Keys To Success: Employees

One of the keys to success for many small businesses is when they hire their first employee.  As an entrepreneur, solo professional or self-employed business owner you can only grow your business and influence with the help of others.

Unfortunately, many small business owners see employees as a babysitting task or unwelcome responsibility as opposed to an opportunity to take them and their business to a better level.

Yes, having employees brings a new dynamic to your business.  It also brings increased paperwork and the discipline of making a payroll and the paperwork and procedures that must be implemented to have a good work environment.

Keys To Success:  Get Over The Hurdle 

One of the keys to success in small business growth is to get over the hurdle of hiring your first employee.  Very often, in my personal business coaching practice I have business owners who are reluctant to take the step to hire someone.

Yet, if they don’t they will stay on the treadmill they have created and ultimately wear out and quit their business.  Once the self-employed business owner truly understands that employees are the way to have a better business and life then they are ready to step up to becoming more and having more.

So, what holds the self-employed business owner back from hiring employees?  There are many reasons.  Some don’t want the extra paperwork.  Some don’t want the responsibility of an employee.  They really don’t want someone else to be accountable to.

Notice that the focus is on what the business owner does not want.  When the small business owner is focusing on what he doesn’t want, instead of what he does want, he is being ruled by fear.  And, the likelihood of him or her taking the action to move forward is quite small.

Keys To Success:  Focusing On What You Want 

Instead, as a small business owner you must focus on what you do want.  One of the keys to success and small business growth is to continually focus on what you do want.  If you want to get to a point where your business isn’t your life and your life isn’t your business then you must learn to depend on others.

One of the keys to success in small business is to have good processes.  Too often, the focus is put on outcome.  In truth, it is process that determines outcome.  To be ready to hire an employee it is better if you have good processes in place.  And, it is even better to have them written down.

Keys To Success:  Good Processes 

The first process is in the hiring employees.  It is important to have an application form.  There are numerous reasons that I won’t go into here.  Suffice it to say, that one of the keys to success is to have a good application form.

The next part of the hiring process is to be specific in what you need the employee to do.  Have a written job description.  If you don’t, start creating one when the employee starts.  Having a job description allows the small business owner to hold the employee accountable and to measure performance.

In coaching success I find that the businesses that truly succeed on a higher level have policies, procedures, accountability and measure performance. If this is not something you like to do, there are people who you can hire to help you do this.

There is a great deal that could be written on this subject.  My goal here is to give you a start and possibly the impetus to take on your first employee.

Get in the right mindset.  It is part of success planning. Employees are an asset.  To go forward in running a small business or a small business startup and to have small business success, we must learn to be dependent on others.  And, in being dependent on others, one of the keys to success is to create a process where we are dependent on the right people.

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