The decision to hire a new employee should be a well thought out process that benefits not only your business, but your own emotional health.
So how do you know when you are ready to hire a new employee?
1. When you have to turn down work.
If you have to turn down work because you can’t fit another project into your schedule, it’s a good indicator that your business is ready for help.
If you’re growth is being inhibited by the hours in a day that you can work, then it’s time to start thinking about another employee so you can retain all available revenue.
Of course business owners want to earn more money, but some do not want the added work or complications that come with hiring someone new. Then the question becomes: can you afford not to hire someone to assist in growing your business?
2. Are you losing your passion?
Chances are, when you began your business, you were filled with passion. The long hours and late nights and the challenges didn’t faze you, because you were on fire with your ideas and your desire to create a life on your own terms.
But onto even the most passionate life, a little reality may fall. And it’s not uncommon for business owners to get bogged down in the challenges and constant logistical and financial demands of entrepreneurship.
Never forget that passion is vital to your success. The one thing none of your competitors can copy is your spirit and drive. It’s what makes you and your business unique and separates you from the competition.
Sometimes, it’s that lagging passion that serves as the strongest indicator that it’s time to grow and hand of some of the passion stealing logistics to someone else – so that you can regain the fire that got you started in the first place.
3. When existing clients begin to complain.
If you’re spreading yourself too thin, it shows.
If customers start complaining about your work or about your timeliness, it’s a sign that you’re spread too thin. If you’re not able to commit yourself to each and every project, you’ll want to hire an additional employee. Even if you are just bringing someone in to answer your phones, field emails, or tackle your accounting practices, you will get those hours back to commit to clients.
4. You’re taking too much time to do tasks that could easily be done by someone else.
Most business owners believe that what they do cannot be taught. This may be true for the first or second time you need to do this task, but what about on a regular basis? And it’s never just one task. When your day is slowly being taken over by a bunch of little tasks that you can easily teach someone else to do, then teach someone else to do it.
It may take some time at first to train someone but in the long run you’ll be freed up to focus on doing the work that makes your business successful. In addition, a new employee may have fresh new ideas about not only their job but for the direction of your company.