Are you ready to take on employees?

A clear sign that it’s time to consider taking on an employee is if you’re simply too busy to take on any new business. If you continue trying to do everything on your own your business can’t grow. While you look for the right person, you can consider outsourcing some things, like your bookkeeping, email management, call handling and administration. 

 

You should also think about the overheads an employee brings. In addition to the recruitment cost and basic salary, these could include: 

 

You’ll have to register as an employer and operate a payroll scheme, deduct income tax and employee NICs and pay employer NICs. 

Many small business owners operate as sole traders, making their income from the profits of their work. Working alone often means you’re too busy to keep track of your cashflow. However, sending out invoices every month doesn’t mean your business is healthy. Late payments and forgotten purchases can present a different picture. 

 

It’s best not to wait until the end of the year to look at your overall income and spending. You might not have enough money left to pay your taxes. If you haven’t claimed all your business expenses you could pay too much tax. Simply taking on someone to update all your income and expenditure using accounting software in the cloud will help your business stay healthy and provide you with up to date information. 

 

Another option is to work with a business coach, who can help you review your business performance and assess whether it’s a good time to employ someone. They can help you understand the things someone might do even better than you such as administration or invoicing. Most importantly, a coach can help you achieve your personal goals and make sure you pay yourself properly and regularly. 

Customer complaints might be a gift because they can help improve your service. However, if the complaints are about delays and mistakes you must act on them as quickly as possible. If you don’t you’ll damage your business reputation. If you’re trying to do everything as your business grows it’s almost inevitable that you’ll make mistakes. 

 

This is when you need to do something that most of us really don’t do well. You must define your ‘superpowers’. Or, in other words, work out what you do best and should continue doing and what other people can do. For example, you might be the best person to talk to customers and specify their requirements. Alternatively, you might be best person to actually do the work. This will help you decide whether you need to recruit people with similar skills, train people to meet your standards, or work with a business development manager.