Ep 50: Implementing a Simple Remote HR System with Tom Libelt

Tom Libelt is the founder of Smart Brand Marketing.  His entrepreneurial journey went through the marketing world from SEO to publishing thousands of Kindle books and he finally landed onto creating online courses that sell.

Remotrepreneur’s Insights

• Figure out What you Want to Do – There are different types of business. That’s why before you start a remote business, you need to find a direction and what you’re going to do.
• Develop a System – Create a manual or a list of instructions that will help new upcoming employees through the onboarding pipeline without your help.
• Let Your Team Build the Company’s Culture – Give your team members a voice in saying how things can run in the business. That way they create their own rules that they need to follow instead of your rules.

Key Podcast Milestones

03:43 – Tom’s early hustling years

08:11 – Is socialism coming to the US?

21:30 – What are the first steps towards building a remote business and team?

33:47 – How to remove yourself from fulfillment?

43:33 – Golden nuggets of HR

47:07 – How long is Tom’s hiring process

48:20 – Rewards for remote employees

56:19 – How does Tom calculate expenses and profits

Top Key Quotes

“The first thing you need to do is what kind of a business you want to run. That’s the main thing because you can run all types of businesses. You can have an online information business, you can have a service business or just a coaching business. There are a lot of different things you can do. As a business owner, you have to figure out what it is that you’re going to do.”

“I always think about the McDonald's model. If you go to McDonalds, they have systems set up in such a way where they can take any idiot off the street, show them the system and let them do the task. That’s beautiful and that’s the best thing you can hope for.”

“Now with every employee, what do you do? Let’s get you into the system. If you’re a graphic designer, I want all the templates, Photoshop files so that I can just bring someone in and continue to work if you’re not necessary. Remote work takes the power away from the employee.”

“You bring the new employee in fresh from the street. The first one is going to be the worst. You only want to do this with the new person because the old one is going to push back. If you have someone currently they are going to push hard. The way we fulfill is usually similar. If you have custom fulfillment you’re going to be screwed a lot. You need to productize as much as possible. Each one can be fairly productized. As you go through the operations, their job is to fold. One is to actually do the fulfillment, which initially you’re going to teach them. Their second job is taking everything you’re teaching them write it down in a system process. Essentially, you have steps to fulfillment.”

“The second thing I’ve had done is I had the team create the rules of the company, themselves without me. They define the culture of the company. What kind of company are we going to be based on how they were interacting? The type of things we are not going to tolerate, etc.”

Resources

Socials

Tom Libelt

Remotepreneurs

Books

Work the System: The Simple Mechanics of Making More and Working Less – Sam Carpenter

Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success – Phil Jackson

Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable – Tim Grover

Laws of Success by Napoleon Hill