get the perfect person the first time or even the second time.

And there's going to be people. But what I have to say about that is going back to clarity is having a, I'm a big fan of going with your gut, but also it's like having that really. a very clear vision of what that position is for somebody, exactly what they're going to be doing, exactly what you expect of them.

Expectations is huge. All the things that we are like, get disappointed with are most likely unmet expectations. So it's like having clear communication, setting out expectations from the beginning. Yeah. And as long as they know what to expect, And then as long as that there is a clear communication there and they know what to expect from you, you know what to expect or what you're expecting from them.

hiring, whether or not it's a: 1099

So, okay guys. Have a great day. Bye. Well, how do you feel? I hope you found value in today's episode and you walk away feeling inspired. I would love to hear from you. Let's link up. You can find me on Instagram at GoldieLinkSociety. You can find out more about our permanent jewelry membership at GoldieLinkSociety.

com Our handmade permanent jewelry supplies of connectors, chain, and more at GoldieLinkSupplies. com Okay, I will see you next time. Have a golden day.