Starting your own business requires months – often years – of hard work. During that time, you are likely to be fulfilling every role imaginable, including marketing, finance, sales and product development.
But when you see your toil starting to bear fruit – possibly through some early sales or interest from an investor – it might be time to start thinking about bringing in more people.
Hiring external staff is a big decision for any entrepreneur because it means you have to start sharing your dreams with someone else. If you get the hiring process wrong, it can be disruptive and slow momentum.
Yet, get it right and it can take your business to the next level by improving productivity and freeing you, as the founder, to concentrate on running the parts of the company best aligned to your skills. Delegation can also reduce the stress of having to make every decision, which could have a positive impact on your mental health.
But when should you decide to bring in someone else? This article runs through the options and explains why sharing the burden could be the key to success.
Finding the right person
“It’s important to think about the point when you are going to need dedicated roles,” says Jonathan Gaunt, founder and Managing Director of FD Works, a company that partners with start-ups and scale-ups to improve their financial strategy. “As you increase your customer base, you will need to ask how you support those customers.
“In the early days, founders will normally do lots of roles themselves, but at some point, they have to start giving some of that work away. A well-crafted plan can provide you with a sense of what the next six months will look like and give you a degree of confidence.”
A plan is an essential element, but it is equally important to understand the dynamics of the job market. The unemployment rate fell to 4.2% in the three months to the end of October 2021, according to the Office for National Statistics.1 At the same time, job vacancies are at record highs. This means that many businesses are having difficulty filling roles and makes it even more important that you have a comprehensive hiring strategy.
“There is a talent shortage, and if you come across the right candidate, you have to be open and receptive,” says Magda King, Technical Consultant Head of the Tech Division at King Recruitment, which finds talent for high-growth small businesses. “It helps to start the conversation with them early and stay in touch, because it always takes longer than you think.”
Tech troubles
Companies recruiting for highly skilled positions in technology, such as software developers, are finding the jobs market particularly difficult at the moment. Indeed, in the Harvey Nash Group’s Digital Leadership Report, 67% of tech company leaders said that they were unable to keep pace with change because of a dearth of talent.2
Finding the right person requires time and strategic thinking about what you can offer to attract them to your company.
“You don’t wake up in the morning and think, ‘I need to hire ten people and I want them today,’” says King. “It’s about planning step by step and realising it takes time. In technology, to attract the right people, you need to make sure you have the right salary benchmarks. If you under-offer for the talent you really want, you can lose out.”
When recruiting, small businesses – especially those based outside of London – can struggle to compete with the salaries of big corporates. Here, it pays to think creatively. It’s not enough to simply offer flexible or remote working – these are now considered standard – instead, new staff can be enticed with perks such as share option and incentive schemes, insurance plans and generous pension contributions.
These are a fundamental running cost of the business, but it’s also important to think of them as a way to encourage the behaviour and values you need in your staff in order to be successful. They are lasting benefits of real value to employees and will also help to retain talent.
The benefits of building a team
The ways in which running a small business can impact on wellbeing are well documented, and difficulties have only become more pronounced during the pandemic: in a survey by Santander, a third of business owners reported that working through COVID-19 had adversely affected their mental health.3
Building a talented team around you to share the burden is one way to address the potential problems of overworking and burnout. It is important to think carefully about your own skillset and where you have the greatest impact, then look to bring in others to work in areas where you are less effective.
“Think about all the jobs you do now and then think about the ones you absolutely have to do,” says Gaunt. “For example, you have to do the fundraising because people are buying you and you need to be in front of them.
“There’s an element of ‘I can do that, so I will’, but if you’re saying yes to something, you’re also saying no to something else. Understand the things you must do and what you can take away [from your workload] so you can concentrate on your areas of real strength. It’s about understanding where your time is best spent.”
Seek advice
Speak to your St. James’s Place Partner for help in building a cost-effective employee benefit strategy that aligns with your business plan.
Where the opinions of third parties are offered, these may not necessarily reflect those of St. James's Place.
