When Is the Right Time to Hire Employees? A Guide for Small Business Owners
When most people think about this question, their mind immediately goes to numbers, naturally. Businesses need to make money, and you have to make sure that you can pay your employees and turn a profit. But that’s the surface level answer. The truth is that hiring employees goes far deeper than dollar signs and expense reports. Here are a few ways to know if you’re ready to hire additional help:
You’re Consistently Overloaded
- Some people start a business to break away from the 9-5, and set their own hours. Even though these hours usually end up far exceeding that of their 9-5, you still should be able to enjoy life. Being the first one up in your house and the last one to go to bed can be a lot. Especially when it feels like you are taking three steps back for each step forward. Being a business owner means wearing many hats, but it’s ok to have help.
- Trust is the foundation that great businesses are built upon, but it is also a foundation easily fractured. Clients trust companies that show up when they say they will, and leave a quality product behind when the job is done. When no matter how hard you work you keep finding yourself late to appointments because you’re double booking, or seeing a major decline in quality because you have too much on your mind during the job. That’s when it may be a good time to take a look at hiring additional help. So that your clients get the best version of you.
- Never forget that the other end of the business is you. A human. You’re more than just what you contribute to the company. Life is meant to be lived, and if you’re finding that you can never take a moment to breathe, or enjoy watching your favorite team play. If lack of sleep is making you feel sick, but taking time to go to the doctor seems impossible. Then hiring additional help is probably a major benefit not just to your company, but to your personal life too.
Opportunities Are Being Missed
Work = money, and if you’re turning down jobs because you’re already stretched in 18 different directions, you’re leaving money on the table (or worse, giving it to somebody else). Hiring additional workers can help your company take on even more work, and increase your revenue.
Customer Experience Is Declining
To dive deeper into an earlier point it’s impossible to be everywhere at once. But in business, especially in the modern day where customers expect same day results, it’s pretty much expected. Slow response times to missed calls, texts, or emails, can drive your customers away. Additional help to stay on top of customer communications can go a long way for long term retention.
You Need Skills You Don’t Have
Starting a business means learning new skills; financing, networking, time management, marketing, sales, training, how to use your CRM, tech stacking. The list goes on for so long that when you say it out loud, of course, it sounds like too much to put on one person’s plate. When it ends up feeling like all your time is going into learning another new skill, and less time actively running your business. Looking at hiring help to specialize in those skills can be extremely beneficial.
You’re Scaling
- Business growth is more than just an increase in revenue. It can look like offering new services, or branching into a new field to service. These scaling opportunities are also great opportunities to hire on additional help in the areas you are expanding.
- Like a bridge, the larger you become, the more support you need. From a larger sales team to assist with an increase in incoming leads. To more technicians to be able to book more jobs. Or customer relations to keep your clients happy. Being a one man army can only take your business so far.
You Want to Step Into a New Role
- An indicator that it is a good time to hire on additional help is when you are trying to move into a role to help with the growth of your business. Strategizing how you are going to expand, or figuring out ways to innovate your products/services. Mainly, stepping away from the “meat and potatoes” tasks of your company.
- It can be hard to see the forest for the trees when you are handling the day-to-day operations of your business. As the owner, you’re the “bigger picture” person. Taking on additional help to handle the machinations of your business so that you can work on your business, rather than in it.
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