Being “too busy” is a problem most advisors would like to have. But if your book has grown to a point where you’re unable to give all your clients the attention they deserve, it could be time to get additional help.

Your practice might have grown steadily and then plateaued at a certain point, suggests Catherine Nomura, director of business development at Toronto-based Strategic Coach. “You reach a level in your business where you’re limited by the amount of time you have and the amount of energy you have,” she says.

But how will you know when hiring additional staff is the right move?

> Watch for the signs you need help

If you’re spending a lot of time on administrative tasks that don’t require your skills as an advisor, then you should really consider hiring someone, says Nomura. An assistant would enable you to spend time on activities that “generate the biggest results in your business,” she says.

Is your job still fun? If it’s not, that could be a sign your workload is too big.

“When you feel that the business is running you instead of the other way around,” says George Hartman, CEO of Market Logics Inc. in Toronto, “it may be time to consider hiring someone.”

Perhaps reaching new markets is the key to growing your business. If that’s the case, Hartman says, “you might have to start looking for someone who has the required technical knowledge and access to that market.”

> Make a list

Before you start recruiting, you must identify the tasks you would need the new employee to perform.

“The first step is to determine what’s really going on in the business,” says Hartman. “Track your time and then analyze it.”

Monitor all business activities for two to four weeks. Once you have determined all the responsibilities in your practice, choose those activities you will handle, Nomura says. “Make a list and circle the things that really require your particular expertise,” she says, “things that you actually enjoy doing and that you feel generate good results.”

> Delegate, outsource or hire

For everything else on the list, you need to figure out whether it’s best to delegate to a current team member, hire someone new or outsource. Many advisors, particularly sole practitioners, waste time on tasks such as accounting or bookkeeping, according to Hartman. By delegating or outsourcing these tasks you can focus on those high-value activities that make the best use of your skills — meeting key clients and prospects, he says.

An easy way to decide whether hiring someone is appropriate is to look at the numbers. Figure out how much revenue you would generate if you focused on three high-value tasks and nothing else, says Nomura. Once you have that number, compare it to the cost of an assistant. Now you can easily identify the return on investment.

Whether you hire a junior advisor or an assistant, make sure the recruit is enthusiastic, Nomura says: “You want to find a person who’s actually going to love doing that work.”

IE