If you’re a solopreneur or a small business owner, you’ll eventually reach a day where you face a task you don’t have the skills for, more work than there are hours in a day or a desire to cut back on your hours and enjoy more free time.
You have a few options: Cut back and downsize, or hire someone.
It might seem easy at that point to just whip up a job ad and post it up. You need help, so you’ll find someone to fill the position. But is hiring an employee a good idea? Can you afford to hire an employee in the first place? Will your business suffer or benefit?
Ask yourself the following five questions to see if hiring an employee is the best decision for your needs and business. With a little forethought, you’ll make a decision that fits just right.
Do You Have the Budget?
Employees cost money – more money than most people think. There are often extra expenses involved in hiring someone beyond the person’s base salary. You may have to budget for worker’s compensation payments, additional insurance coverage, extra equipment or safety renovations, payroll taxes and more.
How much will your new employee truly cost? Some employees can cost a business an additional 50% of their salary, though accountants recommend budgeting 20% of the salary you plan to pay as a safe rule of thumb.
Do You Have the Time?
Plenty of people make the mistake of assuming that hiring a skilled, experienced worker means the person can step right in and start helping immediately. The reality is that you’re the only person who knows your business inside and out, and anyone you hire is going to need training to become familiar with how you do business and how you like things done.
If you’re in your high season with no spare time, can’t block off training time from your schedule or just don’t have the energy to sit down and show someone – calmly, slowly – what they can do to best help you, be careful. You’ll need to budget about two weeks of your time to train and teach a new employee everything he or she needs to know to be able to help you and self-supervise.
Do You Have the Patience?
Patience is a virtue, but when it comes to having staff and employees, it’s not just a virtue – it’s a written-in-stone must. You’ll need a lot of initial patience to train the person you hire until he or she feel comfortable enough to work without supervision. They’re brand new to how you do things, and they’re not going to catch on right away.
You won’t be able to rush the individual or push him or her to learn faster. You may have to repeat instructions (calmly) several times and you’ll most likely have to correct a few beginner mistakes. You’ll have to demonstrate respect, kindness and understanding as well, and make this new employee feel welcome and relaxed. Be positive and encouraging, and you’ll find that you’ll get much better results.
Do You Have the Right Attitude?
Employees new and old need the proper resources to do their job well, perform at their peak and feel happy about making sure customers are satisfied. Hired help is there to help you improve and grow your business, after all.
So what are the resources your new employee needs? Motivation, encouragement and engagement, and those are three resource you provide. Through these three crucial resources, your employee feels pride in his or her work and takes ownership, which means that at the end of the day, the job is well done.
Remember that an employee can be your best business asset. Through that person’s assistance, you can grow, expand and improve your business immensely, which helps you reach your goals of success – and get through the crunch.
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