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I hope you all had wonderful Easter weekends! Welcome to Craft Venture! I’m Brenda from Phydeaux Designs – continuing to help you learn how to make great hiring decisions! Last week, we talked about the true costs of an employee (hint: it’s not just salary!). This week, we’ll finish what we started last week: defining and creating a “reality-based job.”
Why go through all the bother of creating a defined job for the position you need? Because the work you do now will save you time and pain down the road, trust me! Your job description serves many purposes, including creating your plan for recruitment, training and even basis for evaluation. After all, if you haven’t defined what you hired your employee to do, how do you know if he or she is doing it well … or at all?
The good news is that your job description can be as simple as a few sentences or an outline. And an outline is easy to create. Let’s look at my job details template from last week (which you can download for your own use!).
Hi everyone! I’m glad you’re back for this week’s Craft Venture! I’m Brenda from Phydeaux Designs – back for more on our series on hiring help. Last week, we talked about the true costs of an employee (hint: it’s not just salary!). This week, we’ll start to define and create a “reality-based job.”
I believe three main factors lead to hiring nightmares, all of which nearly all of us are guilty of at one point or another: hiring the wrong person, ineffective supervision, and not creating a reality-based position.
I’ll help you learn how to reduce your chances of hiring the wrong person and we’ll touch on supervision. This week, we’re talking about creating reality-based jobs.
Creating an effective, reality-based job isn’t necessarily easy, but is definitely achievable! You just need to define the work that only you can do and be willing to give up some or all of the work that you don’t personally have to perform. (If you have major control issues, this will be very challenging for you!) You also have to know what you can afford – is the level of work that you can let go of at a salary level that you can afford paying? If not, you may need to hire at a lower skill level.
Once you define the work, you will more easily know what your applicant’s skills, experience, education need to be. Try not to start off with a picture in your head of the applicant you want or think you want; if you focus on the work and not on your vision of your perfect employee, this will be much easier for you.
Hi everyone! I’m glad you’re back for this week’s Craft Venture! I’m Brenda from Phydeaux Designs – back to continue our new series on hiring help. Last week, we talked about the three main characteristics you want your employees to have. This week, we’re talking about what you can afford to pay an employee.
Before we talk about any more of the nuts and bolts of hiring, you have to make sure you can afford to hire someone! Many indie business owners have very slim profit margins – do you make enough after your direct costs and overhead expense to pay an employee?
First, let’s talk about what an employee costs.
Let’s say you think you can afford to pay a part-time employee minimum wage, which varies from state to state, and may also vary within your state. Let’s say that in your state, you have verified that minimum wage is $8.25/hour.
But! There are more costs than just an hourly wage! You’ll need to talk with your accountant about the taxes associated with an employee. Are you required by your state to cover any benefits for your halftime employee? What about workers compensation? Will you need to purchase supplies or equipment for your employee (e.g., safety gear, sewing supplies, an extra computer to work from)? Do you need to send your employee to specialized training (e.g., a class for a specific software program)? How much of your own time will be spent training your new employee, which will decrease your productivity during that time period?
Hi everyone! I’m glad you’re back for this week’s Craft Venture! I’m Brenda from Phydeaux Designs – back to continue our new series on hiring help. This week, we’ll step back a bit to talk about WHO you want to hire, to make sure your employee(s) are as passionate and motivated as you are!
I’ve spent quite a bit of time this last week looking into the possibility of hiring a part-time helper, which doesn’t scare me at all – I’ve recruited for all sorts of positions during my management career. I’ve developed a set of criteria over time that better ensures hiring super star performers, which I’ll be sharing with all of you.
If you’re responsible for hiring staff for your employer (so that you’re not solely responsible for your financial bottom line), it’s a little less daunting to make poor hiring decisions. You may have a poor performer, but you still get paid, they still get paid, and many managers just work around their poor performers in order to not deal with them.
However, as a small business owner, you are likely existing with a very small profit margin. A poor hiring decision could end up being disastrous, not only financially, but also emotionally and even legally.
