Small Business Hiring Tips: What to Consider When You’re Ready to Hire
There’s something exciting about picturing your small business filled with passionate employees. But small business hiring is an art, and it’s often difficult to pinpoint the roles that you need filled and the total number of employees that your business can support.
While there’s no firm answer to the question — How do I hire the right employees? — there are key considerations and hiring tips that can help you make the right choice for your small business.
Here are some key small business hiring tips:
Take Into Account The Nature of Your Business
When you run a growing restaurant or retail store, hiring new employees is inevitable. But small business staffing becomes a bit trickier if you own a company that provides consulting services or a web-based product. You have to more carefully consider how many employees you need, because the lack of a brick-and-mortar location makes for less obvious roles.
Owning a small business also creates opportunity, such as leveraging new technologies, outsourcing tasks and finding contractors to get the productivity you need without adding to payroll (see more below).
Know When to Outsource
While it’s exciting to create jobs through a small business, it’s not always recommended to add a full-time employee — especially if there’s technology or an outside firm that can perform the duties at a significant savings.
Small businesses traditionally outsource advertising, accounting and other administrative tasks. But before you hire for a particular position, look into technologies and small (sometimes one-person) firms that can do a great job at a far lower cost.
The Right People vs. The Right Roles
It’s difficult to know exactly what skills and experience you need at a small business. Some move forward with the philosophy of running lean and hiring the right people rather than focusing on specific roles.
How do you hire the right person without focusing on the role? During the hiring process, find employees with a wide skillset, varied experience and a fervent belief in your company’s mission. Plug them into positions with the understanding that you run with an all-hands-on-deck approach — any team member may be called on to perform a unique task at any time. If you find the right people, the specific titles and roles will develop over time.
How Are Your Finances?
Can you afford additional employees? It’s the obvious question when it comes to small business hiring, but failing to fully consider the answer can cost you.
Think through the full cost of each position you have in mind. That means calculating salary, as well as the cost of insurance and other benefits, payroll taxes, unemployment insurance, workers compensation, supplies and a slew of other expenses. It adds up quickly. Luckily, Fundation offers plenty of small business financing options, such as working capital loans and business expansion loans that can give your company the financial support it needs to hire new employees and successfully grow your business.
Consider Temporary Employees In Place of Full-Time Hires
Small business hiring is stress-inducing for a business owner, and rightfully so. You want the perfect people pouring all of their talent, experience and energy into seeing the business reach its full potential.
But finding those people is more difficult in reality than on paper. If you’re not ready to commit to a full-time team member, consider using temporary help such as contractors, temp agencies or freelancers.
This route can help you better understand the skillsets needed for maximum impact on your business, while giving you the productivity and flexibility you need.
Understanding how to hire the right people for your small business can be extremely challenging, as every business has individual needs and roles to be filled. While there are many helpful small business hiring tips to get you started on the right track, successful hiring and staffing ultimately results from understanding your company’s unique needs as well as financial flexibility.
Is it time to hire? If so, Fundation can provide the growth capital needed to comfortably hire new team members without placing stress on your cash flow.
Contact Fundation today and learn more about the small business lending solutions available to help your business grow.
How to Plan for Your Business Expansion: A Checklist for Success
Is it time to take out a business expansion loan to help your company grow further?
Here are five key questions to ask before you act on getting a business expansion loan:
- Are we ready for business expansion funding?
Your small business growth and expansion success hinges on your ability to do one of two things: find more customers or expand your products and services.
Finding more customers will allow you to increase sales of your current products and services. Expanding your business’s products and services will give existing customers the opportunity to purchase something new and different, while also attracting new customers.
If you can’t find more customers or expand your products and services, you may want to ask: Are we truly ready for business expansion?
- Where are we going?
If you are ready for a business expansion, it’s time to think about the right location. Do you want to own or rent?
Buying a facility is a big commitment. Commercial mortgages are typically offered at shorter rates than residential — expect 10 to 15 years. Shorter terms mean higher payments. Is your small business prepared to handle this increase?
Renting is safer but less stable. There’s no guarantee that your space will remain available beyond your lease. Renting also means the additional cost of paying an up-front deposit, often the first and last month’s rent.
If your new space needs improvement, you must set aside funds from your business expansion loan for construction or renovation. New locations in the same market also siphon off about 20 percent of the original location’s business. Is your bottom line strong enough to absorb all of this?
- Do we have the right people? (And, can we afford them?)
You can’t expand without taking on new employees. Additional employees equal additional wages and benefits. While a business expansion loan can help you afford more employees, you will likely save money by hiring strategically. Make sure to consider the value of hiring the right employees for your small business; if you work in a niche industry and find it difficult to hire talent with the right skills and experience, a business expansion could be even more challenging. Your expansion won’t go well if you compromise in hiring standards to fill new positions.
Management must be able to trust employees during an expansion, because it by nature reduces management’s ability to be hands-on in all aspects of the business.
- Can we maintain a stable inventory?
Inventory management is one of the biggest challenges for businesses. As you consider how to grow your small business and consider your expansion financing options, think about your ability to manage an increased inventory.
Industries that see seasonal ebbs and flows in demand must put extra effort toward mastering and maintaining a stable inventory. Additional capital can help stabilize inventory by keeping products stocked at optimal levels during periods of fluctuating revenue. Without proper inventory financing and management, you’ll find that your warehouse is either overflowing with unsold products or empty and unable to fulfill orders.
- Where will we find business expansion financing?
Here’s where it all comes together. Unless you’re overwhelmed by cash on hand, you’ll need a business expansion loan to help cover the cost of new facilities, new employees, increased inventory and the many other realities of growth. Do you have a good source for business expansion financing?
Fundation exists to help businesses just like yours. We provide business expansion loans that can be used to secure a new facility, add new talent or master your inventory.
All of our business expansion financing is custom-designed to meet the different needs of unique small businesses. Our loans feature conventional terms, refinancing options and prepayment without penalty.
Do you need capital to finance a business expansion? Contact Fundation and explore the possibilities today!