Hey!
This week’s Chatty Tuesday comes straight from my heart because it’s something that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately.
What do you do when you start to wonder whether to add an employee to your small business or not? Would the pros of having another person on board outweigh the cons?
I knew I had to choose this for today’s Chatty Tuesday episode because it fits perfectly with a big surprise I have been dying to share with you! For those of you who want to be the first to know, you’re going to have to watch the whole video to find out, although I’m sure you can guess 😉
Tweetable: “Your business is here to give you freedom in the form of time and money” #ChattyTuesday @alexbeadon
Welcome Lizzie to the Alex Beadon Photography team: @lizziebeadon WELCOME to the @alexbeadon team!
I’m really looking forward to reading the conversation in the comment section afterwards. Knowing what all of your opinions are on each weekly topic has added so much interest and intrigue because we all have different experiences and veiw points to share, and through sharing we all learn!
So, if you haven’t joined in on the conversation in the comment section yet – you’re missing out! Head on down to the bottom of this post and leave your opinion and contribution!
Let’s discuss, my friends! Leave your comment below!
Woohoo! Congrats, Lizzie! I adore her blog and already follow her on Twitter! Great addition to your team, Alex!
Hi Ali!
You’re the first person to comment on the new commenting system 🙂 YAY! Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to leave a comment and thanks for welcoming Lizzie to the team 🙂 She is the very best one for the job, overseeing the analytical and strategic side of things while I get to focus on the creative side of things! We’re going to have lots of fun in this business together and I’m so glad you approve of the decision 🙂 She’s amazing!
Big hugs!
xoxo
Congrats and looking forward to what these changes bring 🙂
As usual, thanks for the chatty tuesdays!
Best of luck to you both 🙂
Hi Dixie!
Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment! I’m so excited to have Lizzie on board and can’t wait to see where this leads us in the future!
Big hugs!
xoxo
Hi Alex! Great video as always!
Just wanted to share my experience with trying to hire on a team member. I let my friend who is really passionate about photography come on board as someone who would keep the Facebook up, and be in charge of coming to shoots and holding the reflector and or props. It worked for a little while, then she started complaining a lot, and wanted to change things saying they’d look better her way. To say the least things did not work out.
Like you, I hope one day to have a Tina Carr Photography team. I’ve learned from my past experience and when that time comes I will be even more picky as to who I hire. Thanks again for all you do to help others out by making your Chatty Tuesday videos and congratulations on adding! Hi Lizzie!! =]
Can’t wait for next Tuesdays video!!
Hi Tina!
Thank you so much for sharing this experience here with us! That’s such a shame that it didn’t work out. What lessons did you learn that you can pass on for the rest of us? Do you think the problem was a lack in clarification over her role? Or possibly that she just wanted to learn what she could from you and then move on to do her own thing when she was ready? Very interested to hear from you!
I think being picky about who you hire is SO important. You really want to build a team that is dedicated to excellence and to your business’ success and mission.
Thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to comment! Loved hearing your story!
Big hugs
xoxo
Ok I’m still trying to figure out this new commenting thing. But I commented in the wrong spot and it showed up as guest. LOL But that long one by guest down there is from me! =]
Hey Tina!
Yes, I just implemented this new commenting system so that we could better respond to each other in the comment section of the blog and so that it would be more of a conversation 🙂
BIG HUGS! and thanks for the response below!
xoxo
Not
to sound mean at all, but I think what it boiled down to was, that
friend has shown countless times that she can be very lazy. And I think
when it deep down I was hoping she would change, if I brought her on
because it’s something she was wanting as well as something I was
wanting. I also think she wanted to move on to her own thing, but her
and I work completely different and have completely different styles and
as of this current moment in time. She is not even working on starting
up or anything. When I take a step back and look at everything, it’s
more like she wanted to take what I had already created and try and make
it hers if that makes sense.
Some advice I would give is to really be picky!! Sometimes you have
to be the mean one, who says “You know I really don’t think us working
together would be a good idea.” I know I wish I had. And since then I’ve
had someone ask to join my team, and I had to decline because I know
the type of person they can be. You have to really step back and realize
will this move be beneficial to my business, will it make my business
go in the direction I want it to go. And if it does, then continue being
picky the whole hiring process until you are 100% sure you have the
right person to help you succeed! And if not, then move on to the next
person. I know for a while I felt bad for having to turn that person
down, but then I realized “I have nothing to feel bad about!” If success
is what I want for my business, then I can’t take steps backwards, I
have to keep moving forward and hiring on someone who isn’t going to
fulfill my wishes, would only cause me to take a step back.
Not to sound mean at all, but I think what it boiled down to was, that friend has shown countless times that she can be very lazy. And I think when it deep down I was hoping she would change, if I brought her on because it’s something she was wanting as well as something I was wanting. I also think she wanted to move on to her own thing, but her and I work completely different and have completely different styles and as of this current moment in time. She is not even working on starting up or anything. When I take a step back and look at everything, it’s more like she wanted to take what I had already created and try and make it hers if that makes sense.
