When you’re running your own business it can seem quite daunting when you think about hiring someone to join you and your team.
Here are some things that may hint at the fact you might need to consider hiring your first employee:
Can you find no time for yourself?
It’s no secret that running your own business is time consuming. You’re one person filling the role of many. But are you finding that there’s so much work to do that your personal and social life is impacted negatively? Can you take time off or go on holiday without feeling guilty or worried that you’ll have to deal with a problem in your business?
Do you require more than what a freelancer, or an outsourced service can provide you?
It’s very common when you start a new business to employ or outsource work to freelancers and other professionals. If your business needs the time, dedication and a specific skillset, it might be time to think about hiring rather than outsourcing all the time.
Will the role bring your company money?
Income might not be in the traditional sense, sure that counts too, but if you hire someone, is there a possibility they will also make you savings? For example, if you hire someone to be your bookkeeper the chances are you will be able to save money by ensuring invoices are paid on time and that you’re not overpaying for things. These are all things you might not have time to do yourself.
Are your customers, products or service suffering?
Ultimately your customers should be happy with your service. If you become unreachable or have to turn down projects due to not having enough time to complete a project, then your customer is going to go elsewhere. It’s impossible to do a great service if you’re juggling too many balls yourself. Something will suffer, and alone that is a very good reason to think about expanding.
You need to grow
If you’re spending all your time on the day to day tasks then you can’t take time to think about the bigger picture and where you want to go next. Hiring someone, even part-time, frees up some growth space for you and the business.
You can afford to
Having employees is a responsibility, you have to make sure that the company is profitable enough to be able to support someone’s livelihood.
Ok, so we’ve talked about when you should hire someone, but when shouldn’t you hire someone?
Hiring should never be a snap decision. You should know which role and responsibilities the employee is going to be taking on in order to be worth the expenditure. Typically, an employee should bring in 3 times their salary in profit, or at least that’s what you should be aiming for.
Don’t hire someone if you’re stressed about the lack of growth. Stress can create desperation, and desperate decisions don’t tend to be good ones. Desperate decisions can frequently mean hiring the wrong person just because you think they’re what you need.
Think about what happens if you don’t hire. How will staying as you are impact you and your business? What happens if you don’t do anything now but revisit the conversation of hiring your first employee in 3-6 months? Sometimes waiting for the right person or waiting a few months to decipher exactly what you’d want an employee to bring to the company can be better.
In Short: Don’t make rash decisions. Take time to think and design the team and business you want. You will find a solution for the meantime.