November 8, 2023 • 36 mins
FREE GUIDEBOOK: The 10 Pitfalls of Growing a Creative Team
OVERVIEW
This episode focuses on my top insights on how to protect your business, plan for the future, and handle unexpected events, especially if you're a one-person team.
As small business owners, time and resources are often sparse. Without a reliable team, stepping back from your business could lead to a significant loss of income and potentially tarnish your brand's reputation. This reality comes to life as we discuss the personal anecdote of a photographer who unexpectedly fell pregnant during a busy season. We dive into the repercussions of this incident and how it impacted her brand's reputation. Real-life stories like these highlight the importance of creating a supportive business structure for women looking to start families while maintaining their careers.
Finally, we turn the spotlight on the benefits and downfalls of being a solo business owner. How do you ensure your business thrives when you're steering the ship alone? We answer this by exploring practical steps and sharing resources to help build the right team for your business. Whether you're contemplating maternity leave, or just pondering ways to safeguard your business for the future, this episode promises to equip you with the right tools to build a secure and stable business. Tune in and fortify your business strategy.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
A few years ago I took a personality assessment
called the Highlands BatteryAssessment.
It's a career aptitude testthat measures different types of
skills and performance levelsof an individual and the results
give you insight into yourpersonality, motivation, your
learning style, how you problemsolve, how you make decisions
(00:23):
and a lot of other reallyinteresting data.
I took this because Evan, myhusband, was also taking it and
that gave me an opportunity totake it at the same time.
So I thought, why not?
It could be helpful in thinkingforward in my career, learning
more about myself.
I always love a personalitytest, guys, I don't know about
you.
So I thought maybe I can learna little bit more about what my
(00:46):
natural gifts are, my naturaldisposition, even how I learn
best, that kind of thing.
So there were maybe 25 to 30different categories and they're
rated on standard deviationscompared to the general public.
So if you've seen a standarddeviation bell curve before,
it's 1 to 99.
So one of the categories thatthe Highlands identifies is
(01:08):
something called timeframe,which is a measure of a person's
natural sense of the amount oftime that you should be thinking
about when you're consideringthe future.
So a low timeframe number meansyou are maybe only thinking
about tomorrow or the next weekwhen thinking about future
planning and a really largenumber on the opposite side of
(01:31):
the scale means you think andact based on consideration of
years and years and years intothe future.
So my result on this test isthat I am in the 99th percentile
for a timeframe.
I think really far into thefuture constantly.
I make decisions, large andsmall, with the distant future
(01:51):
in mind, which totally checksout for me when I think about
how I've approached my life andmy business.
In the first year of shootingweddings, I was really young.
I wasn't married yet and I hadalready started thinking what do
I do if I get married and thenI decide I want to start a
(02:11):
family?
How is that going to work formy business?
Again, keep in mind I hadphotographed like two weddings
ever at this point.
But I thought if I step out ofthe wedding industry and take
extended time off one, whathappens to clients who booked me
in that amount of time?
Do I cancel on them?
(02:32):
Are they going to be upset?
What do I do?
And I also thought am I reallygoing to be able to step back
into the industry just like that, even only two weddings in to
shooting weddings and starting abusiness.
I could see that the building ofmarketing strategies and brand
that took time and I was alreadyhaving concerns about what if I
(02:55):
take a break and all of thatgoes away.
So, even though I was new inthe industry, I had started to
see a few people that werephotographers just take time off
a maternity leave, and I guessI just thought they hoped to get
pregnant at a time of year thatwas convenient and wouldn't
mean missing a bunch of weddingwork.
But even then my mind wasconsidering all the different
(03:18):
possibilities.
What if there are complications?
What if my future child hasspecial needs or health issues
when they're born?
What if my body needs a longertime to recover than I
anticipate?
What if we're not able to planaround a schedule or time of
year and I have a due date inthe middle of busy season?
So hopefully you're notlistening to this right now and
(03:38):
thinking Hannah is insane.
Why was she thinking about thatso so far in the future?
And again, that's really a bigpart of my personality and how I
plan for things and how I dothings, and I think there's a
lot of advantages to that.
All these thoughts were spinningaround in my mind and at the
same time, I did start to seewomen closing their businesses
(04:00):
after starting a family, or justreally struggling to get back
into the industry after taking alonger time off.
So my 99 percentile timeframebrain was thinking what happens
if you do close your business?
What happens afterwards?
What if my family is dependenton my income?
That sounds so stressful.
(04:21):
What am I even doing startingthis business?
So, again, I was years awayfrom ever having to really think
about that or make thatdecision, and my business was
barely off the ground, let alonethriving.
But I was already thinkingabout the dangers of being in
this business and wanting tosafeguard myself and my business
against a train wreck in myfuture.
(04:42):
Now, just a side note I reallyhope that as you hear this,
you're not like me and stressingout hearing this.
Let me put your mind at easethat this is what this episode
is all about.
I want to talk about how do youprotect your business against
those worries and stresses ofwhat happens if something
changes in my life and I need totake time off, among many other
(05:05):
things.
That's what we're talking abouttoday.
I'm here for you.
I want to help you protect yourbusiness in the best way
possible, and if you have atimeframe that maybe isn't as
far out as mine maybe it's onthe other side of the scale
that's okay too.
I'm glad you're here.
Let's think through how toprotect your business and be
proactive, even if it isn't yournatural inclination to plan
(05:27):
that far in advance.
So for me personally, growing myteam was actually in my plans
almost from day one, and that'sexactly what I've done.
I have a team of five amazingpeople and at the time of
recording this I'm just gettingback from six weeks abroad in
our busy season and I onlyprobably worked about five hours
(05:51):
each week on my photographywedding side of the business,
and that was actually by choice,it wasn't a necessity.
One more thing I got to saythis is a spoiler alert I do not
have children and I'm not sureif I ever will.
It's almost comical that I'vespent so much time team building
to set myself up to be in theperfect position to take
extended maternity leave withoutlosing income, and I'm not even
(06:15):
sure if I'll ever end upneeding time off or wanting time
off for that reason.
But that's what started it alland I'm really glad because here
we are, almost 10 years later,and I've set my business up in a
way that is so secure andstable, even if, for some reason
, I'm unable to work for alonger amount of time.
We're going to be okay and thebusiness is going to keep
(06:36):
thriving.
So let's talk about how toprotect your business.
You're listening to TeamBuilding for Creative Business
Owners, a podcast dedicated tohelping you scale your creative
business through building a team.
I'm your host, hannah Bjorndahl, owner of LaVian Rose, an
(07:01):
expert in all things teambuilding in the creative
artistic world.
Over the past several years,I've gone from being a one woman
show to leading a team ofamazing people to serve more
clients, dramatically increaseour business income and
ultimately make a much biggerimpact in the world, and I'm
(07:24):
passionate about helping you dothe same.
So let's do it.
There is a lot of hesitationaround growing a team based on
fear of change.
You're opening yourself up topotential threats to your
business when you add a new teammember.