Starting your own business requires months – often years – of hard work. During that time, you are likely to be fulfilling every role imaginable, including marketing, finance, sales and product development.
But when you see your toil starting to bear fruit – possibly through some early sales or interest from an investor – it might be time to start thinking about bringing in more people.
Hiring external staff is a big decision for any entrepreneur because it means you have to start sharing your dreams with someone else. If you get the hiring process wrong, it can be disruptive and slow momentum.
Yet, get it right and it can take your business to the next level by improving productivity and freeing you, as the founder, to concentrate on running the parts of the company best aligned to your skills. Delegation can also reduce the stress of having to make every decision, which could have a positive impact on your mental health.
But when should you decide to bring in someone else? This article runs through the options and explains why sharing the burden could be the key to success.
Finding the right person
“It’s important to think about the point when you are going to need dedicated roles,” says Jonathan Gaunt, founder and Managing Director of FD Works, a company that partners with start-ups and scale-ups to improve their financial strategy. “As you increase your customer base, you will need to ask how you support those customers.
“In the early days, founders will normally do lots of roles themselves, but at some point, they have to start giving some of that work away. A well-crafted plan can provide you with a sense of what the next six months will look like and give you a degree of confidence.”
A plan is an essential element, but it is equally important to understand the dynamics of the job market. The unemployment rate fell to 4.2% in the three months to the end of October 2021, according to the Office for National Statistics.1 At the same time, job vacancies are at record highs. This means that many businesses are having difficulty filling roles and makes it even more important that you have a comprehensive hiring strategy.
“There is a talent shortage, and if you come across the right candidate, you have to be open and receptive,” says Magda King, Technical Consultant Head of the Tech Division at King Recruitment, which finds talent for high-growth small businesses. “It helps to start the conversation with them early and stay in touch, because it always takes longer than you think.”
Tech troubles
Companies recruiting for highly skilled positions in technology, such as software developers, are finding the jobs market particularly difficult at the moment. Indeed, in the Harvey Nash Group’s Digital Leadership Report, 67% of tech company leaders said that they were unable to keep pace with change because of a dearth of talent.2
Finding the right person requires time and strategic thinking about what you can offer to attract them to your company.
“You don’t wake up in the morning and think, ‘I need to hire ten people and I want them today,’” says King. “It’s about planning step by step and realising it takes time. In technology, to attract the right people, you need to make sure you have the right salary benchmarks. If you under-offer for the talent you really want, you can lose out.”
When recruiting, small businesses – especially those based outside of London – can struggle to compete with the salaries of big corporates. Here, it pays to think creatively. It’s not enough to simply offer flexible or remote working – these are now considered standard – instead, new staff can be enticed with perks such as share option and incentive schemes, insurance plans and generous pension contributions.
These are a fundamental running cost of the business, but it’s also important to think of them as a way to encourage the behaviour and values you need in your staff in order to be successful. They are lasting benefits of real value to employees and will also help to retain talent.
The benefits of building a team
The ways in which running a small business can impact on wellbeing are well documented, and difficulties have only become more pronounced during the pandemic: in a survey by Santander, a third of business owners reported that working through COVID-19 had adversely affected their mental health.3
Building a talented team around you to share the burden is one way to address the potential problems of overworking and burnout. It is important to think carefully about your own skillset and where you have the greatest impact, then look to bring in others to work in areas where you are less effective.
“Think about all the jobs you do now and then think about the ones you absolutely have to do,” says Gaunt. “For example, you have to do the fundraising because people are buying you and you need to be in front of them.
“There’s an element of ‘I can do that, so I will’, but if you’re saying yes to something, you’re also saying no to something else. Understand the things you must do and what you can take away [from your workload] so you can concentrate on your areas of real strength. It’s about understanding where your time is best spent.”
Seek advice
Speak to your St. James’s Place Partner for help in building a cost-effective employee benefit strategy that aligns with your business plan.
Where the opinions of third parties are offered, these may not necessarily reflect those of St. James's Place.
