How to know when your business needs to hire staff

Your business is turning down work

Struggling to keep up with a demanding workload or turning away work on a regular basis is a sign you need to recruit staff.

Being too busy to take customer calls, missing customer deadlines or being unable finish work to a high standard are all clear signs that you need to hire your first employee.

Expanding your workforce means your capacity for work is expanded, allowing you to take on more projects.

But before you hire staff, it's important to ensure that there will be sufficient work for the employee and enough revenue generated to pay them, otherwise you could be out of pocket.

You're receiving complaints

If customers or clients are complaining about the quality of your work or the time it takes to complete, it may be time to hire staff to help you.

If you're stretched too thin to complete work to a high standard, additional help is vital.

Disgruntled customers are bad for business - they won't recommend you to friends and family and may even write bad reviews online that can damage your reputation.

Remember, it's far harder to acquire new customers than to keep existing ones and losing one good paying customer can cost far more in the long run than hiring an employee.

You struggle to complete day-to-day tasks

Hiring someone to do the day-to-day tasks, such as answering the phones, emails, accounting, can be a wise business decision if it frees your time up to focus on the clients or expanding your business with new initiatives.

If you're struggling to find time to manage the admin of your business, such as invoices and paperwork, hiring support staff can increase your productivity and revenue.

You need expert skills

You may need specific expertise to help you expand your business, such as marketing, web site design, and accounting.

If so, consider whether this is required regularly - which would indicate it's best to hire someone for this role - or whether it can be done on an ad hoc basis.

If this is the case, consider outsourcing the work to a third party for a one-off payment.

You have to time to recruit

Hiring your first employee isn't an easy decision.

It's important to take time to select and hire the right person.

Hiring the wrong person can be devastating for a small business, with increased time spent managing poor performance as well as the additional costs involving in employing staff.

Take time to interview prospective employees and put in place a probation period so you can quickly remove staff from your business who aren't a good fit.

Your vision for the business needs employees

Decide whether you want to grow your business or keep it small?

If your business is a part-time venture or you prefer to work alone, or work when and how you want, you may choose not to hire staff.

However, if you're aim is to run a highly successful business, you will need to hire staff to help you achieve this vision.

And, if you plan in eventually selling your company, potential buyers will want hired staff rather than having to do it themselves.

You can write a detailed job description

Before hiring your first employee, it's useful to create a job description.

This should clearly outline their day-to-day duties and responsibilities.

This is a chance to clearly define what work needs handling, the skills required, and the type of person you are looking for.

It should also help you to determine if there is enough work for a full-time or part-time employee.

You have the money

While hiring staff is a great investment if it allows you to take on more work and therefore generate more income, you should only hire staff when your business finances allow for extra expenditure.

Check your budget and business forecasts carefully.

Not only is recruitment and training costly, you'll need to have cash reserves to pay monthly earnings and overheads until your new staff begin generating enough revenue to cover their costs.

You need a holiday or a break

Most owners of start up businesses put the idea of a holiday or time away from work on the back burner for some future date when work allows.

Hiring staff to ensure you can take time away from work can be highly beneficial, helping boost your productivity and improving your wellbeing.

You don't have to employ a full-time member of staff, consider hiring a temp or outsource some of your work so you get time away from your business to recharge.