Leaving behind my corporate career in small business
I ventured into the world of small business with minimal experience but a lot of determination. My journey began with two Mexican restaurants—a leap into the hospitality industry that proved to be a steep learning curve. I soon realised that many of the skills I had honed in the corporate world didn’t apply to running a business from the ground up. As a new business owner, I faced constant challenges, from managing suppliers and landlords to balancing finances and hiring staff.
However, one of the biggest struggles I faced was rostering. Managing my team of 45 employees, many of whom were students with constantly changing availability, became a major headache. I found myself spending hours every week tracking down staff for shifts, dealing with last-minute changes, and struggling to communicate the roster in a way everyone understood.
The time spent on these tasks distracted me from more important aspects of running my small business and left me feeling frustrated. Little did I know, this challenge would eventually lead to something much bigger: RosterElf.
Managing small business rosters effectively
Managing a roster for a small business is no simple task. It’s not just about filling shifts—it’s about balancing employee availability, budget constraints, and customer needs, all while staying organised. In the fast-paced world of hospitality, where employees' schedules can change daily, this becomes even more challenging.
For a small business owner, especially one with limited experience, the complexities of rostering can quickly become overwhelming. Finding a solution that not only saves time but also fits into the workflow of a small business was essential for long-term success.
Small business rostering pain points faced
The specific pain points I faced were relentless:
- Chasing staff for their availability was an ongoing challenge.
- Many had fluctuating schedules, which meant constant emails, messages, and phone calls.
- Each shift had to be manually adjusted based on who could work, who couldn’t, and who was available for a swap.
- Last-minute changes often left gaps in the roster, requiring scrambling to fill them.
The communication issues were just as frustrating. I spent hours creating and updating rosters, only to send multiple reminders to ensure everyone knew when they were working. At the end of the day, I had spent a significant amount of time on something that should have been much more efficient.
It wasn’t just the time spent on creating and adjusting the rosters that was frustrating—it was the time that could have been better spent focusing on critical business tasks like improving customer service, training staff, or managing inventory. This inefficiency affected not just me, but the overall performance of the business.
Looking back, I realise that the time spent on rostering and its related issues could have been used to grow and improve the business in more meaningful ways. This inefficient process drained my energy and held the business back from reaching its full potential. Something had to change.
Why traditional rostering doesn’t suit small businesses
In my quest to find a solution to the rostering nightmare, I turned to online tools, hoping to find something that would ease the burden of scheduling. I tried multiple software solutions, but none of them quite met my needs as a small business owner. While these tools promised to streamline the process, I quickly realised that they weren’t designed with someone like me in mind.
They were either too complex to use or lacked the features I needed to make rostering truly efficient. It became clear that I needed something simpler, something that would fit seamlessly into my small business and save me time rather than adding to my frustrations. Time is precious in a small business environment, and I couldn’t afford to waste it on tools that didn’t deliver as promised.
Traditional rostering tools for small businesses
The online rostering tools I tried were disappointing, to say the least:
- Many were designed for larger businesses, with features that made them unnecessarily complex for our small operation.
- I found myself spending more time trying to figure out how to use the software than actually creating and updating rosters.
- These tools had features I didn’t need and lacked basic functionalities that were essential for our business.
For instance, I needed a simple way to track staff availability and communicate changes, but these systems required extensive training to use effectively. The interfaces were cluttered and confusing, making it difficult to quickly input changes or check for availability.
The software didn’t offer the flexibility I needed. As a small business owner, I had to handle last-minute shift changes and swap requests constantly. The tools I tested lacked the features to manage these real-time changes effectively. Instead of streamlining my rostering process, they often made it worse, leading to more confusion and inefficiency.
Creating RosterElf: A solution for small business rostering
After yet another frustrating Thursday night spent wrestling with a complex rostering system, I reached a tipping point. I had spent hours creating the next week's roster, making endless adjustments, and chasing staff for their availability. As I sat there, completely exhausted, it hit me: the only way out of this endless cycle was to create a solution that worked for a small business like ours—something simple, intuitive, and efficient.
At that moment, I realised that I didn’t need to keep searching for the perfect tool—I could build it myself. But how? I wasn’t a developer, just a small business owner who understood the problem better than anyone else.
Thiago’s role in solving rostering for small businesses
The next day, I shared my idea with our team, explaining how I envisioned an innovative tool that would simplify rostering for businesses like ours. To my surprise, our staff responded with great enthusiasm. One person, in particular, stood out—Thiago, a Brazilian staff member I affectionately called "Crazy Thiago." He revealed that before moving to Australia, he had experience designing and building business software solutions. When he showed me his designs, I was amazed. The pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place.
The conversation with Thiago was a turning point. His skills and experience in software design meant that together, we could bring my idea to life. He had the technical expertise I lacked, and I had the understanding of the real-world business problem that needed solving. It felt like everything had aligned perfectly—this wasn’t just a chance encounter. It was meant to be.
RosterElf: Solving rostering for small businesses
Creating RosterElf was no easy feat. As a small business owner with no technical background, I had no experience in coding or software development. But once Thiago and I decided to move forward with the idea, I was determined to learn and do whatever it took. The challenges were many, and the road was far from smooth. I had to learn to code, understand the intricacies of software development, and figure out how to bring our vision to life. There were countless late nights spent learning new skills, troubleshooting bugs, and testing features. But with each obstacle, we became more confident, and RosterElf slowly started taking shape.
The process of learning to code was daunting at first. I remember sitting in front of my computer, trying to understand the basic principles of coding. It was a steep learning curve, and the frustration was real. Many times, I felt overwhelmed by the technical jargon and the complexity of the task. But I was determined to push through. With Thiago's guidance, I learned the basics, and we started building the software piece by piece. The early days were filled with trial and error. We faced many technical challenges, such as bugs that seemed impossible to fix and features that didn’t work as expected. Each problem felt like a mountain to climb, but we kept going, knowing that the end result would be worth it.
The future of RosterElf for small business rostering
The future of RosterElf is bright, with continuous plans for growth and improvement. We’re always working to enhance the platform by adding new features that address the evolving needs of small business owners. In the coming months, we’re looking to introduce even more automation options, smarter reporting tools, and additional integrations to make rostering even easier and more efficient.
But we’re not stopping there. We believe that user feedback is essential to making RosterElf the best it can be. We encourage all our users to share their ideas and experiences, as we continuously strive to improve the platform based on your needs. Together, we can shape the future of RosterElf and ensure it remains the go-to rostering solution for businesses worldwide.