What's missing from thisconversation is asking another
(07:44):
question what are the threats toyour business if you don't grow
a team, especially if you'redependent on your business's
income and or you have otherswho are dependent on you.
It's absolutely crucial toevaluate all the potential
threats to your business andthen safeguard yourself against
them.
Not only that, but you want toset yourself up to be able to
(08:08):
make decisions that are good foryour personal life in the
future, knowing those decisions,which may mean changes to your
business, won't endanger thesuccess of your business.
So we're going to talk aboutfive different ways that adding
team members will help protectyour business and yourself, and
here's a quick preview of thosefive.
(08:28):
We're going to talk about time,diversity, income stability,
passion and impact.
So let's dive right into numberone Team members.
Protect yourself and yourbusiness by protecting your time
.
You've probably heard it saidmany times that time is your
most valuable resource and assmall business owners, you wear
(08:50):
many hats.
Actually, you wear all the hats.
If you're the only personworking in your business right
now, this means that you'relimited in how much you can do.
You can only do a certainamount of work for clients or
only take on a certain number ofclients, because you as an
individual have a max capacity.
For most of us in the weddingindustry, we can only work with
(09:11):
one client per date, and thereare a limited number of wedding
dates each year, so thatautomatically limits the total
amount of work you can do.
Also, your time, your abilityto give time to your clients
that's your entire value.
So it's not scalable when it'sjust you.
You can't exponentiallyincrease how many clients you're
(09:33):
working with and what you'redoing for them.
Now this is a limitation morethan a danger to your business
at the beginning.
Here's when it becomes a danger.
If, for one reason or another,you have to step back, you can't
do the work.
It could be an injury or anunexpected illness, it could be
a family crisis, it could be apregnancy, like we talked about
(09:54):
before, or it could just beextreme burnout and a desperate
need for a break because you'renot able to do your best work
for your clients.
The minute you step back fromyour business without team
members, your business can nolonger generate income, you no
longer get a paycheck and a lotof these things that may cause
(10:15):
you to take a pause or step back.
They're out of your control Notall of them, but a lot of them.
You might not even see themcoming and by the time you do,
there probably isn't going to beenough time to start bringing
on team members and get themfully ready to fill your shoes
when the time comes.
The result is not only asignificant loss of most, if not
(10:36):
all, of your income, but youalso risk your brand's
reputation going downhill.
A quick example story, oneyou've probably heard before
here it is A photographer getspregnant unexpectedly and is due
right in the middle of theirbusy season.
Not wanting to lose incomebecause they're dependent on it,
(10:57):
they hire out contractors tofill in what is commonly
referred to as an associateshooter, and that associate is
chosen based off of a sampleportfolio and maybe some
feedback or reviews from one ortwo others that have worked with
them, and that's about it.
So the end result is that theclients are a little bit
(11:20):
confused and upset about whatfeels like a bait and switch.
They've paid for a personalityand brand and they're getting
something totally different.
Not only that, but theassociate's personality and
behavior is totally inconsistentwith what the clients are
expecting.
The clients are really angrybecause they don't like the way
(11:41):
this associate is behaving.
They were already primed to befrustrated by it, and so even a
little misstep ends up feelinglike a major problem.
You don't have to be fullyinside this story to know what
happens next.
The clients are going to hatetheir photos before they even
see them.
So does this sound familiar?
I'm guessing you've heard astory like this before, whether
(12:03):
from a friend of yours orsomeone in a networking group
you're in or a Facebook group,or maybe you've even experienced
this.
So let's get real and step intothe shoes of the client for a
second.
Can you really blame them forbeing upset about this situation
?
Wedding photography is such amassive investment and most of
(12:25):
the time clients are paying fora brand reputation, especially
when we're talking abouthigh-end or luxury weddings.
The client has been sold on thebrand.
If you're doing a good job atmarketing, you're selling your
client on your brand and seeingan unfamiliar face and working
with someone whose personalitydoesn't perfectly align with
(12:48):
what they're expecting.
That's really stressful andit's also incredibly
disappointing.
The experience that you paintfor your client of what it's
going to be like to work withyou.
The better of a job you domarketing yourself, the more the
client is going to be excitedfor that specific experience
working with you and your brand.
So the experience of stress,disappointment, feeling like
(13:11):
they got a bait and switch, evenif the photos are absolutely
stunning.
That experience has beentotally flipped and the clients
are just going to be thinkingabout how the situation made
them feel when they see theirphotos.
So not every situation likethis ends this way, but I share
this story because this is acommon practice within the
(13:33):
wedding industry.
Like I said, you've probablyseen stories like this or heard
about them.
They're very common and a lotof times business owners can't
quite figure out why theirclients are so angry.
They must just be unreasonable,tends to be the conclusion.
It's easy to feel defensive as abusiness owner if you feel
backed into a corner by yoursituation.
(13:55):
You don't want to lose theincome, but you also can't
photograph the wedding or do thework that you've agreed to do.
So you're stuck and you need tomake the best of it.
But the best of it might be areally upset client.
So here's the danger, if it'snot already obvious this is your
brand's reputation that you'reputting on the line.
(14:15):
In a situation like that, onenasty client experience can
really negatively impact yourability to book new clients and
maintain a strong brandreputation.
Brand reputation, as youalready know, takes years to
build, but it doesn't take thatmuch to ruin it.
So it absolutely is not worthrisking that reputation in
(14:37):
situations like this.
Not only that, but you alsowant to consider do you want to
be the kind of business thatsends someone out who isn't
fully integrated into your brand, on a wedding day to a client
who has put their trust in you?
It's really challenging because, without a team in place,
taking an extended break of anykind and or not showing up for
(15:01):
your clients in the way theywere expecting it presents a
huge danger to your company'sreputation.
To contrast this situationwithin my own company, one of my
top priorities has been tocreate a culture and business
structure that supports womenwho want to grow their families
while also having a fulfillingand meaningful career.
(15:22):
For our clients, this meansthat they understand from the
start of our workingrelationship that someone on the
team is always going to be oncall on their wedding day,
should something happened to theteam lead photographer who they
booked.
This allows our clients to restat ease that if someone gets
pregnant on the team, or even ifsomeone just comes down with
(15:43):
COVID the night before theirwedding, they will have a LaVian
Rose team photographer who'sfully capable to shoot their
wedding day on call to step inand they know that as a team,
we're cohesive, we've learnedand grown together and we've
built the brand in a way toemphasize how crucial teamwork
is and that our team is thatcohesive group that they can
(16:07):
trust.
Obviously, we want our couplesto work with the photographer
they selected when booking,because that's who they've been
building a relationship with.
However, we've now been througha handful of circumstances
where the person on call reallydid need to be prepared to step
in, and it's actually a sellingpoint to our clients that they
have this extra layer ofsecurity when booking us.
(16:28):
They aren't going to miss outon the LaVian Rose experience if
, for some reason, theirphotographer is unable to shoot
their wedding day.
It's important to recognize thatsome things really are out of
our control.
Something could happen to youto prevent you from being able
to work with your client, andthis is true of anyone who is in
weddings or event-based workwhere they have to be there on
(16:50):
the day of and it only happensonce.
