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Who Is on Your Team?

I’m not talking about who is on your beekeeping team.

I’m talking about who is on your business team.

You might have experienced beekeepers, capable crew leaders and someone who can reverse a truck and trailer into places most people would not attempt to drive. Operationally, you may have plenty of capability.

But who is looking after the administration, finances, people and processes required to run a productive business?

Because they are different skill sets—and no one is good at all of them.

 

A good operator is not a complete management team

Most beekeeping businesses are built around someone who is very good at getting the work done.

Let’s be honest:

Culturally, most men are object- and task-focused. Give us a broken pump, a truck that will not start or a round that needs finishing before the weather turns, and we will stay with it until it is sorted.

We like problems we can see, jobs we can finish and things we can fix.

Women, generally speaking, are often more people- and process-oriented. They notice that a staff member is becoming disengaged, a customer has not been followed up, the paperwork is incomplete, someone has not been told about a change, or the same avoidable mistake keeps happening.

Of course, there are exceptions on both sides. But it is a pattern most rural businesses will recognise.

The problem is that many businesses are overloaded with operational capability and badly under-resourced everywhere else.

You have four people focused on getting through the hives—and nobody clearly responsible for making sure the information comes back, invoices go out, staff know the plan, leave is recorded, customers are contacted, and recurring problems are turned into better processes.

The work your wife quietly inherited

In many family businesses, these gaps are quietly picked up by the owner’s wife or partner.

She becomes the bookkeeper, payroll officer, HR manager, customer-service representative and general cleaner-up of everything that did not get done during the day—often without a proper job description, dedicated time or much recognition.

Some husband-and-wife teams work exceptionally well together. They have complementary skills, clearly defined responsibilities and mutual respect for each other’s roles.

But putting your wife into the business by default because “someone has to do the paperwork” is not a management strategy.

And if every unfinished conversation follows you from the office to the kitchen table and then into the bedroom, it may not be the greatest relationship strategy either.

If you do work together, define the roles properly. Decide who owns which decisions, respect each other’s authority and create times when the business is not invited into the room.

 

Not everyone on your team has to be on your payroll

Your accountant, bookkeeper, HR adviser, business mentor and lawyer can all be part of your business team.

The important question is not whether you employ every skill internally. It is whether someone competent has responsibility for it—and whether you speak to them often enough to benefit from their expertise.

An accountant you see once a year to prepare the accounts is not really part of your management team. A bookkeeper who only records what happened three months ago cannot help you make next month’s decisions.

You need people around you who will keep the information current, challenge your thinking and tell you what you need to hear—not just what you want to hear.

The hire that could change your business

If nobody currently owns the administration, people and processes in your business, your next hire might not need to be another beekeeper.

It might be a capable part-time administrator.

Not just someone to “do the paperwork,” but someone responsible for keeping the business organised: following up missing records, maintaining the weekly plan, preparing payroll information, tracking leave, documenting procedures, communicating with staff and customers, and making sure decisions turn into action.

Even two or three mornings a week could remove a surprising amount of friction from your business.

It could also free you to focus on the work where you add the most value—instead of spending your evenings half-doing jobs you dislike and are probably not particularly good at.

So take an honest look around your business.

If the people and process work is being missed, delayed or dumped onto your partner after hours, stop pretending you will eventually find time for it.

You probably do not need to work harder.

You need someone different on your team.