4 Business Systems and Processes to Build Before You Hire (or You'll Regret It)
"If your backend is a mess, no hire can save you." - Tricia Harrison
You don't need another contractor, you need a business that runs without you babysitting every task. Before you add anyone to your team, get your house in order. Otherwise, you're just inviting chaos into chaos.
The Truth About Scaling Your Coaching Business
Hiring a VA (Virtual Assistant) or OBM (Online Business Manager) won't fix what you haven't built. Let's get real. Most founders think hiring is the solution, but the real problem is deeper: no SOPs, no delegation structure, no workflows. A VA can't organize what doesn't exist. If you want your next hire to stick, you need foundational business systems and processes that make onboarding and delegation smooth. As you scale toward that $500K milestone, the cracks in your foundation become canyons. What worked at $100K—improvising and keeping everything in your head—will actively sabotage your growth beyond that point. Let's break down the four non-negotiable business systems and processes you need before bringing anyone onto your team.
1. Your Task + Time Inventory System
Why it matters: You can't delegate what you haven't defined. Most women coaches come to me saying, "I need help with everything!" But "everything" isn't a job description, it's a cry for help. Without clarity on exactly what tasks fill your days, you'll hire based on feelings rather than function. This initial step in defining your business systems and processes is crucial.
What to set up:
Weekly CEO audits: Spend 30 minutes documenting every recurring task that crosses your desk. What patterns emerge?
Categorized task database: Sort everything into buckets—admin, delivery, marketing, sales, finance. This reveals which role you actually need to hire for within your business systems and processes.
Visual time blocks: Create a spreadsheet showing which tasks consume your time and energy, then mark what only you can do versus what someone else could handle within your defined business systems and processes.
Overwhelm doesn't come from too many tasks, it comes from doing the wrong ones. When you see your workload categorized within your business systems and processes, patterns emerge. Maybe you don't need a general VA, you need a content manager because that's where 70% of your time goes. One client discovered she was spending 12 hours weekly on podcast production tasks that a specialist could do in 4 hours. That's 8 hours back in her calendar after making just one systematic hire within her established business systems and processes.
2. Your SOP Library (Start With Just 5)
Why it matters: No SOPs = your team constantly asks you what to do. Nothing will drain your energy faster than a new hire who needs to ask you how to do every little thing. Without documented business systems and processes in the form of SOPs, you're not delegating, you're just creating another person to manage.
What to include:
Doc-based steps for repeat tasks: Start with just your top 5 most frequent business systems and processes. Record yourself doing them once, then transcribe the steps.
Organize by category: Group SOPs logically—client onboarding, content publishing, customer support, etc., within your business systems and processes.
Store consistently: Whether it's Google Drive, Notion, or ClickUp it doesn't matter. What matters is having a single source of truth for your business systems and processes.
Your brain is not a system. Document it or stay stuck being the bottleneck in your business. Every process that lives only in your head is a process that keeps you chained to daily operations.
3. Your Offer Delivery System
Why it matters: If your signature offer isn't streamlined within your business systems and processes, your hire can't support it. Your coaching program is the core of your business. If delivering it still requires your constant attention for every detail, no VA on earth can help you scale it within your current business systems and processes.
What to clarify:
Client journey mapping: Document every step from purchase → welcome → delivery → completion within your business systems and processes.
Tech stack integration: List exactly which tools connect to what (Dubsado, Stripe, Zoom, email, etc.) and how data flows between them within your business.
Team checkpoints: Define when you personally need to step in versus when your team can handle delivery independently within your established business systems and processes.
Hiring doesn't remove chaos, it exposes it within your business systems and processes. Clean up your delivery flow first. The most expensive mistake I see is coaches hiring before their signature offer is systematized within their business systems and processes, then wondering why their VA can't "figure it out."
4. Your Communication & Project Hub
Why it matters: Disorganized communication = dropped balls and micromanagement within your business. Nothing kills team productivity faster than scattered communication. When instructions live across email, Slack, text messages, and voice notes, things inevitably fall through the cracks, and you end up checking on everything within your disorganized business systems and processes.
What to establish:
One project management hub: Choose ONE tool (Asana, ClickUp, etc.) where all tasks live, no exceptions.
Clear inbox protocol: Define exactly how email gets processed, by whom, and when within your business.
Weekly rhythm: Establish one strategic check-in with predictable agenda items to eliminate constant back-and-forth within your business systems and processes.
Your team doesn't need more meetings. They need clarity and structure within your business systems and processes. The most successful coach-CEO clients I have spend less than 2 hours weekly managing their teams because their business systems and processes handle the communication for them.
The Foundational Mindset Shift That Changes Everything
You're not just hiring help, you're building a business system. This is the mindset gap between coaches who struggle at $250K and those who sail past $500K. The strugglers hire people; the scalers build business systems and processes first, then plug people into them. A business that scales isn't built on hustle. It's built on business systems and processes that allow other people to execute without you hovering. Start building those systems and processes now, even if you're still a team of one. The best part? These business systems and processes don't take months to build. With focused attention, you can create the foundation in a single power weekend.
Your Next Step: Stop DIY-ing Your Business Systems and Processes
Before you hire, prep your business like a CEO. Get the VA Hiring Prep Bundle to organize your tasks, define what you need, and set up a smart hiring system that actually works, built upon solid business systems and processes.
Don't hire another VA who won't work out. Build business systems and processes that set both of you up for success.
👉🏽 Download the VA Hiring Prep Bundle now and make your next hire your best one, supported by strong business systems and processes.