It's true for every singlebusiness owner in that situation
, and we're all human.
So being prepared for thatprotects you, your business and
your clients.
Now, what about if you are justoverloaded and you're not being
forced to take a break.
You just prefer to take a break.
You're taking preventativemeasures, then, to ensure that
(17:13):
you don't burn out.
If you want to do this withoutlosing income again, you need
team members to keep thebusiness going.
With a great team in place,extended time off is actually
incredibly attainable.
This past summer, evan and Itook a six-week trip.
It was a sabbatical from myregular work and we went to
(17:33):
Europe.
For me, this was right on thefront edge of our busy wedding
season.
I got back in mid-September andthings were in full swing.
I spent a full month of thattrip in London working on
non-wedding projects.
Specifically, I was working onrebooting this podcast and
building a course for you.
Then I had nearly twoadditional weeks on top of that
(17:57):
of just true vacation in Greece.
I communicated with my teampretty minimally and they knew I
wouldn't be very available forthem In that timeframe that I
was gone.
We had eight weddings booked,so my team shot eight weddings
while I wasn't even in the samecountry.
It was pretty amazing.
Now I started building my teamat the beginning of 2018 and at
(18:20):
the time of this recording,we're nearing the end of 2023.
This level of being able todisconnect didn't happen
overnight, however.
We weathered a pandemic in thattime.
I had a full client load formost of those years and I made
so many mistakes and wasstubborn about giving up some of
my unnecessary andtime-consuming habits around my
(18:42):
work.
I think that the really crucialwork happened between 2020 and
2022 to really allow me to be inthis position that I am now.
It's really two intentionalyears of work, but here we are
and I am able to completely stepaway for an extended time, and
that's really rewarding onmultiple levels.
So how do you plan to protectyour business from the
(19:04):
possibility or desire ofextended time off or extended
time not being able to do clientwork?
Is this something that you'vethought about?
Because in your life sometimesthose extended periods of time
off are going to be necessary.
The best way to protect yourbusiness and your time is to
have a solid team.
(19:25):
Let's talk about the next thingon my list, number two diversity
.
Building a team allows you tohave more diversity, which will
ultimately strengthen andprotect your business.
So diversity that word can meana lot of different things.
Let me explain how I'm usingthe term here.
I'm talking about any amount ofdifferences in thoughts,
(19:46):
opinions, outlook, the way ofdoing things Basically just
having different human beings.
And the more people you have,the more you get this diversity,
which means more brain power,broader life experiences, more
ideas and more than that.
This type of diversity makesyour company stronger.
(20:07):
It's tempting as a businessowner to think that we always
know what's best for our companyand our clients and to not
trust other people with thiswork.
Not only that, but we can be alittle bit arrogant.
At least I'm speaking formyself.
I don't know if you can relateabout our own abilities and miss
the fact that other people cancontribute diverse skill sets
(20:28):
and ideas.
That will actually make thecompany much stronger, because
different people are going tohave different strengths and
skill sets than you do.
There is so much that goes intokeeping your company strong,
your client list full, yourmarketing strategies sharp and
effective, and the more peopleyou have to contribute their
(20:48):
individual experience, the moreyou're going to be able to
ensure the success of yourcompany.
Particularly if you've beenrunning your business for a long
time several years it's veryeasy for your ways of doing
things to get a little bit datedor stale, and you don't even
necessarily have to realize thatit's happening, for it to be
happening.
(21:08):
This has actually happened tome multiple times as I've been
growing my team, and I'm stillsomehow always surprised when
one of my team members brings upa suggestion or new idea that I
think is absolutely genius andI've never thought of it before.
It always surprises me that I'mnot the first one to think of a
good idea.
That sounds terrible, but maybeyou could relate to that too.
(21:30):
We've been able to create amuch better experience for our
clients and vendor partnersbecause we're constantly
contributing ideas as a team andhaving a lot of different minds
.
Thinking about the same thingis a lot stronger than just one
person, and this is not justabout growth, although that has
absolutely happened for us.
(21:51):
We've been able to grow a lotfaster as a result of a diverse
set of opinions and ideas, butit's also added so much more
security to the business becauseI have a whole team of people
keeping a careful watch on ourprocesses, our client experience
and even just the quality ofour work.
Something I've appreciated inparticular lately has been my
(22:13):
team's ability to contribute tokeeping our ideas modern and
fresh without falling too muchinto a cookie cutter pattern or
way of doing things.
Consistency is incrediblyimportant in wedding photography
, but if consistency becomes theultimate thing, the art becomes
a little stale and dated reallyquickly.
(22:34):
Sometimes I pick up on what'snew in the industry really
easily, but then there are otherthings that my team will point
out that I totally miss and I'dprobably continue to miss
without their input.
This kind of teamwork andrefining as a group has made our
company a lot stronger and morestable, like I said before,
which has protected us becauseit's allowed us to keep a
(22:55):
consistent brand but also stayup to date and modern, so that
we don't miss out on the cuttingedge of what's going on in the
wedding industry.
Even the smartest people in theworld have blind spots.
A team allows you to cover oneanother's blind spots and refine
each other as you grow to bebetter and better at what you do
(23:15):
.
So next let's talk about numberthree income and profit.
Building a team allows you toprotect and stabilize your
income.
It's not just about the bottomline, but team members can and
will be directly related toincreased income if you grow
your team the right way.
I don't just mean the totalgross income either, because if
(23:38):
your business is making more butyou're paying yourself less.
That's not really a success.
I'm talking about increasedprofit.
I think everyone likes the ideaof more money, but when it
comes to protecting yourbusiness, having a larger margin
means that you can invest backinto your business when you need
to, without straining yourpersonal income or getting into
(24:01):
a tight spot.
The ability to invest back intoyour business is a way to
protect your business, becauseit allows you to make those
decisions to spend on what youknow will make your business
stronger and better, without afear of will there be enough.
And not only that.
We all know that sometimes bignecessary purchases or expenses
for your business just going topop up without warning.
(24:22):
Increased income for yourbusiness means more safety and
security.
In these moments, you have moreof a buffer For our own
business.
This increased income has meantthat we can invest in larger
projects and ideas without mehaving to worry about whether or
not I'll be getting a pay checkat the end of each month.
As I'm recording this, we'reactually about to open a studio
(24:43):
like a brick and mortar space,which will have a large space
for shoots.
It'll have several offices, aco-working area and more.
I never would have been able todo this without putting
everything at risk if I didn'thave a team.
So the income and profit isboth proactive and being able to
invest in more for yourbusiness, and it also protects
(25:06):
against the unexpected financialdifficulties or needs that pop
up when you least expect them,by giving you more overall to
work with financially.
Let's move on to number fourpassion.
Your business will be moreprotected from burnout and you
will be more able to retain thepassion you have for your work
(25:27):
if you have a team.
Protection from burnout, whichunfortunately can be so
detrimental to a business, is areality that most creative
business owners face, and itoften comes faster than you
expect.
Maybe you yourself haveexperienced some burnout already
in your business.
