Hi Everyone!

As I chug (and yes, I say chug because it sounds soooo slow moving!) towards my due date with my first baby, I can’t help but think of how lucky I am to have two wonderful women who work alongside me. It inspired me to share the benefits of having a tight knit team for your small business and how to go about finding those “perfect” fits.

When I was in the planning stages of creating Storybook, I began it as a solo journey, anticipating that I would hire hourly assistants for the wedding days. But unintentionally, within a few months after opening, Storybook became a team of three and I couldn’t be more grateful. During this journey of mine, I have been able to see the benefits of having a team for your small business and I would love to share with you, what I believe are the top four traits to look for when building your team!

1. Share the Same Core Values

Storybook’s core value is to communicate to our couples that their engagement journey is just as important as the destination. We must be the planners who allow them to remain the “bride” or “groom” and not the one who needs to plan AND work their own wedding.

It is a no brainer that Lisa, Lindsay and I all have a passion for planning. It is also a passion of ours to see our couples enjoying their engagement. We are all sentimental individuals who can’t help but have empathetic hearts. This was an important aspect for my business as I wanted to make sure that I had genuine leaders to be there during the emotional and memorable times for our couples.

2. Reliability

One of the greatest benefits of having a team is that it allows us all to look towards one another when we need the help. We all have had our experiences with sickness, unexpected events and the occasional well-deserved vacations! But business and work never ends. Having one another allows us to continue to take on new couples and take those much needed breaks when needed. We can all rely on each other to step up when we need it most.

3. Drive

It takes a lot of drive and passion to keep a business going. As I mentioned under my last point, business and work never ends. Running a small company can be exhausting but there is something that lives in the entrepreneur’s mind that keeps us going! I call it my inner drive to succeed and reach my goals (and that goal list continues to grow and grow!). When building a team, it is important to have others who have the same drive. Although you may be the sole-owner of the business, you should still make sure that your team has the same passion and cares for the business as if it were their own.  

4. Leadership

When I was developing my team, I didn’t just want others who were good at planning and coordinating. I wanted LEADERS!  When I brought on Lindsay and Lisa, I needed to make sure that they were capable of taking over in the case that I wouldn’t be able to run my business anymore. Knowing that I had two amazing leaders to step up is a big sense of relief. However, another important reason to bring on other leaders is because it keeps you, the owner, on your toes and allows you to continue to grow yourself. We have incredible meetings because we all bring new ideas to the table, challenge each other and keep each other accountable.

This is definitely not an extensive list of characteristics for your team but the top four that stood out most to me. I am so grateful for this team of three. It has made Storybook what it is today and I couldn’t be more proud!

XoXo,

Nicole