6 Signs You are Ready to Hire an OBM

6 Signs You are Ready to Hire an OBM

Over the last few posts, I have shared with you what OBM’s are and how they can help your adventure business. Now I think it’s a good time to share the 6 signs you’re ready to hire an OBM. 

Not everyone’s business is ready for or even needs an OBM. Some businesses will still need a traditional, in the flesh, full-time manager. Other businesses just don’t have the stability to justify the expense of OBM support. In this post, I’ll walk you through my screening process which is your criteria to check off before you even start considering hiring an OBM.   

The 6 Signs You’re Ready to Hire an OBM

There are six easy ways to determine if you’re ready to hire an OBM; 

  1. Your business operates on a proven model and is able to make consistent sales
  2. This means you have a steady income 
  3. You’ve outlined a clear vision and defined goals for the business
  4. You are ready to let go and share the responsibility of running the business
  5. This means you understand the CEO role and are ready to focus on that
  6. You are ready to invest in growing the business

The role of an OBM is to help grow an existing business. This inherently means the business must be operating on a sales model that provides a steady income. Steady income means at least a 6-figure annual income of at least $15,000 per month. Now, if you average this throughout the year, but have an ‘off-season’, maintaining cash reserves can still count towards this ‘steady income’ criteria. 

As an OBM, my role is to help you bring your vision to life. This means you need to bring the vision and passion. Then I bring the tactical tools and methods to implement. The goal is for us to team up and work together to ‘drive the bus’ towards your envisioned destination. 

Now, since we will be ‘driving the bus’ together, this means you should be prepared mentally and emotionally to let go of the ‘doing’. Letting go isn’t something that will happen all at once, and the OBM isn’t here to ‘take over’ your business. Bringing an OBM into your world is a journey. This is why you’ll see me refer to myself as a ‘guide’ in some of my marketing. I am your guide on this business adventure you’re on. I will work hard to earn your trust, so you feel confident to let me help you, let go. 

Letting go over time will allow you to shift into being the CEO of your business. You do need to be tuned into a few key areas of the business. You are still very much responsible for strategic decisions, but the day-to-day tasks will be managed by an OBM. This repositioning of your role should also mean you’re ready to invest in growing the business. Perhaps even considering new ways of operating to hit your business goals. This is a short term investment for long term success. 

When do you know your 100% ready? 

Well, this will be different for everyone. If you meet the 6 signs above then you may be ready to hire an OBM. But I want you to take this one step further – why do you want to hire an OBM? Get really clear on this why and bring this reason to your Discovery Call

If you’re still not sure if you’re ready, that’s ok. You are always welcome to jump on a Discovery Call and we can explore your situation together. 

So, you’re ready to hire an OBM, what now?

Well, the flow typically looks like this; 

  1. We have a Discovery Call where we talk about your business, your why for considering to hire an OBM, and you get to ask any questions you may still have about how we would work together. 
  2. Next, we decide what capacity to work together in – project (fixed length and price) or retainer (recurring hours at an hourly or incentive-based rate). It can be nice for both parties to start off with a 1-3 month project to see how we work together. 
  3. The OBM sends a proposal, invoice and agreement for you to review and sign, should you decide to go ahead. If more discussion is needed, we can always jump on another call and review the project, pricing, payment plan etc. until we come up with something that works for both parties. 
  4. Once the agreement is signed, onboarding begins. Onboarding is the process of getting the OBM into you business (which we guide you through!) and then we get down to business! 

Are you ready to level up?

It can be a very exciting time taking the step forward and bringing an OBM onto your team. By doing this, you’re saying ‘I’m ready to be the CEO of my business’ and elevate your role accordingly. If that sentence makes you ‘nerv-cited’, then I think you’re ready! 

If you’re reading this post and are seeing that you’re not ready, hopefully, this will give you some clarity about what you need to do to get ready. And that doesn’t mean you can’t get help! Most OBM’s offer smaller services like Planning Sessions where you can spend 2 hours with them instead of investing in months of their time. These smaller sessions can be a stepping stone towards getting the help you need based on where your business is at now. They also give you a taste of what it is like to work with an OBM so you can decide if this is the right person to add to your team in the future. 

Join the Conversation

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