The terrible thing aboutburnout is that there's really
(25:48):
nothing you can do to just snapout of it.
Even if you're good at hidingit, it will eventually show in
your work and it's going toaffect your energy to be able to
work on anything else in yourbusiness as well.
I think that in the creativewedding industry and I don't
have any specific facts orfigures to back this up, it's
really just my own experiencebut I think in the creative
(26:10):
wedding industry.
Burnout is probably a topcontributor to why businesses
end up closing.
I personally have seen thathappen with a lot of business
owners.
What ends up happening isyou've been stretched too thin
and you either just totally giveup your work or your work
suffers so greatly that no onewants to work with you anymore.
(26:31):
This is a really tough subjectand if you have been through a
season of burnout, I'm so sorry.
I personally have been throughseasons of burnout as well, and
one in particular really broughtme to a breaking point.
Thankfully, I was able toimmediately stop booking
weddings for myself in thatmoment, and I knew my team would
(26:52):
be able to keep booking theirown weddings.
Now, unfortunately, it tookabout a year to be able to get
through all the weddings on mybooks, but honestly, having a
team through that time while Iwas continuing to shoot it made
things so much better.
I felt encouraged and inspiredand even when I wasn't saying or
acknowledging my burnoutdirectly, just having trusted
(27:15):
team members around me, itreally did lift me up and,
equally as important, I knewthat a break was coming and that
my business wasn't going tofall behind as a result.
That felt really amazing andspurred me on to want to pour
even more into my team, and itreally contrasted a season of
burnout I had had several yearsbefore when I didn't have a team
(27:36):
, and that season really pushedme to start a team for this very
reason.
So having a team of peoplearound you protects you from
burnout or the resulting effectsof burnout, by allowing you to
be particular about the work youdo take on, and if you start to
feel yourself burning out, yourteam will be able to catch you.
(27:57):
You can encourage one another.
It also sharpens your creativeabilities and protects you
creatively not just from burnout, but also from isolation.
It is wonderful to havefrienders or people in your
network or industry who do whatyou do, that you trust and that
you can share with.
Those can be really sweetfriendships and I have some of
(28:19):
them myself.
But you are, at the end of theday, working on different teams
and you may even be competingfor the same clients with these
people, but when you have teammembers, you're able to cheer
one another on and encourageeach other in the work that
you're doing.
You're on the same team.
This has allowed me to feelexcited about shooting weddings
(28:40):
again, and I've also been ableto step back a little bit and I
take on so much less now than Iused to, and I know for a fact
that a team can also do this foryou.
Finally, let's talk about numberfive impact Building a team
protects your business fromfading into the background and
ensures a true impact.
So this one is maybe the mostdifficult to explain or
(29:04):
understand.
It might feel kind ofintangible.
So let's get into the details.
Impact means a lot of things.
I commonly refer to it as a wayto make a positive difference
in the world through yourbusiness, but for the sake of
this specifically, even morebroadly, impact has to do with
how the industry that you are inin the world is different
(29:27):
because your business is in it.
Your business isn't necessarilyan immediate danger if you're
not making a large impact justthis moment, but it is a lot
easier to fade into thebackground or lose touch when
your impact is, overall, smaller.
Adding to your team allows youto reach a larger audience and
(29:47):
you are also able to naturallymix closely with other social
circles that those team membershave.
Your brand can therefore becomemore widely recognized and
known just by nature of havingmore people, the expanding
community and resultingexpanding impact, give you more
of a presence and create longterm stability.
(30:08):
And the people on your teamdon't have to be super well
connected for this to be thecase.
Just having different people onyour team talking to different
people in the industry, workingwith different clients, that
achieves that.
You have more people to makemore of an impact.
So, like I said before, thismight feel a little bit
intangible to you or like itdoesn't actually matter, and I
(30:30):
get that.
You may feel like you alreadyhave a pretty strong brand and
it doesn't need to get anybigger or more secure, but for
those of you with big dreams ofgrowing and becoming a top
player in your industry, this isa primary way to do it.
You will always be in a lotmore danger of losing your
impact if it's just you.
(30:51):
You can probably see that inall the other reasons we've
talked about so far in thisepisode.
So if impact matters to youwhich, if you want to keep
growing, it definitely shouldThen it's worth understanding
the risks of being a business ofone and the difficulty you'll
face in making a large impactlong term if it continues to
(31:12):
just be you.
Okay, so this has all been alot of information, and it can
feel a little bit heavy or maybestressful if you don't
currently have a team and you'reseeing the reality of this in
your own business.
I want you to leave thisepisode feeling excited and
empowered to protect yourbusiness.
So let's talk about some simpleaction steps you can take today
(31:34):
, even if you don't currentlyhave anyone on your team.
First step to take Consider eachof these five things we just
talked about and write out thespecific ways that you see this
applying to your own business.
I encourage you, with this step, to be brutally honest with
yourself.
The more honest you are, thebetter you'll be able to ensure
(31:56):
that your business thrives longterm.
Next, consider what you wantout of your life.
It's a big question, right, andnotice that I didn't say what
you want out of your business.
No, we are looking at this evenmore big picture.
So consider for a moment whatyour ideal life looks like.
And even better, if you writethis down, come back to it,
(32:16):
refine it, make it into anofficial statement or mantra.
I'm not going to get into moredetails about writing a personal
vision statement in thisepisode, but if you want help in
casting that vision for yourlife so that you can get clear
on the path forward for yourbusiness.
You can check out handofyorncomslash vision for a free
workbook resource that I havefor you and I'll link that in
(32:39):
the description as well.
So really consider what youwant out of life and then think
about what this means for yourbusiness.
This is going to help clarifywhich points of vulnerability in
your business are most crucial,and it will also help you know
exactly what you do and don'twant to get out of your business
, both financially and inpersonal fulfillment.
(33:01):
Finally, consider what types ofteam members would help fill
those roles that would allow youto protect your business and
allow it to thrive as well.
Get really clear on all thedifferent roles that they'll
fill and then set a deadline foryourself when do you need to
make your very first hire?
Or, if you already have teammembers and are seeing that you
(33:24):
need to add even more, when doyou need to make your next hire?
Like I said, this was a lot ofinformation today, and I know
that growing a team can feellike a complete impossibility.
It's too overwhelming, there'stoo many unknowns.
Well, this is something that Iknow a lot about and that I'm
passionate about.
I love talking about teambuilding because there's such a
(33:47):
need and so little resources forteam building in the wedding
industry and, honestly, in thecreative entrepreneurship world
in general.
I've created a team buildingcourse for you If this is
something that you're interestedin learning about, if this is
something that you really needhelp with, you want to build a
team and you want to do it theright way.
I don't have an official launchdate for you yet, but if this is
(34:10):
of interest to you, shoot me anemail info at
hannahbjornedollcom or send me aDM on Instagram at
hannahbjornedoll.
If it's an email, in thesubject line write the word team
and I will put you on my shortVIP list so that you have the
first opportunity to sign up forthis course before it fills up.
