Hiring staff – hot tips for the small business owner 

Taking on staff is probably the second scariest thing that a business owner can do (after starting the business in the first place).
Hiring a team member for the first time is a big decision for any business. In fact, it’s a huge decision! Can I afford it? How much longer and harder will I have to work to cover their salary? After I’ve spent time and money training them, well they simply leave? Will they take my clients with them when they go? If you’re thinking of hiring staff, you’ve probably got 100 other questions reeling around your head at the moment.
Having been through that decision myself, I smile when I now look back on the fears that I had. Finally, I started working on the business, instead of in it. While my team did the work, I could work on growing the company. I could even take a holiday.
In a recent small business survey, 46% of small business owners said they felt there weren’t enough hours in the day. In fact, 65% took less than the legal minimum holiday entitlement last year. This suggests that most small businesses have enough demand to support additional staff. So why not take that leap of faith – you’ll soon be wondering how your business ran without them.
If you take time to develop a role description (listing the requirements of the role, the duties, skill requirements etc.) and if you’re prepared to invest in your team, you’ll reap ample rewards. As usual it’s the simple things that often make the biggest difference. For example, giving your team a stake in the business (e.g. via profit share) will give them a real incentive to help your business succeed (and just watch your stationery costs go down!)

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