The Benefits of Managing a Team

When we start our businesses, we’re usually doing absolutely EVERYTHING ourselves to begin with. It can feel soo overwhelming when you’ve got so much to do, but so little time to do it. Managing a team is the way forward!

As your business grows, and you start to bring in consistent income, there’s an opportunity to start building a team, and start delegating tasks to take some things off your plate. 

I know how it feels to just feel the need to have more hours in a day, it gets me down sometimes when I can’t get everything I need to do – it can feel unproductive.

But when you reach a point where you’re able to build a team, and decide to do so, it’s going to benefit you and your business so much.

When I first opened my hair salon Serenity Loves in 2012, it was just me planning my business whilst on maternity leave with my second daughter. I moved on and opened up the salon with a team of 6, and eventually built the business up to having a team of 14 employees! 

Managing a team can seem daunting at first…

For some people, managing a team may come quite naturally to them. But I know for others, it can seem daunting at first for many reasons. Maybe it’s the fear of giving up control? It could be a lack of confidence, and a feeling that you have to oversee everything 24/7. Or maybe it might be fear of walking away from the business. Maybe you even struggle to delegate, because you’ve got less experience in leadership positions?

 I know a lot of us business owners like to have control ALL the time. But when it comes to managing a team and delegating, it actually benefits the business and you personally in so many ways.

In my Mastermind, I’ve had loads clients join starting out all by themselves. But through my classes, and through having a supportive network of like-minded business owners around them every step of the way, they’ve managed to scale their businesses and now have their own teams. 

I know a client of mine now has a salon of their own after joining Mastermind. It’s so great to be able to do what I do, and see my clients, my friends, make such amazing progress and start to dominate in their industries. 

What should you do when building a team?

When you start to build a team, consider what kind of training they would need. Have you got the time to train them yourself? Maybe you’d need employees to have certain experience or qualifications so you can spend less time training. In the salon, we of course had to offer training to do with the industry, but also things like first aid training. A lot of things like health and safety would be taught within their qualification.

Either way, the right training for your staff is incredibly important. Whether you do this yourself, hire a trainer, or ask your staff to do some training through online courses and webinars. 

Make sure before you start building a team, to define what your team is going to look like. What kind of people do you want in your business? What type of people do you work best with and communicate with well?

Once you’ve decided to build your team, just get started and do it! Start posting job advertisements on sites like Indeed. You could even look into apprenticeships or the Kickstart Scheme (which ends in December of this year).

The more your team and business expands, the more you’re able to diversify your business. Open up new departments with their own team leaders and have those departments running in the background whilst you focus on what you enjoy.

So how can managing a team and delegating help you and your business?

• It takes a lot off your plate

The more you delegate, the more time you’ll have. Maybe at first you’ll have to spend a little bit of that time overseeing things whilst your new employees get settled in. But after that, you’ll have so much more time to do the things that you actually enjoy, and do the things that only you, as the business owner can do.

• A team creates opportunities

The more time you have, the more you can focus on the important things. Am I right in saying that delivering your products or services to your clients is what you love most? I know I resonate with that. Holding my Mastermind sessions is my absolute favourite thing to spend my time on. But the more time you have to focus on the important things, the more your business can expand and grow.

• It improves productivity

Of course, the more employees within your business, the more tasks get completed. If you delegate correctly, and utilize each employee’s skill set, you will be able to have a productive workplace with smooth work processes.

• You have more support

Your team should be your people, your tribe. When holding interviews, make sure you connect with them in a way that of course is professional, but also in a way that you know they will fit in well with the work environment and work well with you. Once you have a team of YOUR people, you have another support network behind you. What you share or don’t share is up to you, but it’s always great to have as much support behind you as possible.

• You get new ideas and perspectives

With a great team behind you, there’s always going to be opportunity for more ideas, more creativity, and more perspectives. Everyone’s got different opinions, ideas, and beliefs, but that can be a good thing! It’s important to be open minded as a business owner, and listen to people’s thoughts. New perspectives can open up new ways of thinking, and give you some fresh ideas.