Small Business: Hiring First Employee
At some point as an entrepreneur, you realise you can’t you go it alone forever. Not if you want to continue to grow your business. I think the hardest part about this transition, is letting go some of the control.
Most Mompreneurs I know hold on really tight to the reigns for as long as possible because they simply believe they are the best woman for the job. However, there comes a day when we realise we can’t be experts at every aspect of our business and we don’t enjoy some aspects of our business and that’s when it’s time to look at hiring your first employee.
If you are there and having trust issues, you’ll particularly enjoy the excellent advice in the contributed post below.
Helpful Hints for Hiring Your First Employee
For months, maybe even years now you’ve been plodding along as a Mompreneur, building up your business slow and steady, and now, you’ve finally reached that stage that every entrepreneur wants to reach; the stage where you have so much business that you need to hire your very first employee!
Congratulations. Reaching this stage of your small business is no mean feat! Take some time to bask in the glow of a job well done, but don’t get complacent – hiring your first employee is a serious business and you’ll want to get it right if you want your business to continue being a success.
With that in mind, here are some helpful hints to help you successfully hire your first employee:
Research Your Responsibilities
If you’re hiring a full employee, rather than a simple freelancer to help you out as and when you need it, then you will need to do your research on the various employment laws and regulations that you’ll now be expected to adhere to.
Do this to save yourself from lawsuits and the potential loss of your reputation or even your business, and you ensure that your employee is treated right.
Remember Your Instincts Can be Wrong
We’re always told to trust our instincts and this isn’t really bad advice in a lot of circumstances, but when it comes to hiring your first employee, you shouldn’t put too much stock in how you feel about someone.
The harsh reality is that lots of people 0- approximately 40 percent – lie about at least one aspect of their lives and their achievements when applying for a job.
So, no matter how impressive their resume, and how much you like the candidate, be sure to do your due diligence and conduct a background check to ensure you make the right choice.
Screen Out Bad Behaviors
When you’re recruiting, as well as checking out your candidate’s’ credentials and screening for the most qualified individuals, it’s probably a good idea to weed out any undesirable behaviors too.
You can test for everything from candidates who use drugs to those who possibly aren’t the right fit psychologically speaking, as you can see at http://per.lacity.org/ohsd/medical.htm, and it is worth paying for this kind of profiling if you want your first hiring experience to be a success.
Let Them Know You’re a Small Operation
Not every candidate is going to want to work for a small business where they are the only employee, so to save yourself, and them a lot of time and effort, be sure to make this absolutely clear when you’re advertising the position.
Create an Employee Handbook
It’s always a good idea to create an employee handbook, like the one you’ll find at www.elliswhittam.com because it gives the employee a very clear outline of what is expected of them and what they can expect from you. Having such a document gives them confidence in accepting a role from you as a small business with no other employees, and it helps you both to be more productive too. It doesn’t take much effort to create such a document either.
This is by no means a comprehensive list of things you’ll need to do when you’re hiring your first employee, but it is a great place to start. Cover these bases, and you’ll be on your way to bigger and better things with a fantastic employee by your side, in no time at all.
Image Credit: Pixabay
I’m still a one-woman-band but that’s about to change. In the next couple of months, you’ll see a new name appearing at the top of some of my posts as my mother, Jill du Preez, will be joining me as my Virtual Assistant and will work toward posting all of the contributed posts and guest posts so I can focus on writing my own posts.
Are you still flying solo or have you hired your first employee?
Let’s get a conversation going in the comments below.
