How to Build The Ultimate Creative Team

Starting a business is without a doubt a creative endeavor. From developing products to building a social media presence, you are constantly thinking creatively as a small business owner.

 

Even if you enjoy tackling the creative aspects of your business, you may find that you’re ready to build a creative team to handle those tasks for you. Having team members like copywriters, graphic designers, and content strategists on-staff can free up time for you to do what you do best — build an amazing business.

 

Whether you want to create an in-house creative team for your existing business or want to establish your own marketing agency, there are things you need to consider to build an awesome team. Here is the Ouu I Love take on how to build your creative team!

 

Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Build Your Creative Team

 

Before you begin to build your creative team, you need to sit down and determine what exactly your goal for a creative team is for your business. Whether you need help building content for social media or building an overall marketing strategy, you need to determine in which areas you need help so you can focus your attention on other aspects of the business.

 

Before you begin the hiring process, here are a few questions to ask yourself to determine what you want to achieve with a creative team:

What roles do I need to fill?

 

The first step in building a creative team is determining the roles that you are looking to immediately fill.

 

Start by sitting down and writing out a list of roles that you think you might need. Even if you are not ready to hire all these roles immediately, it’s helpful to think about where you could use the help down the line.

 

Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box from only creative roles! Roles like HR managers, accountants, administrators, client relationship managers, and more are helpful to keep in mind in case you have the resources to take on those people later in your business development.

 

At Ouu I Love, we understand what it’s like to go from a one-person-shop to a full-blown agency. We started off with just our founder/creative director before adding a designer. Slowly but surely, we built a relatively small but mighty team!

 

 

What skills do I need on my team?

 

Understanding the skills and experience level that you need on your creative team are huge. Having someone who is green vs. experienced has its pros and cons, so you need to determine your needs and weigh them accordingly.

 

A ‘green’ employee is someone who can do the role but will need guidance and training to master the tasks you set before them. The benefit of having an employee with less experience is that they are more cost effective, but you may end up spending time training them, which will pull you away from other parts of the business.

 

Having a more experienced employee means that you are hiring an expert to join your team. This is great for you because it means that you are onboarding someone who has spent time and effort in growing their skills over the years. However, you may find that they have to break old habits or come up to speed on new systems and operations.

 

Figuring out whether a green or experienced employee fits best into a role on your team comes down to your budget and time. You will need to invest time and money into both but determining which you would rather exchange more of is key here.

 

 

What is my current budget for a creative team?

 

When you add people to your team, you will need to pay them, period. You will need to determine what your business can afford when it comes to labor costs and benefits before you hire new team members.

 

 

Am I ready to lead a team of creatives?

 

When you hire employees for your biz, it’s no longer about just you. You now have a team of people that are looking up to you as a leader to guide them and help them grow as professionals. A large part of building your creative team is being able to create a welcoming workplace where their creativity can flourish. This means being ready to lead a team that feels supported by the business owner aka you!

 

 

Here are some questions to ask yourself to determine if that is something you’re ready for:

 

• Do you plan to operate from your home business or lease a location?

• Do you have revenue coming in to pay for a location?

• Do you have the budget to pay your team livable wages?

• Do you have time to dedicate and train a team?

• Do you have the dedication and passion to keep a team motivated?

 

 

How to Hire the Right Creative Team for Your Business

 

 

 

 

After you determine what roles your creative team will include and set aside a budget, it’s time to hire your dream team!

 

If you’re new to hiring, you may be wondering what to look for to identify a good team member. The two main qualities to weigh for each candidate are skills and team dynamic. Both are equally important and will determine how well someone does not only in their role but within your company culture.

 

For example, a person could have 15 years’ worth of work experience, but if they don’t mesh well with you or the rest of your team, you may find it difficult to inspire quality work from them.

 

On the other hand, you may find that you mesh really well with a candidate’s personality, but they don’t have the right skills for your team. In this case, you may have to pass up on a person you really like for someone who meets the needs of your creative team.

 

 

Curious about how to go about the hiring process? Here are the steps we take at Ouu I Love:

 

1. Screening Call: Ask questions regarding experience, ambitions, or interest in your company.

2. Google Meets: Use this as an opportunity to see if their personality meshes well with the rest of your team. You can also use this time as an additional opportunity to gauge skills and experience.

3. In-person Meeting: This is where you can really catch the vibe of the person. Use this time to understand their past experiences and elaborate on the role or projects they’ve worked on.

4. Test Project: If you have the budget to pay for a test project, this will show you if they have the skills to do what you need accomplished. This is the final weeding out of someone who may just not have the skills

5. Send an Offer: If you like a candidate, don’t leave them hanging!

 

 

A Creative Team is the missing piece to take your biz from good to great.

 

Putting together a great creative team will yield incredible work that will reflect just how amazing your business is. Once you have taken all these tips into consideration, building your team will be simple.

 

Got any questions? Let us know! Shoot us a dm on Insta at @ouuilove.