Building an effective team is an essential part of growing your small business. Many entrepreneurs start off doing everything themselves, but at a certain point, working alone becomes unsustainable. You can’t keep going it alone forever! Not only will you get burnt out as a business owner, but your growth potential will be hampered.

Building a team offers you the freedom and flexibility needed to work toward the vision you have for your business. While your day-to-day operations are handled by your team, you focus on next steps and growth opportunities. Think of the reason you stated your business. You probably wanted to help people, share your talents, or have control over your lifestyle. With a team, you can reach each of these goals more easily and make a bigger impact on your business.

Areas of Your Business That Need Leadership

Consider how your business currently operates. Which areas can use extra support? Which areas need better direction or organization? Which areas do you hope to expand? These areas of your business would benefit from a new team member who can take responsibility for necessary tasks and even propose changes and new efficiencies.

Which role you hire for first will depend on your industry and how you operate. For example, if you’re a staffing firm, you might need to hire a recruiter first. If you run an e-commerce business, it might be beneficial to hire someone to run your website or social media presence. Expand your capacity as a business by adding a team member who will help with the main activities that lead to revenue.

Build Slowly

You don’t need to do it all at once! Grow your team gradually, but start a wish list of roles you hope to add to your business. Build out an org chart depicting how you want to structure your business in the future. As your business grows, this will likely change, but it will help you visualize what a team could look like. Prioritize the roles that you want to add, and slowly build up your team when it makes the most sense financially.

Take the necessary time to find the right people. Quickly adding to your team for the sake of adding to your team will cause more problems than you experienced without an adequate team. Find people who you can communicate with well and who are compatible with your work style. Make sure that the team you hire can get devoted to your goals and your vision for growth. As you add more people to your team, include your existing team in the hiring process. This helps you build a team that can collaborate effectively.

Determine a Structure and Collaboration Style

Determine how your team will collaborate. Depending on your industry and business needs, you can lead a virtual, in-person, or hybrid team. Whatever you decide, make arrangements for this to take place. Prepare an office space and/or digital tools that will make your work easier and more efficient. Schedule regular meetings for your team to come together and calibrate, and think through if these meetings should be structured or fluid.

Early on, focus on developing a collaborative environment for your team. Understand what your team needs to perform well and provide it. Strive for open, clear communication with your team. This helps to create a candid environment where team members feel comfortable sharing their ideas and raising their concerns. Take the feedback of your team seriously, and let them know they are valued. These efforts will make your team optimally efficient.

Define Your Company Culture and Vision

If you haven’t already, write out your mission statement, vision statement, and company values. These help your employees understand the main priorities of your business, where your business is headed, and how they fit into that journey. Sharing these with your team and taking time to reiterate them helps to keep your team engaged and on the same page.

Decide on the kind of company culture that will fit your business best and intentionally work to develop it. Provide opportunities for your team to get to know each other and grow their skills. Praise your team when they succeed, and talk through opportunities for improvement. Encourage your team to applaud each other, and celebrate milestones together. Building your business culture intentionally leads to an environment that supports efficiency and growth.

You don’t need a full-time team to get support!

As your business slowly grows, a Virtual Assistant can help you fill in the gaps and get the support you need while you work to build your team.

Your VA can even help you prepare to grow your team and help your team collaborate with each other. In addition to managing your calendar and scheduling team meetings, they can set up your project manager and other digital tools that enable collaboration. Get support, fast!