I also hope you'll continue totune into this podcast.
(34:33):
I have so much to share aboutbuilding a team in the next
several weeks and months.
It's something that reallyexcites me and that I really
want you to be able to do.
Well, and that's a wrap.
Thanks so much for listening toteam building for creative
business owners.
I hope you learned somethingnew that you can use to grow and
thrive.
If you're interested in gettingin touch, send me a message at
(35:00):
info at hannahbjornedollcom, oryou can always shoot me a DM on
Instagram.
I'm at hannahbjornedoll.
I'll see you back here nextweek.
A few years ago I took a personality assessment
called the Highlands BatteryAssessment.
It's a career aptitude testthat measures different types of
skills and performance levelsof an individual and the results
give you insight into yourpersonality, motivation, your
learning style, how you problemsolve, how you make decisions
(00:23):
and a lot of other reallyinteresting data.
I took this because Evan, myhusband, was also taking it and
that gave me an opportunity totake it at the same time.
So I thought, why not?
It could be helpful in thinkingforward in my career, learning
more about myself.
I always love a personalitytest, guys, I don't know about
you.
So I thought maybe I can learna little bit more about what my
(00:46):
natural gifts are, my naturaldisposition, even how I learn
best, that kind of thing.
So there were maybe 25 to 30different categories and they're
rated on standard deviationscompared to the general public.
So if you've seen a standarddeviation bell curve before,
it's 1 to 99.
So one of the categories thatthe Highlands identifies is
(01:08):
something called timeframe,which is a measure of a person's
natural sense of the amount oftime that you should be thinking
about when you're consideringthe future.
So a low timeframe number meansyou are maybe only thinking
about tomorrow or the next weekwhen thinking about future
planning and a really largenumber on the opposite side of
(01:31):
the scale means you think andact based on consideration of
years and years and years intothe future.
So my result on this test isthat I am in the 99th percentile
for a timeframe.
I think really far into thefuture constantly.
I make decisions, large andsmall, with the distant future
(01:51):
in mind, which totally checksout for me when I think about
how I've approached my life andmy business.
In the first year of shootingweddings, I was really young.
I wasn't married yet and I hadalready started thinking what do
I do if I get married and thenI decide I want to start a
(02:11):
family?
How is that going to work formy business?
Again, keep in mind I hadphotographed like two weddings
ever at this point.
But I thought if I step out ofthe wedding industry and take
extended time off one, whathappens to clients who booked me
in that amount of time?
Do I cancel on them?
(02:32):
Are they going to be upset?
What do I do?
And I also thought am I reallygoing to be able to step back
into the industry just like that, even only two weddings in to
shooting weddings and starting abusiness.
I could see that the building ofmarketing strategies and brand
that took time and I was alreadyhaving concerns about what if I
(02:55):
take a break and all of thatgoes away.
So, even though I was new inthe industry, I had started to
see a few people that werephotographers just take time off
a maternity leave, and I guessI just thought they hoped to get
pregnant at a time of year thatwas convenient and wouldn't
mean missing a bunch of weddingwork.
But even then my mind wasconsidering all the different
(03:18):
possibilities.
What if there are complications?
What if my future child hasspecial needs or health issues
when they're born?
What if my body needs a longertime to recover than I
anticipate?
What if we're not able to planaround a schedule or time of
year and I have a due date inthe middle of busy season?
So hopefully you're notlistening to this right now and
(03:38):
thinking Hannah is insane.
Why was she thinking about thatso so far in the future?
And again, that's really a bigpart of my personality and how I
plan for things and how I dothings, and I think there's a
lot of advantages to that.
All these thoughts were spinningaround in my mind and at the
same time, I did start to seewomen closing their businesses
(04:00):
after starting a family, or justreally struggling to get back
into the industry after taking alonger time off.
So my 99 percentile timeframebrain was thinking what happens
if you do close your business?
What happens afterwards?
What if my family is dependenton my income?
That sounds so stressful.
(04:21):
What am I even doing startingthis business?
So, again, I was years awayfrom ever having to really think
about that or make thatdecision, and my business was
barely off the ground, let alonethriving.
But I was already thinkingabout the dangers of being in
this business and wanting tosafeguard myself and my business
against a train wreck in myfuture.
(04:42):
Now, just a side note I reallyhope that as you hear this,
you're not like me and stressingout hearing this.
Let me put your mind at easethat this is what this episode
is all about.
I want to talk about how do youprotect your business against
those worries and stresses ofwhat happens if something
changes in my life and I need totake time off, among many other
(05:05):
things.
That's what we're talking abouttoday.
I'm here for you.
I want to help you protect yourbusiness in the best way
possible, and if you have atimeframe that maybe isn't as
far out as mine maybe it's onthe other side of the scale
that's okay too.
I'm glad you're here.
Let's think through how toprotect your business and be
proactive, even if it isn't yournatural inclination to plan
(05:27):
that far in advance.
So for me personally, growing myteam was actually in my plans
almost from day one, and that'sexactly what I've done.
I have a team of five amazingpeople and at the time of
recording this I'm just gettingback from six weeks abroad in
our busy season and I onlyprobably worked about five hours
(05:51):
each week on my photographywedding side of the business,
and that was actually by choice,it wasn't a necessity.
One more thing I got to saythis is a spoiler alert I do not
have children and I'm not sureif I ever will.
It's almost comical that I'vespent so much time team building
to set myself up to be in theperfect position to take
extended maternity leave withoutlosing income, and I'm not even
(06:15):
sure if I'll ever end upneeding time off or wanting time
off for that reason.
But that's what started it alland I'm really glad because here
we are, almost 10 years later,and I've set my business up in a
way that is so secure andstable, even if, for some reason
, I'm unable to work for alonger amount of time.
We're going to be okay and thebusiness is going to keep
(06:36):
thriving.
So let's talk about how toprotect your business.
You're listening to TeamBuilding for Creative Business
Owners, a podcast dedicated tohelping you scale your creative
business through building a team.
I'm your host, hannah Bjorndahl, owner of LaVian Rose, an
(07:01):
expert in all things teambuilding in the creative
artistic world.
Over the past several years,I've gone from being a one woman
show to leading a team ofamazing people to serve more
clients, dramatically increaseour business income and
ultimately make a much biggerimpact in the world, and I'm
(07:24):
passionate about helping you dothe same.
So let's do it.
There is a lot of hesitationaround growing a team based on
fear of change.
You're opening yourself up topotential threats to your
business when you add a new teammember.
What's missing from thisconversation is asking another
(07:44):
question what are the threats toyour business if you don't grow
a team, especially if you'redependent on your business's
income and or you have otherswho are dependent on you.
It's absolutely crucial toevaluate all the potential
threats to your business andthen safeguard yourself against
them.
Not only that, but you want toset yourself up to be able to
(08:08):
make decisions that are good foryour personal life in the
future, knowing those decisions,which may mean changes to your
business, won't endanger thesuccess of your business.
So we're going to talk aboutfive different ways that adding
team members will help protectyour business and yourself, and
here's a quick preview of thosefive.
