Hiring your first employee can be one of your company’s most nerve-racking and exhilarating milestones. It’s gratifying to know your hard work is paying off and that success and growth mean you’re ready to bring on help. But hiring can be stressful too if you’re unsure of the best way to gauge who’s right for the job and what legal steps you need to take.
Marketing consultant and blogger, David Lavenda, offers some helpful do’s and don’ts to consider before you make your first hire:
- Don’t try to build a dream team – at least not yet. Right now, you don’t need strong egos, you need partners with talent and drive.
- Don’t just hire people like yourself. Diversity can help you understand your company’s weaknesses and areas for opportunity.
- Don’t be afraid to hire people with more experience or expertise than you. Hire people who fill in the gaps and make up for your weaknesses.
- Don’t hire too many people with big company backgrounds. People who work for small businesses understand there are certain sacrifices that go with the job. You don’t want prima donnas who only fly first class or need a lot of support staff to work efficiently.
- Do hire people who are comfortable working in a small business environment but who won’t be fish out of water when your company grows.
- Do hire people who think differently. Lavenda says: “Groupthink and suppression of dissension are two great ‘company killers.’”
- Do hire employees who thrive in an environment of uncertainty. Your business will experience lots of ups and downs. You want a team that can go the distance.
- Do hire passionate people and do reward them. People who work for small companies understand their dedication can really make a difference and they’re usually willing to go the extra mile – as long as they feel appreciated and compensated for it. Don’t abuse their goodwill.
Entrepreneur.com offers some more great tips on hiring your first employee.
And you’ll want to check out bizlaunch.ca’s helpful information before you hire – from opening an employer account with the federal government to paying your employees.
Have you already hired your first employee or are you in the process? We’d love to hear your stories.
Need an inventive way of harvesting customer feedback? Try creating your own “Customer Advisory Board.” Plan round-table lunch meetings on a quarterly basis (stick to no more than three or four meetings per year). Choose four or five of your best customers and invite them to become members of “the panel.” Find out what their issues are. Ask them to list all the ways in which your products or services help them solve their issues. What do they need to help improve current solutions? What are you doing that you should continue to do? What should you discontinue? What haven’t you done that you should start doing? When your panel provides the answers, work hard to give them what they want. You can bet that whatever these four or five customers want will mirror the rest of your target market. Replace your customer panel every year with new people to receive fresh ideas. The feedback that you get will be invaluable.
