Hiring will (and should) change your business.
Hiring an employee, especially your first employee, means you have more mouths to feed. At first, my business was just supporting me and my family. As soon as I added an employee, the business is now supporting one more person. Not a commodity or budget item…a person. I take that very seriously, which means my business takes it seriously.
So, what does hiring an employee change for your business? It should change everything. You’re no longer serving your clients or customers, your serving your employees. You now have to structure your company in a way that can successfully and sustainably serve both.
There are some things you can do to prepare for the commitment!
Step 1: Read. A lot. About leadership. About team building.
Step 2: Budget. You should be able to pay your employee for at least three months from reserves. Don’t hire with the hope that you’ll be able to make payroll. Hire them with the ability to make payroll while your company adjusts to having employees. Oh, and consult with a CPA if this your first time.
Step 3: Plan. Develop your employee handbook, your mission statement, your business plan all before you hire.
Step 4: Hire. But, work with a staffing agency as a fail-safe if the employee isn’t a good fit. If the employee is a fit, you can eventually hire them outright.
There are also a few mistakes to remember, to avoid.
The biggest mistakes are not reading about leadership, not budgeting for the new position (and expense), not developing a handbook, and not have an identifiable mission as an organization.
Great tips. What if I just have a lot of kids and put them to work. Do I still have to pay them? lol Honestly. Great tips.
Ha!
Agreed, payroll tax is expensive! Budget well! Consult an accountant 😉