The good news is that you don’t have to make poor hiring decisions! You can learn how to make really great hiring decisions. It does take work and time – I’ve regretted every single “I don’t have time to spend on this” hiring decision. You can absolutely develop skill and confidence as you make increasingly better hires.
But before we start in on the business of recruiting great staff, let’s back up for a more philosophical discussion that – trust me – is essential to successful recruitment. The three bottom line skills/attitudes/talents that you need for great employees are self motivation, internal locus of control, and an ability and passion for continual learning. All three factors are very nearly always present in super star employees!
Happy Monday everyone and welcome to this week’s Craft Venture! I’m Brenda from Phydeaux Designs, and we’re starting a new series this week, about hiring help! In my previous day job, I had to hire or be involved in the hiring of many people. I learned quickly (the hard way) that making superb hiring decisions is absolutely essential – hiring underperforming, nonmotivated or even dishonest staff is an absolute nightmare and complete waste of your limited monetary (and other) resources. The thought of hiring a helper may be terrifying for some folks for just that reason, along with others. There is both a science and an art to great recruitment – and I look forward to sharing that with you!
I’ve heard a recurring theme when talking with handmade and vintage sellers lately. “I wish I could hire someone to help me.” Everyone has great ideas about what their helper could do: package and ship orders, do piecework, catalog/inventory stock. The possibilities are endless! Many of us are in the same place in our businesses: just on the brink of being large enough to be able to afford/absolutely need help.
I’m in the same position myself! I will most certainly need help this coming Fall and holiday season. I could have really benefitted from help during January and February while I was focused on preparations to vend at a huge annual marketplace for knitters. My focus meant less focus on my online and wholesale business. With help, I might have been better able to handle both.
Maybe you dream of help. Maybe you’ve already hired an assistant or apprentice or two. Maybe you hire seasonal help or helpers for trade/craft shows. I think at any given point, we all dream about having more pairs of hands to help with our businesses. This kicks off a series about how to find and hire the best possible help for your business, as well as things you’ll need to be aware of and/or think about (oh, say, like the “law?”).
Happy Monday everyone and welcome to this week’s Craft Venture! I’m Brenda from Phydeaux Designs, with another post about product photography! Last week, we talked about styling ideas for your photos. Today, I wanted to share with you some online resources to help you improve your photography skills (or learn new ones!).
The internet is full of fantastic resources for just about anything, including photography! Lost your camera manual? Turn to Google or just head to the manufacturer’s website for a digital replacement in a matter of minutes.
The internet is full of free and for-pay resources for photographers, both professional and fledgling. I wanted to share a few with you today, but would also love for you to share those that you use in the comments!
Welcome back to Craft Venture! I’m Brenda from Phydeaux Designs, with another post about product photography! Last week, we talked about what to avoid with your photos. Today, we’re talking about some styling ideas to make your photos come to life.
A little ditty has been running through my head for the past few weeks as I think about how I want my own online shop to look. “Are these the photos I want Martha Stewart or insert-other-big-celebrity-name-with-the-power-to-affect-my-business-in-an-unbelievable-way-here?”
What if you knew for certain that Martha Stewart’s staff would be looking at your shop tomorrow? Are your photos up to snuff? You’ll get a 20 to 30 second chance if this were to actually happen; if your photos aren’t immediately engaging, your chance is shot.
Until computers are equipped with smell-o-vision or virtual reality becomes available to all, your photos are absolutely crucial to the success of your business. Your photos are the first thing that potential customers see – or don’t see! You want your photos to be those that stand out in a sea of other photos and draw customers into your virtual shop.
Because you can’t smell or feel the items in your photo, you need to bring your photos to life for your customers. Turn two dimensional into three dimensional! Show your items in use! Create movement! Taking a snapshot of your secret recipe brownies on a napkin on your floor is flat, unengaging, and unappetizing. But style your brownies so that they’re on a clean white plate with a frosty cold glass of milk with a red gingham napkin … and you’re showing someone brownies about to be devoured.
