You decided to put on your entrepreneur hat, started a company, and it has been a success. Now, it’s time for you to hire your company’s first employee. This process can seem nerve-wracking and strange for first-time employers. Before starting your hiring process, consider doing these five things for a smoother overall experience.

1) Evaluate Your Needs

It is crucial as a business owner to honestly assess personal needs and the needs of your company. Determine what priorities should be delegated to grow the business further.

For example, if scheduling clients becomes an overwhelming task that prevents business development, look into hiring a secretary or administrative assistant to create the relief.  

Filling the gap to meet your needs is different for every company. Look at your company’s bottom line and relieve negative pressure. If you have established a reliable sales funnel, hiring a salesperson to manage and generate more leads will further grow your business.

2) Determine Costs

Can you support your ideal candidate? If you can’t, then you should not hire your first full-time employee.

When calculating your expenses for a new full-time hire, account for paying a salary. On top of a salary, consider costs for employment taxes, worker’s compensation fees, additional insurance requirements, potential benefits, vacation time, and a 401K.

Determining whether you can add a member to your team also requires you to look into your financial future. If there is a chance that payroll may not be met in the future, or financial stability is uncertain, hold off on hiring. Consider working with freelancers or contract agencies in the meantime.

3) Target Startup Experience

Choosing the right candidate in the eyes of the employer is a decision that can result in either company progression or financial loss. With such risks on the line, how do you make the right choice?

With startups, the more hats an employee can wear in the beginning stages, the better. Sometimes, startups require a new hire to work outside of their job description to help company development. This potential requirement does not go over well with candidates who come from structured backgrounds. Though reputable companies appear attractive on resumes, creating an ideal company culture can be conflicting with past established processes.

4) Eliminate Unwanted Applicants

Another effective strategy to consider before starting your interview process is to eliminate unwanted applicants by developing a screening method. An example of a screening method would require applicants to submit a code on their cover letter. This code can hide in the job description post. For applications that you receive without a code on the cover letter, toss in the trash. They didn’t take the time to read the job description. Therefore, they are not a reliable candidate that pays attention to details.

5) Take Care of Legal Issues

There are several legal requirements business owners have to fulfill before welcoming their first employee to the team. The first of these necessary actions include setting up an employee identification number, registering with the state’s labor department, buying workers’ compensation insurance, and establishing a payroll system.

Hiring your first employee can be time-consuming and confusing. With help from StaffScapes, you can stay in compliance and stay focused on what drives success. We’d love the opportunity to examine where you are and where we can go together. For more information, call our PEO experts today.

We look forward to speaking with you.