5 tips to help go from a one-man-band to team set up
After 8 years of working for myself as an Alcohol Licensing Consultant, Licence Leader Ltd. is expanding to take on new team members and open a new office.
I worked for the City of Wolverhampton Council running a team of licensing officers for many years and found that lots of licence applicants needed help and didn't understand the law and how to go about obtaining a licence. I set up Licence Leader to specialise in helping our clients understand the minefield of legislation, how to go about obtaining a licence and to make that process as painless as possible.
Fast forward eight years and 1000+ happy clients and we're opening an office in Hertfordshire to serve the South and South East of England. It's all moving along nicely, but truth be told, it's scary and exciting in equal measure. Here's our 5 tips to moving from a one-man-band to team set up to ensure everything goes smoothly:
1. Training: All of our consultants are extensively trained so that we are confident in our ability to advise our clients and execute our licensing strategies to the very best of our abilities. Our on-the-job training includes working together on application processes, with a gradual handover of responsibilities.
2. Face time with the team: Even though the offices are based in Birmingham and Hertfordshire, we have in-person meetings every month. We feel that this is crucial in building trust and camaraderie in the team - it's also a chance to get a real sense for how the business is developing.
3. Updated branding and marketing materials: Growing the team meant that there was a chance to look at our branding and website (launching soon) and have a bit of a makeover. Bringing marketing experience into the team has helped with this, but having a facelift as new staff come on board means that we can all feel a sense of shared ownership of the brand and this helps build team spirit and, we feel, will help grow loyalty.
4. Competitive remuneration: The licensing trade is buoyant and we want to reflect this with the team. We are at capacity currently so adding a new office in Hertfordshire where there is growing demand makes sense both from a commercial and geographical sense. We're able to provide the same level of service from both offices, but save a huge amount of time on travel. We want to reward our consultants with decent packages and make sure they are invested in the future of the company from the outset.
5. Values: Often overlooked in the sole trader setting, values become very important when team members are added. It's easy to live your values when you work for yourself, but we want to make sure we have a shared set of values that we all live every day through the way we do business, treat our clients, and hope to be treated ourselves. We're deciding these values together, taking cues from the way the business has been run up to now. Our values will help us grow successfully with a shared sense of purpose.
Rob Edge, Owner / Founder