To hire or not to hire

One big milestone for a new business owner is the hiring of employees. For some businesses, it's not really optional. If you own a restaurant, a retail store, or a manufacturing plant, you almost certainly have to have employees from the minute you open your business. But if you're a professional service provider (accountant, attorney, consultant) like me, the addition of employees is not so cut and dry.

The key is knowing whether or not you want employees and when the time is right to hire them. The idea of even hiring employees at all should not be a "given" for a small business owner. I found that friends and business associates automatically assumed that I wanted to add employees to my business. There wasn't even an option, in their minds. They believed that adding employees was really the only way to grow my business.

Unfortunately, that kind of thing should not be a "given." It should be something that is thought out and planned. Obviously, employees can place a heavy financial burden on a business, and hiring them too early may put your company in jeopardy. So there is a critical decision that must be made - figuring out when you have a steady enough business to ensure that all the bills can be paid in addition to paying the employee(s).