One of my most difficult challenges so far as an entrepreneur has been building a reliable team that can help me grow and scale my business.
As a small business owner who wants to grow and scale, you learn very quickly that you can’t do it alone. At first, you may think you can do it all—or maybe even want to—because the idea of relying on other people doesn’t feel great. We don’t like asking for help. We hate the feeling of depending on someone else.
But at some point, every business owner realizes that to grow, you need help.
You Can’t Scale Alone—Even If You Want To
Sure, some online, service-based businesses have scaled into the millions, but even they eventually needed a team. As your business grows, the demands grow with it. You literally cannot do everything yourself—and when you try, it leads to burnout, stress, exhaustion, and even resentment toward your own business.
Sometimes, that stress pushes business owners to give up completely. The emotional, physical, and mental load becomes too heavy when there’s no team to share it with.
Knowing You Need a Team Doesn’t Make It Easier
Here’s the reality: knowing you need a team doesn’t make the process of building one any easier.
In my experience, the challenges of building a team are constant, draining, and frustrating. You spend time and energy interviewing, training, coaching, and pouring into people—only to have them no-show, quit unexpectedly, or underperform.
It’s discouraging. It feels like you’re investing in people who don’t invest back. That’s been my biggest struggle as a small business owner.
I Run a Service-Based Business—And I Can’t Do It Alone
My business requires advanced planning, excellent customer service, precise timing, and organized event execution. The flow of the event matters. The experience matters.
But finding people with the right attitude and skill set is wearing me thin.
I’ve had candidates schedule interviews and not show up—wasting my time. I’ve had candidates join video interviews lying in bed. I’ve hired team members who seemed excited at first but lost interest quickly. I’ve had staff show up late or call out the morning of the event. One staff member got sick (which I completely understood), but another just… didn’t care.
I’ve prioritized people in the schedule, hoping they’d rise to the occasion—only to be disappointed.
And Then There’s the Lack of Accountability
We had an event phone go missing, and no one on the team cared. Our driver damaged the wheel of the bus, shrugged, and said he didn’t know how it happened. No sense of urgency. No responsibility.
I try to be a kind, open, easygoing leader. But when people repeatedly don’t follow instructions, I end up feeling like a micromanager. It’s not the kind of leader I want to be—but it feels like the only way to maintain standards.
And just when you find someone semi-decent? Life happens. They move, they leave, or they simply vanish. It’s an emotional rollercoaster.
From Six Team Members to One
Right now, I’ve gone from a team of six (some reliable, some not) to one unreliable person. Yes, it’s summer and things slow down a bit—but this is no way to run a business.
Still, as bad as that sounds, it’s better than the stress of executing an event and wondering if the staff will show up or follow through.
I Can’t Step Away from My Business—Even When I Want To
This issue has consumed so much of my time and energy that I can’t step away from event execution at all. I physically have to be there to make sure everything goes according to plan. And I hate that.
I want to build a team that can confidently run events without me. I want to trust that things will go smoothly even if I’m not there.
But every time I’ve tried, something has gone wrong.
One time, our event phone went missing. Another time, a host raised her voice at a group of five-year-olds. The mom was understandably upset, and I spent the next day doing damage control.
The Emotional Toll of Managing People
Managing people—especially when you’re trying to get them to deliver a specific customer experience—is hard. It’s emotionally exhausting.
Even writing this post is bringing up flashbacks of the frustrations I’ve experienced trying to build a strong, reliable team.
The Goldman Sachs Wake-Up Call
When I was part of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program, our final project was to outline a growth plan. For me, that meant expanding into a new market with a second spa bus.
As I built the plan, outlined capital needs, and projected profits, I knew deep down: there’s no way I can execute any of this until I streamline my current operations and master the challenges of building a team.
Final Thoughts: Why This Matters
If you’re a small business owner struggling with the challenges of building a team—you’re not alone.
It’s one of the most difficult (and rarely talked about) parts of entrepreneurship. But we have to talk about it. Because the growth of our business—and the health of our mindset—depends on it.
If you’re on this journey too, I see you. And I’m rooting for both of us to figure it out.
Toolbox for Building a Better Team
If you’re navigating the challenges of building a team, here are some tools I personally use and recommend to lighten the load:
- Fiverr – for hiring freelancers who support your vision
- Bookeo – to streamline bookings and free up your mental space
- Metricool – Automate and analyze your social media and content performance across platforms
- Tailor Brands – for handling the essentials like forming your LLC, creating a professional logo, and building a brand you can be proud of without doing it all yourself
- Virtual Business Address – for separating your business life from personal
