Your Small Business Team 101: Who Should Be in Your Corner?

Your Small Business Team 101: Who Should Be in Your Corner?

You started a business because you're good at something.

Maybe you're a contractor, hairstylist, consultant, mechanic, photographer, landscaper, electrician, designer, or you make the world's best cookies.

You probably did not start a business because you were excited to learn bookkeeping, payroll, taxes, insurance, contracts, banking, marketing, employment laws, and about 47 other things nobody warned you about.

Welcome to small business. 😂

One of the biggest mistakes I see small business owners make is thinking:

"It's my business. I should know how to do all of this."

Nope.

You don't need to know everything.

You need to know who to call.

And when I say you need a "team," I'm not talking about hiring a bunch of employees or putting expensive professionals on monthly retainers.

Your team is simply the group of people you trust to help you handle the parts of your business that aren't your specialty.

So, let's build your starting lineup.

1. A Good Bookkeeper

Yes, I'm putting the bookkeeper first.

I might be a little biased. 😂

But hear me out.

Your bookkeeper is often one of the people closest to what's actually happening inside your business.

We see what's coming in.

We see what's going out.

We see the subscriptions you forgot about, the customer who still hasn't paid you, the credit card balance creeping up, the loan payment that doesn't look right, the payroll expense that's growing, and the mystery charge you've been meaning to figure out for three months.

A good bookkeeper shouldn't just categorize transactions and hand you reports you don't understand.

They should help you keep your records organized, understand what's happening with your money, prepare useful financial reports, and make sure your CPA isn't handed a dumpster fire at tax time.

Most importantly, you should feel comfortable asking your bookkeeper questions.

Even if the question is:

"Jes, what the heck do I do with this?"

Those are actually some of my favorite questions.

2. A CPA or Tax Professional

Your bookkeeper and your tax professional are not interchangeable.

They should be teammates.

Your bookkeeper handles the ongoing financial records.

Your CPA or tax professional handles tax preparation, tax strategy, and tax-specific advice.

And ideally, those two people communicate.

Your tax professional shouldn't be discovering major changes in your business when they're preparing last year's return.

Did you buy a truck?

Hire employees?

Start another business?

Change your business structure?

Have a huge increase in income?

Those are conversations that may need to happen during the year, while there's still time to make decisions.

Tax planning in March for something you did last July isn't really planning.

3. An Insurance Professional

Please don't wait until something goes wrong to figure out what your insurance actually covers.

Depending on your business, you may need general liability, workers' compensation, commercial auto, professional liability, property, cyber coverage, or insurance specific to your industry.

And cheapest isn't always best.

You want someone who understands your business well enough to ask:

"What could happen here that would financially hurt you?"

Then make sure you're protected appropriately.

The time to find out you bought the wrong coverage is not after the claim happens.

4. A Business Attorney

Hopefully, you won't need your attorney very often.

But you should know who you're calling before you desperately need one.

Contracts, partnerships, leases, collections, customer disputes, employee issues, business structure, liability — little problems can become very expensive problems surprisingly fast.

And while the internet is wonderful, downloading a random contract because it was free doesn't necessarily mean that contract protects you.

Sometimes paying a professional a few hundred dollars now can save you thousands later.

5. Payroll and HR Support

The minute you hire your first employee, business ownership gets more complicated.

Payroll taxes.

New-hire reporting.

Workers' compensation.

Overtime.

Sick leave.

Employee classifications.

Meal and rest periods.

Personnel records.

Terminations.

And if you're doing business in California?

Well…we like to make things extra fun. 😂

Your payroll and HR support might come from several places: your bookkeeper, payroll company, HR consultant, attorney, or another professional.

The important thing is that someone knows what needs to be done and who is responsible for doing it.

"Nobody told me" unfortunately isn't much of a defense when a filing or employment requirement gets missed.

6. A Banker You Can Actually Talk To

Your business bank shouldn't just be somewhere you deposit money.

Having an actual banking relationship can become incredibly valuable as your business grows.

A good business banker can help you understand business accounts, ACH services, merchant services, fraud protection, credit, lines of credit, and financing options.

You don't want the first time you try to find a human at your bank to be when your account is frozen, a fraudulent transaction appears, or you suddenly need access to capital.

Build relationships before you need favors.

7. Marketing and Technology Help

Being great at what you do doesn't help much if nobody knows you exist.

You don't necessarily need a giant marketing agency.

But someone needs to think about how customers find you.

That might include your website, Google Business Profile, social media, reviews, email marketing, SEO, advertising, or good old-fashioned networking.

Technology matters too.

Your email, passwords, backups, accounting software, cloud storage, website, customer information, and business systems are all part of your company.

And just so we're clear:

"Bob knows the password" is not a technology plan.

8. Other Business Owners

This one is free, and it might become one of the most valuable parts of your team.

Get to know other business owners.

They understand the strange combination of excitement, freedom, stress, responsibility, and occasional:

"Why did I decide to do this?!"

Join your Chamber of Commerce.

Go to networking events.

Meet business owners outside your industry.

Ask questions.

Share referrals.

Help someone when you can.

Tell people what you're struggling with.

Sometimes another business owner will solve a problem in a five-minute conversation that you've been thinking about for three weeks.

Community matters.

9. Someone Who Will Tell You When Your Idea Is Terrible

Every business owner needs this person.

Not someone who's negative about everything.

Not someone who tells you why every idea won't work.

You need someone who wants you to succeed and isn't afraid to challenge you.

Someone willing to ask:

Can you actually afford this?

What's the return?

What happens if sales slow down?

Who's going to manage it?

Do you have time for this?

Are you fixing the real problem?

Do you need this — or are you buying another shiny business toy? 😂

Sometimes the most valuable person on your team is the person willing to say:

"Jes…I don't think that's a good idea."

Find someone whose judgment you trust enough to listen.

Your Team Should Actually Be a TEAM

Here's the part that gets overlooked.

Having a bookkeeper, CPA, attorney, insurance agent, banker, and payroll company doesn't automatically mean you have a team.

If none of them communicate, you just have a collection of phone numbers.

Your bookkeeper may notice something your CPA needs to know.

Your CPA may recommend something that changes how your bookkeeping should be handled.

Your insurance professional may need payroll information.

Your banker may need financial statements.

Your payroll provider may need information that ultimately affects your books.

The people helping your business shouldn't operate on completely separate islands.

A good professional also knows when something is outside their lane and it's time to bring in someone else.

That's teamwork.

You Don't Have to Build Your Business Alone

Being a small business owner does not mean doing everything yourself.

In fact, one of the biggest changes you can make as a business owner is going from:

"I have to figure this out."

to:

"I know who to call."

You don't need every person on this list sitting in an office.

You don't need all of them on payroll.

And when you're brand new, you may not be able to afford much outside help at all.

That's okay.

Start building the relationships.

Know who your resources are.

Ask questions.

And as your business grows, let your team grow with you.

Because eventually, the goal isn't to become an expert in bookkeeping, taxes, insurance, employment law, marketing, banking, and everything else.

The goal is to become really good at running your business — and surround yourself with people who are really good at the rest.

So here's your Small Business Team 101 homework:

If something happened in your business tomorrow, would you know who to call?

If the answer is no, you just found the first position you need to fill on your team.

Bookkeeping Stress? Bookkeeping Mess? Call Jes!

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Coming Next: Small Business Team 201
Your business is growing. Your team should grow with it. We'll talk about who you may need next, what you can outsource, and when it's time to stop trying to do everything yourself.