(08:28):
We're going to talk about time,diversity, income stability,
passion and impact.
So let's dive right into numberone Team members.
Protect yourself and yourbusiness by protecting your time
.
You've probably heard it saidmany times that time is your
most valuable resource and assmall business owners, you wear
(08:50):
many hats.
Actually, you wear all the hats.
If you're the only personworking in your business right
now, this means that you'relimited in how much you can do.
You can only do a certainamount of work for clients or
only take on a certain number ofclients, because you as an
individual have a max capacity.
For most of us in the weddingindustry, we can only work with
(09:11):
one client per date, and thereare a limited number of wedding
dates each year, so thatautomatically limits the total
amount of work you can do.
Also, your time, your abilityto give time to your clients
that's your entire value.
So it's not scalable when it'sjust you.
You can't exponentiallyincrease how many clients you're
(09:33):
working with and what you'redoing for them.
Now this is a limitation morethan a danger to your business
at the beginning.
Here's when it becomes a danger.
If, for one reason or another,you have to step back, you can't
do the work.
It could be an injury or anunexpected illness, it could be
a family crisis, it could be apregnancy, like we talked about
(09:54):
before, or it could just beextreme burnout and a desperate
need for a break because you'renot able to do your best work
for your clients.
The minute you step back fromyour business without team
members, your business can nolonger generate income, you no
longer get a paycheck and a lotof these things that may cause
(10:15):
you to take a pause or step back.
They're out of your control Notall of them, but a lot of them.
You might not even see themcoming and by the time you do,
there probably isn't going to beenough time to start bringing
on team members and get themfully ready to fill your shoes
when the time comes.
The result is not only asignificant loss of most, if not
(10:36):
all, of your income, but youalso risk your brand's
reputation going downhill.
A quick example story, oneyou've probably heard before
here it is A photographer getspregnant unexpectedly and is due
right in the middle of theirbusy season.
Not wanting to lose incomebecause they're dependent on it,
(10:57):
they hire out contractors tofill in what is commonly
referred to as an associateshooter, and that associate is
chosen based off of a sampleportfolio and maybe some
feedback or reviews from one ortwo others that have worked with
them, and that's about it.
So the end result is that theclients are a little bit
(11:20):
confused and upset about whatfeels like a bait and switch.
They've paid for a personalityand brand and they're getting
something totally different.
Not only that, but theassociate's personality and
behavior is totally inconsistentwith what the clients are
expecting.
The clients are really angrybecause they don't like the way
(11:41):
this associate is behaving.
They were already primed to befrustrated by it, and so even a
little misstep ends up feelinglike a major problem.
You don't have to be fullyinside this story to know what
happens next.
The clients are going to hatetheir photos before they even
see them.
So does this sound familiar?
I'm guessing you've heard astory like this before, whether
(12:03):
from a friend of yours orsomeone in a networking group
you're in or a Facebook group,or maybe you've even experienced
this.
So let's get real and step intothe shoes of the client for a
second.
Can you really blame them forbeing upset about this situation
?
Wedding photography is such amassive investment and most of
(12:25):
the time clients are paying fora brand reputation, especially
when we're talking abouthigh-end or luxury weddings.
The client has been sold on thebrand.
If you're doing a good job atmarketing, you're selling your
client on your brand and seeingan unfamiliar face and working
with someone whose personalitydoesn't perfectly align with
(12:48):
what they're expecting.
That's really stressful andit's also incredibly
disappointing.
The experience that you paintfor your client of what it's
going to be like to work withyou.
The better of a job you domarketing yourself, the more the
client is going to be excitedfor that specific experience
working with you and your brand.
So the experience of stress,disappointment, feeling like
(13:11):
they got a bait and switch, evenif the photos are absolutely
stunning.
That experience has beentotally flipped and the clients
are just going to be thinkingabout how the situation made
them feel when they see theirphotos.
So not every situation likethis ends this way, but I share
this story because this is acommon practice within the
(13:33):
wedding industry.
Like I said, you've probablyseen stories like this or heard
about them.
They're very common and a lotof times business owners can't
quite figure out why theirclients are so angry.
They must just be unreasonable,tends to be the conclusion.
It's easy to feel defensive as abusiness owner if you feel
backed into a corner by yoursituation.
(13:55):
You don't want to lose theincome, but you also can't
photograph the wedding or do thework that you've agreed to do.
So you're stuck and you need tomake the best of it.
But the best of it might be areally upset client.
So here's the danger, if it'snot already obvious this is your
brand's reputation that you'reputting on the line.
(14:15):
In a situation like that, onenasty client experience can
really negatively impact yourability to book new clients and
maintain a strong brandreputation.
Brand reputation, as youalready know, takes years to
build, but it doesn't take thatmuch to ruin it.
So it absolutely is not worthrisking that reputation in
(14:37):
situations like this.
Not only that, but you alsowant to consider do you want to
be the kind of business thatsends someone out who isn't
fully integrated into your brand, on a wedding day to a client
who has put their trust in you?
It's really challenging because, without a team in place,
taking an extended break of anykind and or not showing up for
(15:01):
your clients in the way theywere expecting it presents a
huge danger to your company'sreputation.
To contrast this situationwithin my own company, one of my
top priorities has been tocreate a culture and business
structure that supports womenwho want to grow their families
while also having a fulfillingand meaningful career.
(15:22):
For our clients, this meansthat they understand from the
start of our workingrelationship that someone on the
team is always going to be oncall on their wedding day,
should something happened to theteam lead photographer who they
booked.
This allows our clients to restat ease that if someone gets
pregnant on the team, or even ifsomeone just comes down with
(15:43):
COVID the night before theirwedding, they will have a LaVian
Rose team photographer who'sfully capable to shoot their
wedding day on call to step inand they know that as a team,
we're cohesive, we've learnedand grown together and we've
built the brand in a way toemphasize how crucial teamwork
is and that our team is thatcohesive group that they can
(16:07):
trust.
Obviously, we want our couplesto work with the photographer
they selected when booking,because that's who they've been
building a relationship with.
However, we've now been througha handful of circumstances
where the person on call reallydid need to be prepared to step
in, and it's actually a sellingpoint to our clients that they
have this extra layer ofsecurity when booking us.
(16:28):
They aren't going to miss outon the LaVian Rose experience if
, for some reason, theirphotographer is unable to shoot
their wedding day.
It's important to recognize thatsome things really are out of
our control.
Something could happen to youto prevent you from being able
to work with your client, andthis is true of anyone who is in
weddings or event-based workwhere they have to be there on
(16:50):
the day of and it only happensonce.
It's true for every singlebusiness owner in that situation
, and we're all human.
So being prepared for thatprotects you, your business and
your clients.
Now, what about if you are justoverloaded and you're not being
forced to take a break.
You just prefer to take a break.
You're taking preventativemeasures, then, to ensure that
(17:13):
you don't burn out.
If you want to do this withoutlosing income again, you need
team members to keep thebusiness going.
With a great team in place,extended time off is actually
incredibly attainable.
This past summer, evan and Itook a six-week trip.
