When should I hire people- after getting business or before that?
If am thinking of expanding my business by starting new services and products. I definitely need to hire people, but what if the new services & products get late revenue and lesser than expected?
So, what is advice I need to follow, while hiring people?
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Mar 10, 2014
Shakti,
Depending on what your company needs are would dictate on your need to hire. If you know you have a large rollout or project coming in the next 30-90 days you should start looking at project managers or managers to hire those people. Currently I am working on a project that needs 30 people and we started interviewing and hiring people a month ago to secure them and make sure we are able to deliver.
Do not over stretch financially but make sure that you can pay your employees until your revenue is received from the client and if at that time you need more employees then you can hire them.
Nov 8, 2013
For startups, it depends on your investing capacity. But if there is an HR need to your business, you will want to hire beforehand. Hiring the right person is one of the foremost important aspects of launching a successful business.
For existing business, monitoring and controlling spending is the key to sustainable growth. HR is a high cost to most businesses. A business should hire moderately according to growth. What is also important is to fully utilize your staff's time and talent when business slows down. Sustainability is the key concept to guide your human resources strategy.
Nov 7, 2013
It's very important, when you ask a question like this, to explain what your Business is all about. Otherwise, you will get conflicting advice and be no wiser.
If you are a Service Industry, then you should have been cautious enough to have some Subcontractors whom you can call upon, either on a short-term (less than one month) or long-term (more than one year) basis. If you haven't - you aren't really a good Planner.
Also, if the services and products arise from Market Research, then you should be prepared to 'hit the deck, running'. However, if they are "Wish List" ideas, do some Market Research first.
Hiring is relatively easy. Down-sizing is hard (and can be financially expensive). Also, as an Employer, apart from Employment Legislation, you ought to 'take care' of your staff. Content and well-motivated staff will usually rise to help out if an overload of business occurs. Minimum-wage staff are unlikely to be a help, and could collapse your business.
If you are certain of hiring, be sure to have both a Task Profile and a Person Profile, and make those plain (and stick to them). And don't forget to plan for at least 12 months ahead, if not longer.
Nov 6, 2013
Intern to hire is one way to do both. Or base sales on production to start out to find the best marketers.
Nov 6, 2013
I'm big on all entrepreneurs doing everything in their business themselves for the first year. This gives you a better idea of what tasks need to be done, as well as whether the business has the revenue to pay staff.
Before hiring anyone for anything, create a staffing plan. Some components of a staffing plan include how many people to hire, job descriptions, salaries, benefits (legally mandated ones), when to hire, whether to hire employees or virtual workers, etc.
=>Donna
Oct 31, 2013
Hello Shakti, My best wishes for your new business, I suggest you to hire the people before (within a week when your new services and products starts), as it helps you to select the exact person within your budget.
Oct 31, 2013
Can you do everything efficiently? If not sub out, what you're not good at and do the rest. People with skills at one thing can save you tons of time, getting off the ground. Don't be afraid to ask and barter.
Oct 30, 2013
Hire as needed - not before.
Others have mentioned the issues related to finance, but there is another reason: You don't know if who you're hiring will meet your needs, no matter how much you like them or their credentials.
The contractor/temp route is the fiscally conservative path, sure, but it's also the more responsible path as far as hiring quality in the context of your business. You're building relationships not just with other companies but with people doing work for you. It's a balancing act.
Oct 30, 2013
It depends on the business, it may be wiser though to hire temps or independents contractors, until you can sustain their employment for a longer period.
A internship program can be useful and very dangerous in recent years several cases of litigation have occurred. A internship must be of value (scope of work) to the intern in conjunction to college classes, especially if the internship is unpaid. I would definitely research a internship and laws before implementing a internship element.
Oct 30, 2013
From the standpoint of someone who has hired instructors for classes, I would suggest you hire after the business has been won. That doesn't mean that you don't begin your interviewing process before hand. At the point of capturing the business, you should be able to bring on people, not begin the interview/vetting process. Good luck!