How to Build a Team for Your Small Business by Theresa Cifali

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There comes a time in any growing business when you realize you just can’t do it all yourself.

The late nights, the constant feeling of overwhelm, and the realization that you’re nearing burnout are all good clues that it’s time build a team for your small business!

But where do you start? Especially if you’ve never hired people before?

In this post, I’m going to outline exactly how to build a team for your small business…including what to do BEFORE you even start the hiring process.

1. Be Clear On Your Mission

Before you start hiring, I’d encourage you to have a mission statement for your business.

An example mission statement could be: To help small business owners gain clients through social media marketing.

This will be important as you’ll want to share this mission statement with any potential employees…both to see if they’re a good fit, and also so they’ll know how their role fits into the “big picture” of your company.

Haven’t identified your mission statement yet? No problem. I go over this briefly in my post, How to Set Goals in Your Business.

2. What Kind of Company Culture Do You Want?

This is likely something that hasn’t crossed your mind before…because why would it? Up until now, you’ve been running the show by yourself!

But once you have team members, you’ll want to consciously decide what kind of culture you want to foster in your company.

One strategy that works really well for this is to simply choose 5 words you want to define your working environment.

Some examples could include:

Relaxed
Fun
Growth mindset [Please link to How to Have a Growth Mindset post]
Respect
Values diversity

Once you’ve chosen 5 words that feel right to you, you can go ahead and expand on each.

What would these look like in reality? How would these relate to interactions with each other and with clients? Be specific!

3. Write Your Job Descriptions

You may already have a pretty good idea of what types of jobs or tasks you want to hire for.

But it’s super important that you have clear, concise descriptions you can include in your job postings.

A good job description will cover the following elements:

The job title (e.g., Project Manager)
Where the job fits in your company hierarchy: Who will report to this person? Who will this person report to?
Specific responsibilities: What will they do on a daily basis?
Skill sets or qualifications needed: Think about experience, education, specific technical skills, etc.
Salary or pay: It’s fine to have a range depending on experience and education

4. Find the Right People for Your Team

This is finally “rubber meets the road” time.

It’s time to get out there and find a winning team that will help you grow your small business!

I always ALWAYS recommend starting by asking trusted friends and colleagues for recommendations. This is far and away the best way to find amazing, trustworthy members for your team.

I always ALWAYS recommend starting by asking trusted friends and colleagues for recommendations. This is far and away the best way to find amazing, trustworthy members for your team. Click To Tweet

If you can’t build out your entire team through personal recommendations, here are some other ways you can find people:

LinkedIn: You can either post your job(s) on LinkedIn, or reach out to qualified candidates already in your network (or your network’s network!)

Post your job(s) on popular recruiting sites like Indeed or Monster
Looking for a virtual team? Post your job on remote job sites like FlexJobs or Remote.co
Share about the openings on your social media accounts: These people will already know and like your business, which is a great start!

Before you meet with potential candidates, be sure to have a list of questions or criteria that will help you narrow down your selection.

Keep in mind this should include “soft skills” and first impressions! For instance, does the person seem flexible and relaxed? Do he or she ask the right questions? Does he or she seem like someone you’d actually enjoy working with?

These aren’t necessarily skills you can ask for in your job posting, so your interview will be the perfect time to gather this information!

Final Thoughts about Hiring a Team

I hope this post has given you some good ideas for building a team for your small business.

The whole idea can feel very overwhelming at first, but just remind yourself that this is a necessary (if painful!) step in growing a successful business.

Need more help with building an amazing team for your small business? Check out my post, 5 Simple Steps to Analyzing and Creating a Business Process That You Can Use to Build a Team.

Are you ready to jump in and build a successful team? Let me know in the comments below!