Running a legitimate business is no piece of cake. We go in it to satisfy a passion but we don’t count on the many elements that go with that passion. Deadlines, orders, payroll, hiring, vendors, bills, personal life etc. These can all be managed initially by us but as time goes on we have to come to the decision to start hiring people who have the ability to either duplicate us to have strengths where we are weak. Here are some tips to help you along the way. These are the reasons we often DON‘T hire someone and the reasons that we SHOULD.(click “Next” above or below)
No Budget
Let’s face it, it’s oftentimes hard enough to keep our own heads above water and to pay our own bills after all is taken care of with the business but hiring someone else puts us in even more debt. Or does it? Believe it or not NOT hiring someone will often hurt us more in the long run. Entrepreneurs must learn… WE CANNOT DO IT ALL not matter how hard we try and we may be able to pull it off for a long time but the downside is WE NEVER GROW. So if you want to be in the same place that you were 4 years ago in your business and you want to age 8 years… keep doing it all yourself. If you don’t have the budget, hire someone part time or on a temp basis. This is a great way to check out a future prospect for full time. (click “Next” above or below)
Afraid of hiring the wrong person
This is entirely legitimate and I have made this mistake several times. People will always be on their best behavior when you are about to hire them then they can flip the script once you do. My suggestion is to put everyone on 90 days of probation like large corporations do. This is an excellent tactic because few people can wear a mask that long and this is a long enough period for you to not only gauge their effectiveness but also their reliability and dedication. I would also suggest giving them very little slack. There are times when employees will be late but if it happens twice within that period or they have excuses for not completing their work, they are out. (click “Next” above or below)
Wasting time training
This is another legitimate concern. You take the time from your already busy schedule to train someone who ends up leaving or not working out. That’s time you could have been working. Well all is well that ends well or not so well. At least you tried. However, this is NOT the time to give up and hold off for a few months because of this bad experience, you simply have to do it again or if you are lucky you have an employee who thinks like you who can show them. (click “Next” above or below)
Not able to keep an eye on the person and run the business
If you make one of the qualifications that the person has to be a self starter you can give them some autonomy and if you can’t keep an eye on them get one of your employees to for you by asking them to help them out if they need it and then have a talk with them to get an assessment.
Ultimately, as your business grows, you want to have the time to focus on expanding. Who wants to remain in the same position forever? The best advice I can give once again is to find one main employee who can do what you do to help you hire and train. They know what you are looking for and can often be a great asset when it comes to hiring employees. Best in business…
Kevin Ross