Starting your own business requires months – often years – of hard work. During that time, you are likely to be fulfilling every role imaginable, including marketing, finance, sales and product development.
But when you see your toil starting to bear fruit – possibly through some early sales or interest from an investor – it might be time to start thinking about bringing in more people.
Hiring external staff is a big decision for any entrepreneur because it means you have to start sharing your dreams with someone else. If you get the hiring process wrong, it can be disruptive and slow momentum.
Yet, get it right and it can take your business to the next level by improving productivity and freeing you, as the founder, to concentrate on running the parts of the company best aligned to your skills. Delegation can also reduce the stress of having to make every decision, which could have a positive impact on your mental health.
But when should you decide to bring in someone else? This article runs through the options and explains why sharing the burden could be the key to success.
Finding the right person
“It’s important to think about the point when you are going to need dedicated roles,” says Jonathan Gaunt, founder and Managing Director of FD Works, a company that partners with start-ups and scale-ups to improve their financial strategy. “As you increase your customer base, you will need to ask how you support those customers.
“In the early days, founders will normally do lots of roles themselves, but at some point, they have to start giving some of that work away. A well-crafted plan can provide you with a sense of what the next six months will look like and give you a degree of confidence.”
A plan is an essential element, but it is equally important to understand the dynamics of the job market. The unemployment rate fell to 4.2% in the three months to the end of October 2021, according to the Office for National Statistics.1 At the same time, job vacancies are at record highs. This means that many businesses are having difficulty filling roles and makes it even more important that you have a comprehensive hiring strategy.
“There is a talent shortage, and if you come across the right candidate, you have to be open and receptive,” says Magda King, Technical Consultant Head of the Tech Division at King Recruitment, which finds talent for high-growth small businesses. “It helps to start the conversation with them early and stay in touch, because it always takes longer than you think.”
Tech troubles
Companies recruiting for highly skilled positions in technology, such as software developers, are finding the jobs market particularly difficult at the moment. Indeed, in the Harvey Nash Group’s Digital Leadership Report, 67% of tech company leaders said that they were unable to keep pace with change because of a dearth of talent.2
Finding the right person requires time and strategic thinking about what you can offer to attract them to your company.
“You don’t wake up in the morning and think, ‘I need to hire ten people and I want them today,’” says King. “It’s about planning step by step and realising it takes time. In technology, to attract the right people, you need to make sure you have the right salary benchmarks. If you under-offer for the talent you really want, you can lose out.”
When recruiting, small businesses – especially those based outside of London – can struggle to compete with the salaries of big corporates. Here, it pays to think creatively. It’s not enough to simply offer flexible or remote working – these are now considered standard – instead, new staff can be enticed with perks such as share option and incentive schemes, insurance plans and generous pension contributions.
These are a fundamental running cost of the business, but it’s also important to think of them as a way to encourage the behaviour and values you need in your staff in order to be successful. They are lasting benefits of real value to employees and will also help to retain talent.
The benefits of building a team
The ways in which running a small business can impact on wellbeing are well documented, and difficulties have only become more pronounced during the pandemic: in a survey by Santander, a third of business owners reported that working through COVID-19 had adversely affected their mental health.3
Building a talented team around you to share the burden is one way to address the potential problems of overworking and burnout. It is important to think carefully about your own skillset and where you have the greatest impact, then look to bring in others to work in areas where you are less effective.
“Think about all the jobs you do now and then think about the ones you absolutely have to do,” says Gaunt. “For example, you have to do the fundraising because people are buying you and you need to be in front of them.
“There’s an element of ‘I can do that, so I will’, but if you’re saying yes to something, you’re also saying no to something else. Understand the things you must do and what you can take away [from your workload] so you can concentrate on your areas of real strength. It’s about understanding where your time is best spent.”
Seek advice
Speak to your St. James’s Place Partner for help in building a cost-effective employee benefit strategy that aligns with your business plan.
Where the opinions of third parties are offered, these may not necessarily reflect those of St. James's Place.