Five Signs Your Business Is ready to bring on staff

In every business’ growth journey there comes a point where additional resources and investment will be required.

At this critical juncture it’s likely you, the business operator, are working at capacity. It’s a struggle to complete all the small business tasks required and there simply aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done.

At this stage, it’s also likely you have maxed out your earning potential under your current business model.

And, it might sound obvious, but this is the point where you will need to bring on staff if you want your business to grow.

So what are the signs your business is ready to bring on staff?

Signs you’re ready to employ additional staff

There are numerous signs a small business or sole trader is at the point where it needs the extra resources of additional staff, such as:

You’re no longer doing what your best at

As the owner of a business, chances are your natural talent and passion is a dollar-productive activity, such as providing a service, finding new clients or producing something.

In a growing business, there comes a point where you are likely to be waylaid by the other tasks that business operation requires, such as invoicing, accounts receivable, marketing and more.

These are tasks you should be delegating so you can get back to what you do best.

Work backlogs

Whether it’s a backlog of orders or you are knocking back customers seeking your services, when the workload outstrips your ability to cater properly to your clientele, now is the time to look at bringing in help.

Sales is not your strength

This might sound counterintuitive, but every business relies on sales and sometimes the business owner is not the best salesperson.

While they know what they want their business to achieve, and they also know there is customer demand for the product, they’re just not comfortable conveying the value of a product or service to the world.

If this sounds like you, it might be time to bring in a salesperson who is skilled in this area. Additional growth will make this a worthwhile investment.

You have maxed out your earning potential

There are only so many hours in a day and the reality is you can only fulfil so many orders and complete a set number of services each week.

If you’ve hit this capacity, you have also maxed out your current earning potential, unless you decide to increase the price of your product.

But in most cases, this is the stage where you bring people in to increase your business output and enjoy additional revenue.

You have made a growth decision

One major reason to bring in staff is because you have made a strategic growth decision. You want to expand your business, and the only way to do that is with additional resources.

If any of the above factors sound familiar, it’s likely you are ready to bring in staff, but there are a few things your business should have in place before that occurs.

For a brief overview, you can visit the Australian Government’s staff checklist here.

I’ll share more about how to prepare your business for staff in my next article, but in the meantime, if you’re looking to grow your business, I’m available to assist with goal setting, planning and more.