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As small business owners, especially those who work mainly alone with clients (Affiliate Link) or provide products to customers, we may think we do not have a small business team. We may feel like we work alone daily, not relying on anyone else. However, I am here to tell you that you are not! Today, I am going to talk about making sure you understand that you do have a team. You have a team that works with you whether you pay for services. Let’s figure out who your team is and help you understand that you are not alone when going through different issues.
Why should you know who is on your small business team?
Small business owners like to do it all themselves. But sometimes, it is not necessary. When a business grows, we have the luxury of delegating things that we are not good at or need more help with. We may also want to make a run for other tasks, so we delegate things that take up the most time but do not need to be done by us.
Some benefits of knowing your specific team are:
- You know where to go when you need something.
- Each person knows their purpose and what to do.
- Peace of mind when needing help with issues.
- When growing the business, these people will help you move forward faster.
- It lets you stay focused on your tasks because you are confident that others will do them.
Who could be on your small business team?
A small business team can include various people. I will list most of them, including some you may not have considered.
Unpaid team members:
These team members could help you start your business by taking on tasks you usually do. They could be someone who enables you to hash out solutions to problems. They could help spread the word about your business online or in person.
These people could be:
- Parents
- Children
- Friends
- Extended family
- Colleagues (Affiliate Link)
- Partner or Spouse
- Neighbor
- Roommate
To determine if they are a team member, decide if they consistently help you spread the word or support you. You may not want to add them to your team if inconsistent.
Paid team members:
These team members are people who support you, and you pay for their services. These members could be people who have the same vision as you. Or, maybe they are people who you hire. These people help with particular tasks or can help with random tasks in your business.
Below are the people who may be paid team members:
- Salespersons
- Marketing Manager – social media manager – online presence manager
- Consultant
- An accountability coach like me!
- Bookkeeper
- Accountant
- Office Manager
- Web Developer
- Graphic Designer
- Product Manager
- WordPress Plugin Customer Service Team Members
- Lawyer
- Insurance Agent
- Product Suppliers
- Bank Managers
- Tax agencies
How to create the best team for your business?
Now that you know the team members, you must figure out how to bring these fantastic supporters together to create a successful business. It is essential to group these people according to your specific needs. Below are just some of the teams you may want to make. These teams could be subdivided into other teams within the entire small business team.
Technology Team: These people will support you if you have issues with tech.
Brainstorming / Logistics Team: These people will support you during growth.
Marketing/Sales Team: These people will help you with going to market and brand awareness.
Moral Support Team: These are people with whom you can discuss your issues and successes and who will help you continue to move forward.
Money Team: These people help you complete the daily, monthly, quarterly, and yearly tasks.
To create a visual version of your small business team, use an app like Microsoft PowerPoint. You can create a hierarchy graphic that spells out which person or team is responsible for which task. Even if your team members are not employees, this will help you determine who to contact when you need help.
Effective communication with these teams is essential to optimal team collaboration. Be sure they know they are part of your small business team. Visit my posts about creating effective meetings.
How to Have an Effective Small Business Meeting
Having an Effective Small Business Meeting is key to a successful business. Meetings should not be long and unproductive. This post shares tips to make them worth having.
How to Have a Small Business Effective Brainstorming Session
Small business owners want their businesses to grow and generate new ideas to make them more streamlined and profitable. Who better to communicate with to determine these ideas than colleagues and employees/staff? My recent post discussed several effective small business meeting tips, in which I briefly discussed brainstorming sessions. Today, I will dig a little
Tips to work with your team
Now that you have your team established, below are some tips on working with your team.
Make sure that your communication direction is well thought out. Will you speak with them via email, Zoom, or in person? What are their hours of operation? Do they have times you can not contact them?
Decide on a goal you share with your team. Since they may not understand your goal, discussing it in person or via email is essential.
Keep in touch with your people so they know you are still using them. When they communicate with you, be sure to reply or respond. The worst thing can happen if your team doesn’t feel respected or appreciated.
I hope this post helps you create your small business team. If you need help determining your goals or need accountability support to keep you on track, please check out my Virtual Consultation Services.
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Delegating is hard. You’re right. It takes practice and patience with others and yourself. As far as my team I had a bookkeeper cleanup and setup my systems 2years ago and have been able to maintain it after that. It’s been nice. I used to be so overwhelmed trying to keep up. ai learned from that experience how valuable it is to let others help you.
This post prompts a great re-think of the way I run my business. When I started, I had (unpaid) friends who served as my advisory board. None had run their own businesses , but they were high enough in the hierarchies where they worked (whereas I’d come from a profession with a fairly flat hierarchy) that they were able to give me valuable perspective. They helped with naming my company, getting my URL, etc. But once my business was on the upswing, I no longer sought help.
I am always inclined to try to go it alone. Part of that is because I’m extremely frugal; I hire only when I absolutely can’t figure something out on my own but desperately can’t function without assistance, even though I know I’m often spending (the value of) more time than it would cost to hire someone.
Yes, I need to work on that. But it’s not just financial reasons that hold me back. I find dealing with most customer service (such as with my domain host and WordPress support team) so frustrating that I would almost always rather Google a solution than try to call. (It’s like dealing with a mechanic; you have to have so much trust that someone else is dealing honestly and is right, and I seem to lack that trust gene!) I do my own bookkeeping and taxes, I haven’t brought my marketing/web design into modernity, and when I pay for services, it tends to be of the corporate variety (Zoom, Dropbox) and not the human kind.
I do seek out my circle of friends for technological questions and have accountability partners and a mastermind group for seeking perspective and emotional support, but because I don’t have children, extended family, partners, roommates, or neighbors, it still “feels” like my options are pay someone or just NOT do what I’d like to have done, and too often I pick the latter option.
This post really offers some great perspective!
Even though I’m a solopreneur, I have a team of people who help. The team has varied depending on the business stage or projects I’m working on.
For example, when I wrote and published my book, I assembled a specific book team, including a book coach, book designer, cover designer, editor, and marketing person. The book team included many others, such as family, friends, and colleagues who read drafts, cheered me on, and helped spread the word.
When I started offering virtual workshops, I enlisted help for brainstorming, planning, and tech support.
I also have an accountant and a web designer/website “fixer.” I’ve also hired accountability partners, marketing experts, and many other people to help.
As Diane says, “It takes a village.”
I love this post. I think most small business owners start out doing it all, but much realize when they’ve reached the point that they need to delegate. When it was my time I thought about what I hated doing or wasn’t good at doing and I found people to take over those tasks.
Also, for years, my Emotional Support team was a mastermind group. We talked about everything business and personal and supported each other at whatever point we were at at the time. The best!
Like Seana, I realized that I have more members on my team than I had thought. I have an accountant, a webmaster, a business coach, a graphics designer, and colleagues who support my efforts.
It does take a village!
It’s funny, since I am a solopreneur, when I read the title I initially thought, “me!”
But then as I read your post, I realized I do have others on my team.
I have an accountant, a website designer, and a graphic designer. I also have volunteers who edit my blog posts and help with investing.
Lastly, I have connections with other businesses who provide complimentary services to my own.
So I guess I have a bigger team than I realized – which is a very nice thought!