The excitement of business ownership
Owning your own business is an exciting experience. You’re reaching your goals and working hard to achieve those all-important professional milestones. Like most small business owners, you do most, if not all, of the work yourself. You log incredibly long hours and you put everything you have into your business venture and your professional dream. But you’ll get to a point when you can’t do it all on your own anymore.
So, how do you know when to make the next move and hire your first employee? That’s a huge, exciting step, but you’ll need to make sure you’re ready and your business is ready for that growth. And here are just a few ways to figure that out:
First flag:
You’ll eventually reach a point where it makes more economic sense to hire someone than only doing all the work by yourself. After all, you don’t want to lose business because you can’t keep up with current demands and you are no longer able to take on new clients or customers.
That does not support professional growth. You’ll need at least some time to devote to expanding your brand. When your business has stagnated because your lack of available time, that’s the first sign that you should make your first hire.
Second flag:
The second flag to look for when deciding if it’s time to hire someone to help you is if you’d like to focus on one particular area of your business rather than all of the areas. For instance, if you want to focus on marketing your business or services at national or international conferences, for instance, you’ll need someone to hold down the fort at home.
Or, maybe you want to focus on developing your services and it will ultimately benefit your company to give some of the other duties to someone else. You’ll need to realize that you can’t do everything by yourself and expect your business to continue to grow.
Taking business to the next level
When you find a professional connection that can take your business to a whole new level, it’s time to reconsider how you run your business and how and when to bring on employees. Always be on the lookout for exciting talent and skills that can enhance how your business is run and can improve your product or services. Finding the right employee may be a sign all on its own. Good talent gets scooped up quickly. Make sure you’re doing the scooping.
However, once you’ve determined that it’s time to hire your first employee, you may not immediately have the funds to do so. But doesn’t mean it’s the end of the road. Take some time to reevaluate your finances and your company’s financial potential. Hiring someone to help with the the work can open up your schedule, so that you can focus on expanding your professional outreach and influence.
