Deciding to go out on your own and run a solo business is probably one of the most fulfilling and exhilarating decisions you’ve ever made! We know it was for us.
When it comes to growing your business, it’s without a doubt we want it to be successful – there’s not many more satisfying moments than seeing the quotes stack up, you’re finally doing it, getting paid to do what you love.
The flip side of this is actually being able to physically do all the work you’ve signed up for whilst also keeping on top of the back of house tasks like the invoicing, and your communication with prospective clients.
And so, you might have thought about hiring someone to take the load off, but where on earth do you start??
Here are 3 key options you can take to hire that first person:
- Hiring an apprentice can be an amazing option if you’re looking to the long term, and you’re wanting to train someone up to do the job just the way you like it to be done! Someone who can shadow you and learn all your tricks of the trade (pardon the pun 😉).
Whilst we all need these people in our businesses at some point, we need to think about how much time we have to give. Ultimately hiring an apprentice is going to take time off your hands to ensure they get trained, rather than them being able to simply take on jobs and work autonomously. It’s important to evaluate whether your business currently has the time and resources to give this person what they require as a fresh out of trade school-er.
- Sub-contractors can be a wonderful choice when you just need to offload a job or a few jobs a week to alleviate your schedule.
This option is very different to bringing someone on that you can train, ultimately you need to trust this person to do the job well.
As they are not an employee to your business you will not need to pay them any sort of benefits such as sick and annual leave, but given they are contracting to you they will be able to set a price for their work, potentially costing you a premium for their services.
One word of advice is to make sure your quote can cover the cost of your sub-contractor! - Finding a full-time & fully experienced tradie to join your team is a fantastic option, and in some cases if you’ve found the right person, it’s like striking gold!
They are similar to working with a sub-contractor, where they are able to take on jobs autonomously and give you as the business owner some much needed time to work on the business, building systems and processes. But even more important for growth, they are part of your business, enabling you to build a strong relationship to discover both of your differences, and weaknesses so that you can each focus on the strengths you hold to further diversify the business.
Lastly, If you’re not sure which direction to take when making this pivotal leap of faith to hire your first person, we really recommend dropping us a line HERE.
We are first and foremost business coaches, and we’re ready to offer you the support you need when growing from a one-man band, and right through to hiring your 20th employee – we’ve been there before and know what you’re going through!
One other suggestion is to investigate our latest launched Toolbox Membership.
Not only does it provide a central and convenient hub of business education, support and collateral, you'll get to connect and learn from others, just like you who are within the membership too!
