Are you that entrepreneur that rolled up your sleeves and did all the work yourself? As you developed and grew your business, you no doubt put in long hours on weekends and in the evenings to make sure that everything got done. Then, when you launched, you finally saw the fruits of your labors, and you started seeing the revenue coming in.
Doing all the work yourself might be a lot of work, but it also saves a lot of money. You don’t have to pay out salaries or benefits, and you don’t have to make an effort to recruit people. However, if you are successful and start to grow, then there will inevitably be a time when you have to hire staff to help keep your business functioning properly.
Hiring people can be exciting and nerve-wracking if you’ve never done it before. However, you don’t want to make the wrong choice, otherwise, you could halt your business’ progress in its tracks. It’s also a tough hiring environment for employers, so you want to be careful and get the candidate you want, and not just the one that happens to be in front of you. Here are some things to consider when hiring your first employee.
Determine Your Needs
If you have filled every position and been wearing every hat, you will need to decide what to give up. Will you give up the tasks you hate doing the most? The fact is, those might be the tasks that you are best at. Are you going to give up the tasks you aren’t good at? That is definitely an option. However, sometimes the tasks you want to give up don’t relate to each other at all, and you will have a tough time finding someone who can handle them all. Prioritize what your skills and abilities are, and then hire for specific needs that you think you can fill.
How Much Work Do You Want Need Them To Do?
It can be tricky when you go from being the only “employee” to adding a team member. How much work is there really for them to do? You must be prepared to get imperfect candidates if you think there is only enough for a part-time position. On the other hand, if you hire someone full-time and there is only part-time work, then you will be inefficient with your investments. You need to balance out how much work there is to do with what level of candidate you can handle in the role.
Are You Financially Ready?
When you hire a new person, the obvious additional cost you will have to deal with is their salary. However, there are other costs involved with hiring someone. You may have to pay for benefits and new equipment, such as a computer and workspace. A new employee may also affect things like your utility costs. To calculate the exact costs, we advise using a prorate salary calculator.
You can try to be efficient with your money by shopping around for deals such as affordable workers comp insurance. Workers’ compensation will help cover any expenses that result from a worker getting injured or sick on the job. It is legally required in almost every state for any business that has employees.
Make sure to comprehensively analyze what extra costs you will incur, and budget accordingly. You may have to make cuts elsewhere to accommodate your new hire if you can’t afford it.
Be Diligent
The fact is, hiring can open you up to risk. For one, if you hire someone who is dishonest or with a shady history, they could end up stealing from you. Another risk is that they might be careless, and a mistake could lead to a lawsuit or damage to your property. Make sure that you do your due diligence when you are trying to hire someone. Contact their references and ask a lot of questions. Hiring someone is not a race, and you can’t afford to rush into something that will cause you problems down the road. Pay attention to details and weed out any candidates that you would not want working with you.
Consider Personality
If you are hiring your first employee, you must remember that you will be working very closely with them. There are no other team members, so if you don’t get along, then there are no buffers between you. As the boss, you need to balance your need for experience and skills with someone who you can see yourself working long hours with. Having a look at personality tests such as disc personality descriptions will help you understand the behavior styles and personality types of the individual. If you are lucky, you will find someone that fits both of those criteria. However, at some point, you may have to choose between those two types of candidates. If personalities clash, then it is less likely they will be in it for the long haul, and you will have to hire again.
Write a Detailed Job Description
You never want to lose candidates because they aren’t clear on what you are looking for. If someone reads your job ad and isn’t sure what the job entails or what skills are needed, they will simply skip it and move on. Make sure that you are very clear with your job description. Outline exactly what the position is, what your workplace culture is like, and what experience you are looking for. You should also add in a salary range. That way, candidates who are looking for more won’t waste their time or your time applying. Good candidates may also not apply if there is no salary listed because they assume that the pay is too low. The more information you have, the better. Candidates will appreciate knowing exactly what they are getting into and what skills they will need to highlight on their resumes.
Hiring the right person is essential for a small business. However, it can be very hard, and any missteps can mean disaster. It’s also hard to know when it’s appropriate to hire in the first place. As a future employer, you need all of your ducks in a row to ensure that you recruit suitable candidates and make the right choice in hiring. Remember these factors to consider when you start the process for hiring your first employee.