Some advice I would give is to really be picky!! Sometimes you have to be the mean one, who says “You know I really don’t think us working together would be a good idea.” I know I wish I had. And since then I’ve had someone ask to join my team, and I had to decline because I know the type of person they can be. You have to really step back and realize will this move be beneficial to my business, will it make my business go in the direction I want it to go. And if it does, then continue being picky the whole hiring process until you are 100% sure you have the right person to help you succeed! And if not, then move on to the next person. I know for a while I felt bad for having to turn that person down, but then I realized “I have nothing to feel bad about!” If success is what I want for my business, then I can’t take steps backwards, I have to keep moving forward and hiring on someone who isn’t going to fulfill my wishes, would only cause me to take a step back.
Tina! YES! That’s another thing the book “E-Myth Revisited” taught me – I have to put my business’ needs before my own needs. It’s exactly what you were saying – even though you want to be nice and say YES to the person who wants to work with you, if it’s not best for your business you HAVE to stand up for your business and say no. It’s unfortunate, especially for us people pleasers, but vital if you want success. I LOVE the questions you asked yourself, “Will this move be beneficial to my business? Will it make my business go in the direction I want it to go?” Great questions! Thanks for sharing!
xoxo
“I believe that choosing the right person to bring on board to do the business administration is the best thing you could do”.
YES.
I could NOT agree more. I was just like the person who sent in the query that inspired this feature Alex – fearful that if I delegated, my voice, my personality that I felt was a critical aspect of my brand, would be lost. I could not have been more wrong. I now write off a portion of income every month to pay someone to handle most of my administration and it is the BEST thing I ever did. I am considering putting more funds aside to cover more support infact, so worth while this investment has been.
I’m lucky in that the person working for me is a bride who loved reading my blog during her wedding planning, she also featured on it and so she just gets my brand through and through and shares my vision – in the same way I imagine your Sisters does for you.
I was very aware that I was reaching that ‘tipping point’ where everything was just too much for me on my own and where I was starting to fail to cope with it all and knew I had to do something. It is scary at first, in the same way that anyone who has taken the leap of faith to become self employed, is scary. But I think for any successful small business that is experiencing healthy growth, there will always be that tipping point – it’s so important that you act when this occurs so not to avoid potential business failure. I was getting to the point where I couldn’t find time to send my invoices out in a timely manner which was having an effect on banking and my commitments to pay bills etc! My bank manager said to me that the biggest reason for failure in almost all small businesses during the first two years, is failure to manage cashflow. This was a huge wake up call for me – I realised that it was critical that I got support in to help me get on top of the admin side of things and invoices out on time, or it wouldn’t be long before I had no business to run at all!
I was discussing this very issue recently with another wedding industry colleague and she said to me “you have to spend money to make money”. It really is true. I am so delighted to also have someone to bounce ideas off.
Good luck with everything Alex, I love watching you grow your business, it’s inspiring.
xXx
Hi Annabel!
Thank you for such an amazing comment, it’s so wonderful to hear a story of success from a blogger like you! Love it!
What you said about the importance of having someone on board who gets what you do, is passionate about it, sees your vision, and understands your brand is ALL so important! One of the main reasons I chose Lizzie was simply because she understands what I do and she is passionate about making all of the goals an actual reality, you know? That’s huge for me and I feel lucky in that regard.
I think you described it so perfectly, it’s very scary in such a similar way to when you decide to become self employed! I could not have said it better myself. For me it was scary because if I kept going the way I was going I would never grow and I was literally drowning in the work, which is never good for the creative soul. But simultaneously scary because of course my business would then be responsible for two people as opposed to one. Ahh!
Now that I’ve just gone ahead and taken a leap of faith I am SO HAPPY that there are two of us on board! It makes it that much more exciting, I love the companionship and I love that the business is now STRONGER than it was before! Honestly, though, I can’t wait to see the effects of having her on board. Her mind works in different ways than mine and she’s already brought incredible and creative strategic ideas to the table – love her for it!
Again, thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment 🙂 I loved it!
Here’s to spending money to make money 😉 and to watching both of businesses grow and succeed so that we can continue to inspire each other!
Big hugs
xoxo
Hi Alex! Congratz, Disqus is indeed a very nice plugin to have in any community web site. (As a suggestion, and this is a very humble opinion, but as a very active user in web community enviroments, I think is better if you set the new messages to display first, otherwise you have to read the comments from bottom to top.)
Regarding the topic you talked about in the video, I wrote you an email with a situation that has something to do with this kind of scenario.
Best regards,
Pablo
Hi Pablo!
Thank you for the advice 🙂 I’m still getting the hang of Disqus but I’m loving it loving it LOVING IT for the conversation it now allows. It makes it much easier! I’ve done what you said and changed the settings 🙂 yay!
Thanks for your email! I will try and get to it today!
Have a lovely day!
xoxo
Sorry! I meant «older» messages first (at the top).
And, BTW, welcome Lizzie!
Pablo S.