When the demand for your company’s services grows beyond your capacity to fulfill the demand, it’s time to make some drastic changes to your business infrastructure. Whether it’s because of turnover or a boom in business, you don’t have much time to expand your business before you start to lose customers.
Expanding your company requires a strategy. For some positions, you may need to have someone on payroll, but there may be other gaps in your operations that you can fill by outsourcing. If you need help knowing when to hire and when to outsource, then you’re in the right place. Continue reading to get some sound advice for expanding your small business without having too many employees on payroll.
Find the gap in your company’s operations.
One of the worst things you can do is to try to solve a problem before you know what the problem is. Before you hire someone, you need to determine where your company needs the most help.
Filling a gap in your business is like putting a part in your car. You wouldn’t exchange a motor for an alternator, right? If you want your employees to be successful at making your company better, then you have to put them in roles that play to their strengths and fulfill company needs.
When you notice that your company needs to expand, don’t just start adding warm bodies to your workforce — determine what your company lacks and fill the gaps. Sometimes you can solve the issue without going through the long and expensive process of recruiting, hiring, and training prospects.
Sometimes, it’s better to outsource.
Even as an entrepreneur, you may still run into problems that are above your paygrade or outside your area of expertise. How can you hire someone to fill a position that you don’t understand? It’s kind of hard to determine which candidate will make the best accountant for your company if you don’t know anything about accounting, right?
If you’re a small business owner, then you also face the issue of being able to afford to hire new talent. Chances are that you can’t afford to pay the salary for someone to provide a professional service such as accounting or IT.
For small business owners, it’s better for them to outsource financial services then try to hire an accountant to handle their finances. When you outsource your accounting needs, you don’t just get an accountant — you get an entire firm working together to make sure that your finances are where they should be, providing greater accountability. And it’s cheaper than hiring someone permanently.
When is it better to hire someone than to outsource?
Even though outsourcing is a great way to save time and money, sometimes it’s better to hire someone to fill the opening for the long term. If your operational gap revolves around daily activities, then it’s better to go ahead and hire someone. It wouldn’t make much sense to outsource simple yet critical tasks you’ll need someone to perform every day — you need someone on-hand to handle core operations.
How do you know who to hire?
If you do find that you need to hire someone to permanently fill a position, then you still have the issue of knowing who to hire. If you have a mountain of applicants and only one open position, how do you narrow down your options?
Make sure to hire someone who takes the time and makes an effort to make a good first impression at their interview. After all, you don’t want an account manager who shows up to the office in sweatpants. These days, with White House Black Market dresses available online with free shipping, it’s easy to be properly attired. Men should show up to the interview in a suit and tie, while women should be wearing skirts, blouses, blazers, and dresses with inappropriate fabric designs. If they want to put their best feet forward, they’ll opt for a conservative neckline and leave the little black dress at home.
Once they’ve made the first impression, use the interview to try to find out what motivates your applicants. Some of them may be motivated by their desire for excellence, others seek opportunity and money. The key is to find the employee whose motivation lines up with your values.
