How do you figure out what help you need for your business?

If you don’t know what you’re looking for, how do you know when you find it? Before you start the process of consider hiring employees, figure out what kind of support you need.

1. Figure out what kind of help and support you need now

   • Make a list of the most important tasks you need help with. Is it someone to help with sales, social media marketing, or bread baking?

   • Make a list of things that you don’t have the experience to do or simply don’t know how to do. Do you have experience running marketing and sales campaigns or designing your website?

   • Make a list of things that you simply don’t want to do. Are there certain things that you dread doing?

2. Think about what responsibilities you’d like the person in this position to take on in the future.

3. Streamline your list. Group the tasks to be completed under a specific skill set.

4. Decide how much to pay your new employee. That is dependent on the kind of work they will be responsible for, the role’s seniority, and your budget. When you make the decision to hire an employee, it is crucial that you can afford to pay them without going bankrupt!

How do you know when it’s time to hire new employees?

Before you start looking for new employees, ask yourself:

1. Is there enough money to bring on and pay for the new employee(s)?

2. Is there enough work for new employee(s) to do full-time, or can this be a contractor, an intern or part-term position?

3. Are the additional skills required from the new employee(s) truly necessary and fill gaps that current employees do not possess?

If all of the above are yes, don’t hesitate! A one (wo)man show can only last for so long, and the more you can focus on what you truly enjoy in your business, the less likely you are to get burned out! And you’re not ever alone in the Skysthelimit.org community. Whether you’re looking for advisers, co-founders, or people to join your team, reach out to our community for leads!

Once you’ve done this legwork, you’re ready to write a much more detailed job description.

Pro Tip

Hiring new employees will have other hidden costs you should be thinking about. You will need to spend time researching, writing job descriptions and interviewing each job candidate, which means you’ll lose valuable time you can be investing in your business. New workers take a while to get to full functionality so you’ll still have to pay them their full salary while they get the hang of things.