It was a sabbatical from myregular work and we went to
(17:33):
Europe.
For me, this was right on thefront edge of our busy wedding
season.
I got back in mid-September andthings were in full swing.
I spent a full month of thattrip in London working on
non-wedding projects.
Specifically, I was working onrebooting this podcast and
building a course for you.
Then I had nearly twoadditional weeks on top of that
(17:57):
of just true vacation in Greece.
I communicated with my teampretty minimally and they knew I
wouldn't be very available forthem In that timeframe that I
was gone.
We had eight weddings booked,so my team shot eight weddings
while I wasn't even in the samecountry.
It was pretty amazing.
Now I started building my teamat the beginning of 2018 and at
(18:20):
the time of this recording,we're nearing the end of 2023.
This level of being able todisconnect didn't happen
overnight, however.
We weathered a pandemic in thattime.
I had a full client load formost of those years and I made
so many mistakes and wasstubborn about giving up some of
my unnecessary andtime-consuming habits around my
(18:42):
work.
I think that the really crucialwork happened between 2020 and
2022 to really allow me to be inthis position that I am now.
It's really two intentionalyears of work, but here we are
and I am able to completely stepaway for an extended time, and
that's really rewarding onmultiple levels.
So how do you plan to protectyour business from the
(19:04):
possibility or desire ofextended time off or extended
time not being able to do clientwork?
Is this something that you'vethought about?
Because in your life sometimesthose extended periods of time
off are going to be necessary.
The best way to protect yourbusiness and your time is to
have a solid team.
(19:25):
Let's talk about the next thingon my list, number two diversity
.
Building a team allows you tohave more diversity, which will
ultimately strengthen andprotect your business.
So diversity that word can meana lot of different things.
Let me explain how I'm usingthe term here.
I'm talking about any amount ofdifferences in thoughts,
(19:46):
opinions, outlook, the way ofdoing things Basically just
having different human beings.
And the more people you have,the more you get this diversity,
which means more brain power,broader life experiences, more
ideas and more than that.
This type of diversity makesyour company stronger.
(20:07):
It's tempting as a businessowner to think that we always
know what's best for our companyand our clients and to not
trust other people with thiswork.
Not only that, but we can be alittle bit arrogant.
At least I'm speaking formyself.
I don't know if you can relateabout our own abilities and miss
the fact that other people cancontribute diverse skill sets
(20:28):
and ideas.
That will actually make thecompany much stronger, because
different people are going tohave different strengths and
skill sets than you do.
There is so much that goes intokeeping your company strong,
your client list full, yourmarketing strategies sharp and
effective, and the more peopleyou have to contribute their
(20:48):
individual experience, the moreyou're going to be able to
ensure the success of yourcompany.
Particularly if you've beenrunning your business for a long
time several years it's veryeasy for your ways of doing
things to get a little bit datedor stale, and you don't even
necessarily have to realize thatit's happening, for it to be
happening.
(21:08):
This has actually happened tome multiple times as I've been
growing my team, and I'm stillsomehow always surprised when
one of my team members brings upa suggestion or new idea that I
think is absolutely genius andI've never thought of it before.
It always surprises me that I'mnot the first one to think of a
good idea.
That sounds terrible, but maybeyou could relate to that too.
(21:30):
We've been able to create amuch better experience for our
clients and vendor partnersbecause we're constantly
contributing ideas as a team andhaving a lot of different minds
.
Thinking about the same thingis a lot stronger than just one
person, and this is not justabout growth, although that has
absolutely happened for us.
(21:51):
We've been able to grow a lotfaster as a result of a diverse
set of opinions and ideas, butit's also added so much more
security to the business becauseI have a whole team of people
keeping a careful watch on ourprocesses, our client experience
and even just the quality ofour work.
Something I've appreciated inparticular lately has been my
(22:13):
team's ability to contribute tokeeping our ideas modern and
fresh without falling too muchinto a cookie cutter pattern or
way of doing things.
Consistency is incrediblyimportant in wedding photography
, but if consistency becomes theultimate thing, the art becomes
a little stale and dated reallyquickly.
(22:34):
Sometimes I pick up on what'snew in the industry really
easily, but then there are otherthings that my team will point
out that I totally miss and I'dprobably continue to miss
without their input.
This kind of teamwork andrefining as a group has made our
company a lot stronger and morestable, like I said before,
which has protected us becauseit's allowed us to keep a
(22:55):
consistent brand but also stayup to date and modern, so that
we don't miss out on the cuttingedge of what's going on in the
wedding industry.
Even the smartest people in theworld have blind spots.
A team allows you to cover oneanother's blind spots and refine
each other as you grow to bebetter and better at what you do
(23:15):
.
So next let's talk about numberthree income and profit.
Building a team allows you toprotect and stabilize your
income.
It's not just about the bottomline, but team members can and
will be directly related toincreased income if you grow
your team the right way.
I don't just mean the totalgross income either, because if
(23:38):
your business is making more butyou're paying yourself less.
That's not really a success.
I'm talking about increasedprofit.
I think everyone likes the ideaof more money, but when it
comes to protecting yourbusiness, having a larger margin
means that you can invest backinto your business when you need
to, without straining yourpersonal income or getting into
(24:01):
a tight spot.
The ability to invest back intoyour business is a way to
protect your business, becauseit allows you to make those
decisions to spend on what youknow will make your business
stronger and better, without afear of will there be enough.
And not only that.
We all know that sometimes bignecessary purchases or expenses
for your business just going topop up without warning.
(24:22):
Increased income for yourbusiness means more safety and
security.
In these moments, you have moreof a buffer For our own
business.
This increased income has meantthat we can invest in larger
projects and ideas without mehaving to worry about whether or
not I'll be getting a pay checkat the end of each month.
As I'm recording this, we'reactually about to open a studio
(24:43):
like a brick and mortar space,which will have a large space
for shoots.
It'll have several offices, aco-working area and more.
I never would have been able todo this without putting
everything at risk if I didn'thave a team.
So the income and profit isboth proactive and being able to
invest in more for yourbusiness, and it also protects
(25:06):
against the unexpected financialdifficulties or needs that pop
up when you least expect them,by giving you more overall to
work with financially.
Let's move on to number fourpassion.
Your business will be moreprotected from burnout and you
will be more able to retain thepassion you have for your work
(25:27):
if you have a team.
Protection from burnout, whichunfortunately can be so
detrimental to a business, is areality that most creative
business owners face, and itoften comes faster than you
expect.
Maybe you yourself haveexperienced some burnout already
in your business.
The terrible thing aboutburnout is that there's really
(25:48):
nothing you can do to just snapout of it.
Even if you're good at hidingit, it will eventually show in
your work and it's going toaffect your energy to be able to
work on anything else in yourbusiness as well.
I think that in the creativewedding industry and I don't
have any specific facts orfigures to back this up, it's
really just my own experiencebut I think in the creative
(26:10):
wedding industry.
Burnout is probably a topcontributor to why businesses
end up closing.
I personally have seen thathappen with a lot of business
owners.
