Ever heard the old adage that the tall tree catches more wind? It’s true in business, as well. The bigger your business, the bigger your potential for hiccups. While so many planners work toward the day they need to scale their business, it’s important you don’t find yourself there without a process in place to deal with all of the challenges that can arise from a booming business (good problems to have, if we do say so ourselves). From growing a team or operating in multiple locations to overseeing clients with wedding days on the same weekend—whatever scaling looks like for you, when your business evolves, your process should, too. Today, then, we’re breaking down our top tips on how to scale successfully.
1. Take the time to build out templates.
Having to reinvent the wheel with every new client or project is a surefire way to stifle your growth. As you see and feel your business scaling up, make it a priority to create templates for things like checklists, proposals, contracts, and timelines—and use technology for wedding planners to your advantage. Taking some time to sit down and do so before your business hits that point of major success will save you so much time—and countless headaches—in the long run. Timeline Genius is an industry-leading wedding timeline generator that allows planners to template out their timelines—so you can spend less time laboring over timelines and more time signing new clients and planning parties to pure perfection (you business guru, you).
2. Create a process for hiring and onboarding new team members.
If bringing on new team members is a part of your scaling process, you need a plan in place. After all, having to spend a crazy amount of time walking each new team member through everything or holding their hand is no way to scale (and it sort of defeats the point of bringing on new help in the first place). Create an employee handbook for them to go through, ensure you’re using online planning tools and business management systems that you can easily add new members to, and schedule specific meeting times to make sure they are learning what they need.
3. Have a clearly defined workflow.
This might just be the most important tip when it comes to how to scale your processes as your business scales. If you’re hoping to manage multiple weddings or operate in multiple locations, you simply won’t have the time (or capacity) to be constantly inundated with questions from your team about what to do next. Instead, empower those around you by documenting your wedding planning workflow in a master checklist that they work from. Even if you don’t plan on growing your team, you still need a clearly defined workflow as a solopreneur, as it helps keep you on track (even the most organized planner in the world is bound to make a mistake or mis a step when her business scales).
Overall, the key to scaling successfully—and avoiding missteps as you go—is to ensure you have processes in place that can handle all the extra work (and additional team members) that will be coming your way. Stepping up from the minor league to the big league is great—but make sure you’re prepared to hit it out of the park when you get there.
Want even more pro tips for building your wedding-planning business? Browse the rest of the Timeline Genius blog. Or head straight to Timeline Genius to start working with our wedding timeline generator today!
