Welcome back! Today we are continuing our series on preparing your small business for growth. In the past we’ve talked about inventory challenges, manufacturing issues, marketing, funding and location issues. Today’s post will focus on the employee factor. Whether you are the sole employee or already have a small staff, as your business grows you are going to need to grow your team. Having a staffing plan can really help you make the best personnel decisions and get the most out of each employee. Staffing for small business can be tricky, but if you do it right the results will be highly valuable.
In a previous post, entitled Build Your Team Without Breaking the Bank we offered tips on ways to get the help you need without hiring employees to meet every need. Today we’re going to focus more on getting the most bang for your buck when you do hire employees. Some hiring needs are very straightforward and easy to identify. If your business is so busy that one person can’t man the store obviously you will need additional sales staff. Staffing for small business shouldn't occur when you can no longer produce your good fast enough to keep pace with demand. You need more workers now to help you. Other needs can be harder to assess. When do you need to add a marketing person or a customer service specialist? Do you need a quality assurance person? What about a shipping/receiving department? As your business grows from a small business to a booming operation you may have to add entire departments to your staff. Knowing how to identify what you need and when you need to add it, as well as having a plan for how to handle these staffing challenges can make the growth process a lot less stressful. Staffing for small business doesn't have to be hard so let’s get started.
You are an entrepreneur - not Superman or Wonder Woman
The most important thing to keep in mind as your business grows is that you don’t have to do it all by yourself. In fact, you shouldn't. It’s easy to get caught up in a cycle of plowing profits back into your business to keep it growing. You start to think that you can’t afford to hire more help. In reality, you can’t afford not to. When you are overworked and over-stressed it takes a toll on your health, your well being, your business and your personal life. You might be able to make it work in the short term but in the long run you’re headed for trouble.
Savvy hiring can provide huge benefits
You need a second salesperson, someone who can man the floor, assist customers and ring up sales. Before you hire the first person who inquires about your help wanted sign think about where you see your business going. Do you hope to add a second location? Could the person you hire today one day become the manager of their own location? Would you feel comfortable leaving your business in their hands? What about those future departments? Can you imagine a time in the future when this person could hold a different position in your growing company? Thinking long term lays the groundwork for the interview questions you should ask prospective employees. Where do you see yourself in five years? If you plan on only ever having the one small store you know that the candidate who wants to finish business school and become a marketing executive isn’t going to stay with you. If, on the other hand, you are already thinking about your future marketing department you may have just found the person for the job. Knowing who you are going to need down the road enables you to select the employees who can grow with you.
Predictive Process Mapping
In several previous posts we’ve talked about process mapping and how it can help you improve your business processes. Using predictive process mapping can help you identify those less obvious staffing challenges that can crop as your business grows. Complete a process map of how you currently do things. Now think about how those processes will need to change as your business grows. If shipping and receiving is already a bottleneck with your current level of productivity you can be sure that it will quickly become an issue during a growth period. Will you need to add additional staff? Should there be a dedicated employee just to handle shipping and receiving demands? These are all good questions and the best time to answer them is before you actually need to. This will allow you to weigh the options and determine the best course of action as opposed to the one that will solve a crisis the quickest.
The employees you hire today can and should be the team that helps your business continue to grow in the future. Decide where you see your business going, who you’re going to need when you get there and hire those people today. You’ll be glad you did! Be sure to check back with us soon, we'll have some tips on team building. See staffing for small business isn't all that scary - now is it?
