Ready to hire a team? Here's how to start:

Hey friend!

How's it going?? I hope your May was lovely, you enjoyed a some fresh air and flowers, and your busy bridal season is off to a great start! To wrap up this month, I am going to share some things to think about if you are considering building a team. It can be an overwhelming thought and I'd love to offer you some tips on how to get the ball rolling!

So first things first, here are a few indicators that you are ready to hire a team:

1. You are booked to capacity every wedding season

2. You are getting big wedding parties that you always need a second stylist for

3. You are always asking others to help you out with your weddings, and having to refer weddings dates that you are already booked for

4. Your brides usually want makeup too, and you have to bring in or suggest someone outside of your business

Okay so if you checked those things off, let's get started!

First thing to consider is starting slow. A great way to get started with building a team is bringing in a makeup artist if you have a big demand for it, or bringing in one other stylist. If you have a makeup artist or a hairstylist that you are consistently asking to come help you out, that may be a great place to start! You already know how they work and that you work well together, so the risk is low of them turning out to not be a good fit for you. If you don't have anyone you work with regularly, then I have three suggestions for find a great fit for your company:

1. Use a website such as indeed.com or monster.com. You can put out what you are looking for for free, and you'll get resume's and responses right away.

2. Use instagram. Search hashtags with your local city + bridal stylist to find other stylists in your area. This way you can see a portfolio of their work and get a feel for who they are.

3. Go to Weddingwire.com or Theknot.com and go to the last few pages of beauty. These are going to be people or businesses who aren't paying for advertising yet and are likely newer to the industry. If they have a few good photos and their profile seems promising, you can reach out and see if they are interested in working with you

4. When you are doing weddings where the bride has hired someone for makeup that you don't know, pay attention to how they work and maybe that person could be a good fit for your team. That's actually how I hired one of my first makeup artists.

Once you have some applicants, I recommend asking them for a portfolio of their work as well as a list of questions that are important to you. For me, I wanted someone who had a few years of experience already and I also wanted to know what they love about the bridal industry, what they find challenging, and a little bit about their history in the beauty world. Think about what you are wanting in a team and ask a lot of questions right away to feel people out. You don't want to compromise when it comes to building a team!

Payments

This is where people often get stuck. Just remember, you are your business, and you can always change things if they don't work! Keep in mind that your business is successful, your marketing is working, and you are bringing in the business. This means you need to be compensated for that-how you do that is up to you! You can pay your team a percentage of the overall cost or you can pay them a fixed rate per service. Whatever you decide, just make sure you are clear about it in a contract with the person you decide to bring in,

Contracts

Most of us will be hiring a team as independent contractors. This way, you don't have to guarantee any amount of work in the year, you don't have to worry about paying health insurance or other benefits, and it's basically just an easier way to start. Make sure you have a contract between you and your independent contractor to lay out all of your expectations and everything is crystal clear.

Communication and administration

This is often the most overwhelming part, and will often take trial and error to find the systems that work well for you. The key things to keep in mind here are (1) communicate expectation clearly, (2) make sure your team knows all the details of the weddings they are working, and (3) keep good records and notes on brides, emails, payments, etc.

Are you overwhelmed?? It's okay!

It's a lot to start. Keep in mind what I said at the beginning-start slow. If you just start with one person, you can work out details as you go, figure out what works and what doesn't, and also ask for feedback from your new team to know how you can do better as a leader in your business. Please reach out to me if you have any more questions about building your team, I would LOVE to be a resource for you!!

A word for those who are newer to the bridal industry:

If you are newer to the bridal industry and trying to gain more bridal work and build your portfolio, use this as a guide for what to look for when you are being hired by a bigger company! Make sure whoever you work for/with has contracts, communicates clearly, compensates fairly, and is a reputable and professional company. It's important to see how great company's work as you are working towards having your own some day.

Well, friends, that what I have for you today! Next month will be all about updo skills. Thanks for being here and we'll chat in June!