Nibletz Staff
Hiring employees brings a number of issues for startup owners. It’s a massive expense and a lot of extra responsibility, which may cause you a lot of concerns. What if your business can’t support these employees in six months time? What if the people you hire are unable to do the job as well as you can? And never mind the cost of wages – will you be able to meet the compensation costs if there is an accident on your premises?
All of these concerns are valid, of course. But it’s important to see hiring employees as an investment, rather than a cost. And, as with any other investment you make in your business, some risk management is vital – and will inform you of whether or not you are ready to start employing people. With this in mind, we’re going to run through some of the things you need to consider before bringing employees into your business. Let’s get started with the basics.
When you are wasting time and money
Startups often begin with one person who does everything – and that person takes on all the responsibilities and work, irrelevant of its value to the business. But this way of working is incredibly problematic. Let’s say as a CEO; you are worth $300 an hour for your business, either through working with clients or selling to potential customers. But you only get to do this for three days a week – the rest of your time is doing everything else you need to do to keep your business running. Tasks such as filling in databases, uploading receipts, or filing documents – all vital to your business, but you could pay someone $15 an hour to do them, leaving you free to focus on your $300 an hour work.
When you have everything in place
Hiring employees is a lot more complicated than working for yourself. You have a lot of responsibilities to recognise and act upon, including providing a safe and healthy workplace for your staff and everything from contracts of work to disciplinary guidelines. In fact, the area of employment can be so complicated that many startups might benefit from making a human resources appointment first of all, or outsourcing to an HR consultancy. It’s vital to get everything in place before you start hiring as it will give you the protection you need in the event of an accident, dispute, or any other problem in the employment law area.
When you are unable to meet long-term demand
Finally, many businesses are seasonal – in that they enjoy good months at particular times of the year. It’s important to understand that these seasonal spikes in sales are not enough to tell you that you need to hire in some extra bodies. Instead, startup owners need to look for sustained, long-term growth, where they cannot meet demand in even their quieter periods. When this occurs, it’s a reliable sign that you need to hire people to cope with that demand. However, it’s vital to avoid diving in too early, or you will be left with a massive wage bill to pay every month and too few sales to sustain it over a whole year.
