Brooklyn Tea’s Recipe for a Thriving Office: Brewing an Unstoppable Staff
Within the bustling streets of Brooklyn, New York, there’s a neighborhood enterprise in Bedford-Stuyvesant that’s brewing up extra than simply nice tea – they’re crafting a recipe for an distinctive office. Brooklyn Tea was based by Alfonso Ali Wright and Jamila Wright, a husband-and-wife duo obsessed with creating an area the place each clients and workers really feel valued, heard, and a part of one thing particular.
The story of Brooklyn Tea begins with the couple’s personal journey. Jamila discovered a kindred spirit in Alfonso who comes from a Jamaican household the place tea was a staple morning and night time. All through their relationship, he helped deepen her appreciation for the beverage. “You make these lovely pots and cups of tea with cinnamon sticks on the backside, and it felt so romantic, and it was such an genuine approach to get to know one another,” Jamila recollects. “It actually was the beginning of us enthusiastic about how we may replicate this means to commune and get to know one another over tea within the type of a enterprise.”
Of their humble one-bedroom condo in Brooklyn, the couple started brewing up their dream. “We simply knew that it is a enterprise that’s useful for the group and is fascinating sufficient that we may do it endlessly,” says Jamila.
In December 2018, Brooklyn Tea formally opened its doorways on Ocean Avenue, inviting clients to discover the huge and engaging world of tea. However for Jamila and Alfonso, Brooklyn Tea was at all times about fostering a way of group, each amongst their clients and inside their group.
Constructing a office rooted in belief and shared accountability.
Drawing on Jamila’s expertise as an educator, the couple got down to construct a office rooted in belief, bonding, and a shared sense of accountability. They understood that if you spend money on your individuals and create an atmosphere the place everybody feels valued and heard, you lay the muse for an unstoppable group.
“You will have your mission and your marketing strategy, however what’s the plan to actually execute that and make it stay and breathe honestly along with your workers and your group? And the way would you like your workers to really feel listened to and brought care of,” Jamila explains.
Streamlining operations with Homebase.
About two years into the enterprise, the couple acknowledged the necessity to discover a extra environment friendly approach to handle their group and operations. Like many small enterprise homeowners, they discovered themselves grappling with the challenges of scheduling, payroll, and communication. “
We have been scripting this weekly schedule on a calendar that was smudged and folks’s names would disappear or reappear,” Jamila recollects. “It was actually a really pathetic scenario.”
Thankfully, certainly one of their group members launched Homebase to them. Since then, Brooklyn Tea has been leveraging the every little thing app to supercharge their each day duties.
With areas in New York and Georgia, Homebase helps the couple talk to maintain the group in sync and on observe. “Somebody in management sends the group our priorities for the day, which form of helps them to grasp what they’re moving into as we speak. But additionally, every group member sends an replace after their shift. So we all know precisely what was finished, what wasn’t finished, how the day went if we’re not there,” Jamila explains. “So it simply actually makes certain that every one of us are- cohesive. Cohesive in any respect factors.”
Along with the communication the group has with one another, the couple are additionally in a position to observe how a lot they paid for labor for the day and the way a lot cash the shop made. This has allowed the homeowners to step again and let their group take extra possession of their roles.
“Homebase has been an enormous assist for our group to permit for extra work-life stability and adaptability,” shares Jamila. Through the use of Homebase’s scheduling and time-off request options, Brooklyn Tea has given their group the instruments to handle their very own availability. Their group can swap shifts within the app and clear up scheduling points with out having to go to a supervisor for assist.”If you’re not caught to that very analog calendar, they’ve extra company they usually have extra empowerment to downside clear up on their very own,” Jamila notes.
Nevertheless it’s not simply in regards to the sensible advantages – it’s about fostering a way of belief and togetherness. “It helps us join. I ship messages by it so much,” Jamila explains. Whether or not it’s a workers assembly reminder or a shout-out for a job properly finished, Homebase’s built-in messaging retains everybody within the loop and feeling valued.
Making data-driven choices.
The Homebase reporting options have additionally been invaluable. Alfonso notably appreciates the on-time arrival report, which has helped them handle attendance points in a extra goal, data-driven means. “If you end up in a enterprise, doing one million issues, you kinda discover issues, however you don’t have it written down,” he says. “However then we’re doing a check-in and exhibiting your worker, ‘hey, you’re on time 37% of the time, we have to repair this, proper?’ It’s means higher than ‘you’re at all times late.’”
The platform has additionally helped Brooklyn Tea maintain a more in-depth eye on their labor prices. “Business requirements for probably the most half is to maintain your labor at about 30% of gross sales. And earlier than Homebase, we weren’t preserving observe of that by any means,” Jamila admits. Now the couple have a keener eye on how a lot labor is used for various days and what it prices them. “That has actually helped us to make higher choices shifting ahead,” she provides.
Supporting the entire particular person.
The couple’s assist for his or her group goes past supporting their employees’ well-being within the retailer. Jamila and Alfonso make a degree of attending their employees’ performs, artwork reveals, live shows, and open mics, and even showcasing their group’s artwork within the retailer.
“What you’ll see at Brooklyn Tea is that individuals are extra goal-oriented versus task-oriented. It’s not nearly punching out and in the clock, it’s about how we will actually make our group really feel seen, really feel dignified. They’re actually purchased into what we’re making an attempt to perform as a result of they know the care just isn’t solely on the receiving facet for the client, however it’s additionally behind the bar.”
Jamila and Alfonso beam with pleasure after they hear from their clients who rave about their group.
“We get emails, texts, opinions on a regular basis of people who find themselves simply enamored with our group, who simply love them to loss of life, and who ask about them,” Alfonso explains.
“It makes me actually completely satisfied that we, properly Jamila, selected the best individuals and that our group loves the people who we’ve chosen to serve them.”
“We love when our group feels motivated and empowered to make these shifts, with out the observe, pun supposed. And I believe that’s what we’re actually pleased with is what they do when nobody’s watching,” Jamila provides.
Brewing up success, one cup at a time.
At present, Brooklyn Tea has expanded to incorporate a second location in Atlanta, a thriving on-line retail presence, and a rising wholesale enterprise. Regardless of this development, Jamila and Alfonso stay dedicated to the values which have guided them from the beginning – a ardour for group, a curiosity for the huge world of tea, and a deep appreciation for the ability of human connection.
With Homebase, they’ve been in a position to streamline their operations, make data-driven choices, and foster a tradition of belief, flexibility, and possession. “Homebase permits you to rapidly do a factor that you simply’re in all probability not nice at. Scheduling and communication as a frontrunner is at all times one of many hardest elements and this makes it just a little simpler,” Jamila shares. “So you may get again to mixing your tea or making your muffins or no matter it’s you do in enterprise.”
As they proceed to brew up success, one cup at a time, Brooklyn Tea is proof that with a shared imaginative and prescient, various experiences, and a dedication to placing individuals first, even probably the most humble beginnings can result in a unprecedented office.
