What To Consider Before Hiring Your First Ever Employee

June 13, 2016

When your business finally makes the jump from a solo venture to a collaborative one, things need to change. Hiring an employee isn’t as simple as you might think it’ll be, and it'll cost a lot of money, too! The good thing is that hiring your first employee is always the hardest part, and you’ll learn a lot in the process. Once you’ve got past this hurdle, things will be much easier for you in the future.
Firstly, before you hire your employee, you’ve got to make sure your premises are in the right conditions. Are you equipped to bring an employee into the business? Have you got a rest area where they can take breaks and go to the bathroom? Have you got equipment that they will be able to use, and has it been properly checked for safety purposes? In fact, safety is one of the biggest things that you need to be concerned about. If you’re about to hire someone that will be working on dangerous tasks like building work, you better make sure they are safe. You’re going to need to speak to a fall protection company to obtain the right safety equipment for them.
Once you feel that you’re ready to bring your first employee into the mix, you need to think about your budget. How much can you realistically afford to spend on your new employee? You might have ideas of getting the best of the best, but you have to pay big salaries for that! Keeping track of your budget is crucial, or you could end up spending far too much in this area. The last thing you want is to have to let them go soon after you hire them as you’re losing money! Also, consider the costs of the recruitment process. If you’re planning to do it all yourself, you’re going to have to do a lot of research beforehand. Otherwise, hire a recruitment company to do it for you.
Let’s say that you’ve got your perfect employee and you’re ready to hire them. Finally, before you do so, make sure you’re ready for the commitment. Remember; this person is the very first employee of the company. There won’t be any other people to train them on how to do their work. You’ve got to be that person, and you’re a busy worker as it is! You’re supposed to be managing the company, and that’s a tough task when you’re trying to train someone as well! You don’t want to half-heartedly train someone as they won’t be able to flourish. If you really can’t find the time, this might not be the best idea right now.
As you can see, hiring an employee comes with all sorts of considerations. It isn’t as simple as hiring someone just because you want to! To ensure you make the right decision, start thinking about these ideas well in advance of actually hiring someone. Go through every consideration that you can think of before you come to a definitive conclusion.

Mark Asquith

That British podcast guy, Mark is co-founder of Captivate.fm, the world's only growth-oriented podcast host. A Harvard, TEDx, Podcast Movement and Podfest speaker (amongst many more!), he's a wildly approachable Brit and Star Wars/DC Comics geek.

Learn podcasting
in your own time

Listen to the
free podcast

The free, thrice-weekly show that brings you podcast education, industry insights & straight-talking reactions to podcasting news. This short-form show typically runs for between 7 and 15 minutes and releases every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Usually a solo show, every now and then, the show features expert podcast industry guests and release bonus episodes as the podcast industry continues to grow and develop.