IG Live: Building Your Dream Team
Hello and welcome back!
Thank you for joining me for this month’s Instagram Live session.
Great topic this month: “Building a Dream Team”. Scroll down for a text explanation of the talk and additional resources.
I’m going to start by sharing some indicators for when I know I’m ready to bring on more staff.
When the physical space tended has exceeded ~80x100ft per person.
When we are not maintaining the health of plants or starting new plants on the schedule we planned to keep
When we are missing out on opportunities for sales because we don’t have time to pursue them
How do I afford new staff? In the earliest years of my business I took care to pair a new sales opportunity with each new hire. For example, I’d set up a new employee to work at a farmer’s market (with training). The sales goal was to bring home enough income from the market to make sure the staff member’s hours were paid for their several days of work or work week. This way, the other days when they were working on the farm with weeding or other tasks, felt almost like “free labor” days. This format for growing the team had little impact on my day-to-day responsibilities and the extra days of labor helped me increase the production on my farm, so that even more sales were possible.
When you’re thinking about bringing more people to help with your farmer-florist operation, another thing you may want to consider is your own sales potential if you are not tasked with performing jobs that prevent you from pursuing more or other kinds of opportunities for your business. For example, I thought a lot in the slow moments at farmer’s markets about the kinds of work I’d be doing for my business if I wasn’t at that market. Could I put together and share a wedding proposal with a new client in the hours I was standing and waiting and performing simple transactions at the farmer’s markets? Yes. Could I be doing some higher value design work instead? Yes. When you get to the point that the decisions you’re making regularly are earning your business more than entry level wages, you are probably ready to find someone to help take over some of the tasks that are teachable skills.
If you’re wondering if it might be time to make a new hire, try making a list of all the tasks you do that could be easily taught to someone else. As independent, small business owners, we can fall into a trap centered on the idea that we’re the only ones that can do everything right for our businesses. —And that taking the time to teach someone else to help is time wasted. We’re wrong when we hold on to that train of thought. Nearly everything you do as a farmer-florist can be taught to others, freeing you up to provide better communications to your customers, to pursue projects that help your business grow, or to think up and act on larger opportunities.
It’s also important to the long term sustainability of our businesses and income that we be able to step away as needed. For one— we all need to take a break now and again. Breaks are vital to business growth, because they help us step back, re-energize our hearts and minds, and often provide clarity and new ideas. But also— what if you get sick or injured? Having even just one more person trained in what you do, or even to just help maintain your plants and assemble flower bunches the way you like them to be made can make all the difference.
Job Descriptions:
I list our openings in a few places.
on our website
on social media
on local list-serves
Here are sample listings for a flower farming and design assistant positions. You are welcome to use them as is or change them to suit your needs.
Flower Farmer position:
We are seeking to fill seasonal farming/agriculture related positions. These are crop farming roles (not gardening, floral design, photography/social media, or marketing positions). Applicants should be comfortable working outside for long periods of time and cold, hot, rainy and snowy weather, bending and kneeling to plant, weed, and harvest crops, lifting heavy supplies (about 60lbs) and participating in manual pest removal to support our organic farming practices. It is hard work, but we’re also surrounded daily by the beauty of our efforts and that is pretty magical and we have a pretty awesome team! Farming experience is preferred, but not required. Starting at $20/hour.
Design Assistant position:
We are seeking a floral design assistant to support the production of orders in our studio. (This is not a flower farming, social media marketing, or photography position). Assignments will include, organizing and tidying the studio, processing materials, making series of arrangements (like centerpieces, boutonnières, and bouquets) based on samples provided to you that we have determined will best meet the client’s expectations, making “daily” singleton arrangements to order. Experience in floral design is preferred, but not required. We will provide some training. Successful candidates will work well in a fast-paced environment, seek feedback and ask questions often, and work well with a team. An understanding of the principles of design, the elements of art, and color theory are a must. Often, our designers can transfer their knowledge from other art or design fields to their work here. Starting at $25/hour
Applications:
I have an application form on my website and it is set to send me responses directly to my inbox so I can act on them.
I do check references. That can be a really easy way to learn a little more about someone.
And for the candidates that seem qualified, I generally call them first on the phone to make sure they understand the job responsibilities. I also ask them a few questions - like, “what are your goals in working here?” I’m concerned if I hear something like, “I just love to be around flowers.” I’m thrilled to hear, “I admire your commitment to sustainability/diversity/social justice/organic farming/etc. and I want to learn more about a professional cut flower operation. I hope to have my own farm one day.”
Then, I’ll ask them to come for a working day 4-hour interview. I’ll pay them to come and try it out. I don’t want someone to be inhibited from coming to interview here because they have to miss a day of paid work elsewhere.
While they’re here visiting….we have them try everything and work with everyone. I want them to have a nice broad experience, but I also always include task that people are typically quick to turn down.
Benefits:
Because I am a 1099 employer. and I do not have benefits for my staff other than free flowers, I try to be very flexible.
Every Friday we make ourselves “Friday Flowers” bouquets to take home. It’s important to me that my staff enjoys flowers in their homes. They see how our flowers do in terms of vase life. They start to learn which flowers last the longest. It helps inform their decisions when they are tasked with assembling mixed bunches and arrangements.
We take a paid break for 20-30 mins. at 11am every work day. Most of us work outside on the farm from 8am-2pm, Monday to Friday. We call it “onze” - or “11” in French because Moussa up and walked away his first day with me to take this break he granted himself. It stuck.
I close the farm on national holidays and I offer those as paid holidays. Memorial Day, Juneteenth, 4th of July, Labor Day, Indigenous People’s Day, Election Day, Thanksgiving, and New Year’s. I encourage and expect people to take time off for religious holidays or personal days. I have no set maximum for unpaid days a person might choose to take off. They ARE independent contractors and I respect their schedules, too. I just ask that they add the days they intend to take off to our office calendar so that we can plan accordingly.
I allow staff members to bring their kids along with them if they have some days without child care or when child care would negate their earnings or mean they couldn’t work at all. Now— obviously you have to weigh your situation. Some families might not be able to handle that. But when as have a new mother or young child it can make sense.
On the hottest days we stop and take a popsicle break at 1pm. I keep the freezer stocked with Outshine pops.
Let me know if you have any questions. This is a complex topic and I’m sure there are areas of it that merit a deeper conversation. I am happy to share more information with you or dig some areas further.
