How To Know When It’s Time To Hire Your First Employee

When you first start a business, it is likely to be just you, doing everything. You might like to keep it that way, but for many, as the business grows, it can become too much for one person, and hiring someone might seem like a good option. It’s important, however, not to employ people too soon as you might not be able to offer them enough work or money to keep them with you. It’s just as important not to leave things too late as your business could suffer if you can’t deliver on your promises because you are too overwhelmed. So just when is the right time to hire your first employee?

If You Can Make More Money Than You Will Spend

Hiring someone is expensive, and it’s not just the one time cost of searching for the right employee. Every week or month you will need to ensure that they get paid the right amount of money on time. You will also need to pay taxes and possibly contribute to a pension scheme or similar insurances.

Calculate how much it is going to cost you to do all of this, and then look at how much value the employee will bring to your business. If they aren’t going to pay for themselves over the first year, then it probably isn’t the right time to hire someone; you will just lose money. If you still need tasks doing, it might be worth outsourcing instead as although you will still need to pay, it will be less expensive.

If You Can Get It Right

When you hire someone, you need to get it right. That means choosing the right person, to begin with, but you also need to ensure that you look after them once they are hired and give them a good place to work where they feel happy and satisfied and where they can be productive.

To start with, note down everything you want from an employee so that you can create the perfect want ad. If you skip this stage, you might find it harder to hire the person who is the ideal fit for the job.

Make sure that you are also ready to handle payroll and everything that comes with it. Using HR payroll software will help you to get this stage right. You should also read up on employment law and what you need to provide in terms of benefits. Knowing this in advance will ensure you are ready to hire someone. Getting these things wrong can open you up to many problems including losing your workers.

If You Need A Specific Skillset

No one can be good at everything, so think about the tasks that you have to do currently that you don’t enjoy or you don’t have the skills for. Are you muddling through and hoping for the best? Are you ignoring them altogether? If either of these are the case, it could well be time to hire an employee to take on the tasks for you.

This will mean that you can concentrate on all the other jobs that you have to do when you run a business, and it means that the quality of your work won’t suffer.

About April Heavens- Woodcock

Author: April Heavens–Woodcock , is the Chief Buzz Officer Touching Clients a Digital Marketing Firm that specializes in strategic online marketing development for businesses. She is passionate about helping businesses grow their bottom line with effective tools. She speaks regularly on social media, email marketing, and marketing around the East Coast.