Brooklyn Tea’s Recipe for a Thriving Office: Brewing an Unstoppable Workforce
Within the bustling streets of Brooklyn, New York, there’s an area 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 staff 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 evening. 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 remembers. “It actually was the beginning of us fascinated by how we might replicate this potential 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 neighborhood and is fascinating sufficient that we might do it eternally,” 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 neighborhood, each amongst their clients and inside their crew.
Constructing a office rooted in belief and shared duty.
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 duty. They understood that while you put money into your individuals and create an atmosphere the place everybody feels valued and heard, you lay the inspiration for an unstoppable crew.
“You might have your mission and your marketing strategy, however what’s the plan to actually execute that and make it dwell and breathe honestly together with your workers and your crew? 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 crew and operations. Like many small enterprise homeowners, they discovered themselves grappling with the challenges of scheduling, payroll, and communication. “
We have been penning this weekly schedule on a calendar that was smudged and folks’s names would disappear or reappear,” Jamila remembers. “It was actually a really pathetic state of affairs.”
Fortuitously, certainly one of their crew members launched Homebase to them. Since then, Brooklyn Tea has been leveraging the the whole lot app to supercharge their day by day duties.
With places in New York and Georgia, Homebase helps the couple talk to maintain the crew in sync and on monitor. “Somebody in management sends the crew our priorities for the day, which form of helps them to know what they’re entering into at the moment. But additionally, every crew member sends an replace after their shift. So we all know precisely what was executed, what wasn’t executed, 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 crew has with one another, the couple are additionally capable of monitor 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 crew take extra possession of their roles.
“Homebase has been an enormous help for our crew to permit for extra work-life stability and adaptability,” shares Jamila. By utilizing Homebase’s scheduling and time-off request options, Brooklyn Tea has given their crew the instruments to handle their very own availability. Their crew can swap shifts within the app and remedy scheduling points with out having to go to a supervisor for assist.”Once you’re not caught to that very analog calendar, they’ve extra company and so they have extra empowerment to drawback remedy on their very own,” Jamila notes.
However 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 way of it lots,” Jamila explains. Whether or not it’s a workers assembly reminder or a shout-out for a job nicely executed, 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 deal with attendance points in a extra goal, data-driven method. “If you find yourself 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 displaying your worker, ‘hey, you’re on time 37% of the time, we have to repair this, proper?’ It’s method higher than ‘you’re at all times late.’”
The platform has additionally helped Brooklyn Tea hold 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 holding monitor of that in anyway,” 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 help for his or her crew goes past supporting their staff’ well-being within the retailer. Jamila and Alfonso make a degree of attending their staff’ performs, artwork exhibits, concert events, and open mics, and even showcasing their crew’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 are able to actually make our neighborhood really feel seen, really feel dignified. They’re actually purchased into what we’re attempting to perform as a result of they know the care shouldn’t be solely on the receiving aspect for the client, but it surely’s additionally behind the bar.”
Jamila and Alfonso beam with delight after they hear from their clients who rave about their crew.
“We get emails, texts, opinions on a regular basis of people who find themselves simply enamored with our crew, who simply love them to dying, and who ask about them,” Alfonso explains.
“It makes me actually joyful that we, nicely Jamila, selected the appropriate individuals and that our neighborhood loves the those that we’ve chosen to serve them.”
“We love when our crew feels motivated and empowered to make these shifts, with out the be aware, pun supposed. And I believe that’s what we’re actually happy with is what they do when nobody’s watching,” Jamila provides.
Brewing up success, one cup at a time.
At the moment, 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 neighborhood, a curiosity for the huge world of tea, and a deep appreciation for the ability of human connection.
With Homebase, they’ve been capable of streamline their operations, make data-driven choices, and foster a tradition of belief, flexibility, and possession. “Homebase means that you can 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 components and this makes it a bit 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, numerous experiences, and a dedication to placing individuals first, even probably the most humble beginnings can result in a rare office.
