Joining us today on Bella in Your Business is Katie Westerfield of Homeward Bound Pet Care out of Historic Centerville, Ohio. She is an entrepreneur (and mompreneur) in the Pet Industry. She is well versed in juggling life and business ownership as a mother of four and wife. In this episode, Bella and Katie discuss the struggles she has faced and how she became a success while managing to raise a family and be a superstar mother! Biggest Takeaways You Don’t Want To Miss: The moment you realize you need a staff is when you are turning clients down. They will always find someone who will be able to fit their needs if you can’t. That is when you need to grow to a point where you can hire someone to fill in the gaps. Knowing how to hire and retain staff is key to success. You need to fully invest in them as a person, support them individually and in the workplace. Motivate them to do the job, coach them instead of harping or nagging. You want them to feel like they can come to you. You don’t want to always be a slave to your phone, but you don’t want to miss clients and hurt business. That’s why you need a reliable management team to pass along some of the responsibilities. Being open to change is important to growth. It’s a privilege to be able to have a staff and it can be scary to grow, but it is extremely important. A staff is not a burden, but a great asset to your business. Your business will never grow unless you can delegate your workload. Don't forget to separate your emotions from your business. You have to know when to move on from things that aren’t working, regardless of how much time you’ve spent on it. Always keep in mind where you want to go and continue to move towards it. Do not lose your positive mindset no matter setbacks or naysayers, just go for it. If you fully believe you will succeed, you will. You want to have options, you don’t want to have all your eggs in one basket. That’s why you need to have more than one person that you rely on to help out. You could have one bad egg hold your business hostage. You may have to fire someone who is not a good fit, or you may have a worker or their child may fall ill. That’s why you need to have more than one option. You never want to have your hands tied in a situation because a staff member didn't work out or is unavailable. Show your staff you appreciate them. It’s easy, a simple text message if you know they are upset. A little gift for special occasions like wedding anniversaries, their kid's events, or birthdays. You need to be able to separate a barrier between staff and friendship, but still, let them know your door is open and you are there for them. Knowing that someone cares goes a long way in helping them succeed. Show Highlights: The benefits and drawbacks of running a business from home with children [4:45] Struggles of hiring and retaining staff [7:20] Delegating your responsibilities to your staff [8:40] Being open to change [14:30] How mindset plays a big role in growth [17:30] The business success and the importance of having a staff [20:00] Ideas to reward your staff and show them that you care [22:30] Tweetables: [Tweet ""If something is not working in your company rewrite what you’re doing, change your process.""] [Tweet ""It feels great to be able to extract money from the economy and insert it to these awesome people that work for you.""] [Tweet "“You have to constantly keep looking forward.”"] [Tweet "“Everyone controls that mindset. If you think you can’t, you won’t. If you think you can, you will.”"] Links: Get to know Katie and the Homeward Bound Pet Care team! Find them on the web at HWBPetCare.com Follow Homeward Bound Pet Care on Facebook Share The Show: Did you enjoy the show? We would love it if you subscribed today and left us a 5-star review! Click this link – Bella In Your Business Click on the ‘Subscribe’ button below the artwork