What ends up happening isyou've been stretched too thin
and you either just totally giveup your work or your work
suffers so greatly that no onewants to work with you anymore.
(26:31):
This is a really tough subjectand if you have been through a
season of burnout, I'm so sorry.
I personally have been throughseasons of burnout as well, and
one in particular really broughtme to a breaking point.
Thankfully, I was able toimmediately stop booking
weddings for myself in thatmoment, and I knew my team would
(26:52):
be able to keep booking theirown weddings.
Now, unfortunately, it tookabout a year to be able to get
through all the weddings on mybooks, but honestly, having a
team through that time while Iwas continuing to shoot it made
things so much better.
I felt encouraged and inspiredand even when I wasn't saying or
acknowledging my burnoutdirectly, just having trusted
(27:15):
team members around me, itreally did lift me up and,
equally as important, I knewthat a break was coming and that
my business wasn't going tofall behind as a result.
That felt really amazing andspurred me on to want to pour
even more into my team, and itreally contrasted a season of
burnout I had had several yearsbefore when I didn't have a team
(27:36):
, and that season really pushedme to start a team for this very
reason.
So having a team of peoplearound you protects you from
burnout or the resulting effectsof burnout, by allowing you to
be particular about the work youdo take on, and if you start to
feel yourself burning out, yourteam will be able to catch you.
(27:57):
You can encourage one another.
It also sharpens your creativeabilities and protects you
creatively not just from burnout, but also from isolation.
It is wonderful to havefrienders or people in your
network or industry who do whatyou do, that you trust and that
you can share with.
Those can be really sweetfriendships and I have some of
(28:19):
them myself.
But you are, at the end of theday, working on different teams
and you may even be competingfor the same clients with these
people, but when you have teammembers, you're able to cheer
one another on and encourageeach other in the work that
you're doing.
You're on the same team.
This has allowed me to feelexcited about shooting weddings
(28:40):
again, and I've also been ableto step back a little bit and I
take on so much less now than Iused to, and I know for a fact
that a team can also do this foryou.
Finally, let's talk about numberfive impact Building a team
protects your business fromfading into the background and
ensures a true impact.
So this one is maybe the mostdifficult to explain or
(29:04):
understand.
It might feel kind ofintangible.
So let's get into the details.
Impact means a lot of things.
I commonly refer to it as a wayto make a positive difference
in the world through yourbusiness, but for the sake of
this specifically, even morebroadly, impact has to do with
how the industry that you are inin the world is different
(29:27):
because your business is in it.
Your business isn't necessarilyan immediate danger if you're
not making a large impact justthis moment, but it is a lot
easier to fade into thebackground or lose touch when
your impact is, overall, smaller.
Adding to your team allows youto reach a larger audience and
(29:47):
you are also able to naturallymix closely with other social
circles that those team membershave.
Your brand can therefore becomemore widely recognized and
known just by nature of havingmore people, the expanding
community and resultingexpanding impact, give you more
of a presence and create longterm stability.
(30:08):
And the people on your teamdon't have to be super well
connected for this to be thecase.
Just having different people onyour team talking to different
people in the industry, workingwith different clients, that
achieves that.
You have more people to makemore of an impact.
So, like I said before, thismight feel a little bit
intangible to you or like itdoesn't actually matter, and I
(30:30):
get that.
You may feel like you alreadyhave a pretty strong brand and
it doesn't need to get anybigger or more secure, but for
those of you with big dreams ofgrowing and becoming a top
player in your industry, this isa primary way to do it.
You will always be in a lotmore danger of losing your
impact if it's just you.
(30:51):
You can probably see that inall the other reasons we've
talked about so far in thisepisode.
So if impact matters to youwhich, if you want to keep
growing, it definitely shouldThen it's worth understanding
the risks of being a business ofone and the difficulty you'll
face in making a large impactlong term if it continues to
(31:12):
just be you.
Okay, so this has all been alot of information, and it can
feel a little bit heavy or maybestressful if you don't
currently have a team and you'reseeing the reality of this in
your own business.
I want you to leave thisepisode feeling excited and
empowered to protect yourbusiness.
So let's talk about some simpleaction steps you can take today
(31:34):
, even if you don't currentlyhave anyone on your team.
First step to take Consider eachof these five things we just
talked about and write out thespecific ways that you see this
applying to your own business.
I encourage you, with this step, to be brutally honest with
yourself.
The more honest you are, thebetter you'll be able to ensure
(31:56):
that your business thrives longterm.
Next, consider what you wantout of your life.
It's a big question, right, andnotice that I didn't say what
you want out of your business.
No, we are looking at this evenmore big picture.
So consider for a moment whatyour ideal life looks like.
And even better, if you writethis down, come back to it,
(32:16):
refine it, make it into anofficial statement or mantra.
I'm not going to get into moredetails about writing a personal
vision statement in thisepisode, but if you want help in
casting that vision for yourlife so that you can get clear
on the path forward for yourbusiness.
You can check out handofyorncomslash vision for a free
workbook resource that I havefor you and I'll link that in
(32:39):
the description as well.
So really consider what youwant out of life and then think
about what this means for yourbusiness.
This is going to help clarifywhich points of vulnerability in
your business are most crucial,and it will also help you know
exactly what you do and don'twant to get out of your business
, both financially and inpersonal fulfillment.
(33:01):
Finally, consider what types ofteam members would help fill
those roles that would allow youto protect your business and
allow it to thrive as well.
Get really clear on all thedifferent roles that they'll
fill and then set a deadline foryourself when do you need to
make your very first hire?
Or, if you already have teammembers and are seeing that you
(33:24):
need to add even more, when doyou need to make your next hire?
Like I said, this was a lot ofinformation today, and I know
that growing a team can feellike a complete impossibility.
It's too overwhelming, there'stoo many unknowns.
Well, this is something that Iknow a lot about and that I'm
passionate about.
I love talking about teambuilding because there's such a
(33:47):
need and so little resources forteam building in the wedding
industry and, honestly, in thecreative entrepreneurship world
in general.
I've created a team buildingcourse for you If this is
something that you're interestedin learning about, if this is
something that you really needhelp with, you want to build a
team and you want to do it theright way.
I don't have an official launchdate for you yet, but if this is
(34:10):
of interest to you, shoot me anemail info at
hannahbjornedollcom or send me aDM on Instagram at
hannahbjornedoll.
If it's an email, in thesubject line write the word team
and I will put you on my shortVIP list so that you have the
first opportunity to sign up forthis course before it fills up.
I also hope you'll continue totune into this podcast.
(34:33):
I have so much to share aboutbuilding a team in the next
several weeks and months.
It's something that reallyexcites me and that I really
want you to be able to do.
Well, and that's a wrap.
Thanks so much for listening toteam building for creative
business owners.
I hope you learned somethingnew that you can use to grow and
thrive.
If you're interested in gettingin touch, send me a message at
(35:00):
info at hannahbjornedollcom, oryou can always shoot me a DM on
Instagram.
I'm at hannahbjornedoll.
I'll see you back here nextweek.
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