So, you have successfully started your own business. You have an online store, a loyal customer base, and a structure that works and turns a small profit. However, at the moment you are a one-man-band, and you want to change that. Sometimes, as your business grows, it becomes impossible to manage the day-to-day tasks as just one person. Congratulations! You’ve reached the point where you need to expand, and start employing others to help your business expand. This can be a scary prospect, with many factors to consider, but ultimately if you can find the right team, you are taking the next step into an even more lucrative business world.
Consider Workspaces
As you grow your business to include employees, you’ll need to consider where you are working. If you currently work from home, you cannot expect your new employees to rock up at your living room every day. You’ll need to decide whether you are happy for them to work at home also, or if you’d rather share a space together. If so, it’s time to look into hiring a small office space to make this happen – when doing this, consider factors such as cost, location, size, and facilities before making your choice.
Human Resources
In large companies, HR departments cover a huge number of areas. They don’t just provide a forum for disputes; they also advise on the legalities of a hiring process, help assign reasonable rates of pay, and hold the paperwork you need for each employee. As a smaller company, you may have to do all this yourself. It is super important to keep your documentation in order and to ensure you are complying with all necessary guidelines when it comes to hiring and paying (and if necessary, firing) your new employees. This will protect you and your company in the long run, and allow your success to continue to grow.
Learn How to Delegate
Moving from a one-person business to someone managing one or more employees can be a difficult change and one that you will need to adjust to. Whilst you may be used to completing tasks ad hoc, your employees will need a clear set of responsibilities and jobs, so they know exactly how they can be most useful to your business. You must be able to trust your employees in order to delegate effectively – there is nothing worse than a boss who hands out tasks and then attempts to micro-manage them down to the last detail – so make sure your hiring practices are rigorous and well designed to find the right person for your needs.
Don’t Forget to Keep Growing
While you are growing the internal structures of your company, it’s important that you don’t forget to keep a finger on the pulse of external growth as well! Make sure you are marketing effectively, using resources such as a QR code maker to link your print and digital ad campaigns and keep growing your customer base. This will make sure you and your new employees stay busy, and your company continues to expand and become even more lucrative.
