How to build your team from the ground up | Part Two

Over the last few weeks, I’ve discussed how in order to own a successful business and live the life you want, you need a team. Read PART ONE OF HOW TO BUILD YOUR TEAM FROM THE GROUND UP HERE before you read on!

Again, you’re probably thinking, “Sounds great, Jessica, but I’m still figuring out how to pay myself regularly, let alone salaries for six people.”

I did not and do not pay each of these people a salary. Now find out exactly how each team member gets paid.

Let’s look at Kellie’s job. Admin and Head of Operations. This is a salaried position. Because of the nature of her work, Kellie needs to be available year-round to answer emails and connect with our clients. I need to know what to allocate to Kellie each month, so I pay Kellie the same amount each month.

Danae gets paid on commission. A second designer sort of acts like a contracted employee. Danae makes a certain percentage of any wedding she completes. She makes the company money with those weddings, and she makes a portion of that amount. In other words, she only makes money from weddings we book, so money isn’t going out unless there’s money coming in.

Our studio manager, Emma, gets paid an hourly rate. That might be $10/hr. We also cap the monthly hours at 40 hours, so I know I’m never going to pay more than $400 a month to my studio manager.

The bookkeeper gets paid $500/month. We both know what needs to be accomplished each month, and Brittani can compete this work in five hours or in thirty hours, it’s up to her. She’s still being paid $500 that month for the work she does.

Finally, our studio cleaner, Mary. She gets paid $50 a week to clean the studio.

There have been times where I’ve paid Kellie more than I’ve paid myself, because I needed to keep Kellie on the team. Her work is invaluable and I knew that if I sacrificed my own salary in the short term, the work we were doing as a team would make it worth it in the long-run. And let me tell you, it was so worth it. If you want growth badly enough, you’ll make it happen.

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THE BUSINESS BEHIND THE BLOOMS TESTIMONIAL

**“BBB is all the unanswered questions, answered.**
It’s beautifully arranged in a way that brings me back to being that optimistic person who was courageous enough to start doing things on their own. I not only have what I learned from BBB but also a new family of like minded individuals who make this mission seem a little less daunting.”
—Maher Haroun
Florals by Maher Haroun
Orange County, CA
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ENROLL HERE!

Every year, I take the month of November as a planning month and reassess our team needs. I ask myself, are there roles someone needs to off-load in order to be more productive? Are there game-changing tasks that are slipping through the cracks because we have a hole in our team?

This past year, that role was submissions. I knew for our business to take the next steps forward, we needed to improve and streamline our submissions process. This wasn’t something I wanted to delegate to anyone currently on our team, so I needed to find someone to work on submissions. We found someone great, and she also works on commission. When she gets us featured, she makes a certain amount!

You have the power and freedom to identify your needs and fill roles so your business can grow with purpose. You might have to endure temporary discomfort in order to step out into something new. You might have to take a pay cut, or learn how to hire, or reach out to someone new, but this is so much better than the alternative. If you don’t grow your team, not only will your business fail to thrive, but you’ll actually become worse at the things that had been strengths. The more you try to take on, things you should be delegating to experts, the more will slip through the cracks.