There comes a time for every small business when you have to hire if you want to grow larger. But expanding your personnel is also a risk – each new member of the team can represent an investment and banking on the wrong person may result in slowed momentum and missed opportunities. In this article, we’ll look at how to find and hire professionals who will help your business grow safely, using examples in sales and marketing.

Freelancers

The advantages of hiring freelancers are numerous – for a start, they’re often cheaper when being paid per task, they come at a lower risk and they can bring fresh outside perspective having worked across the field. A good marketeer or salesman in the modern era will have a comprehensive and thorough understanding of popular, current tech solutions, for example. If you’re not adept with managing a CRM or tracking KPIs, the right freelancer can instantly step into your business and improve its value simply by addressing these points. You may even consider asking a freelancer who worked well and profited the business to join up full-time.

Despite these obvious advantages, freelancers are not always the right option for a small business. One clear reason for this is that they tend to function well in the short-term but, with all their understanding and knowledge of your business, may at any moment turn tail and leave. This is especially true with marketing execs, as they will have carried out research into your demographics and measured what worked and what didn’t. It’s also true, to varying extents, that each new employee requires onboarding and, with a high freelance turnover, you may be spending a lot of time and effort training people who end up working at the company for short periods of time.

Freelancers also benefit from reduced accountability – many small businesses will at some point hire someone who produces sub-standard work and then walks away. Whereas, with full-time employees, work performance holds serious ramifications for their long-term careers.

Full-Time Employees

Hiring full-time staff should be considered the riskier but potentially more rewarding option. With the right nurturing, a talented employee can completely transform the trajectory of a business and the individual’s value tends to increase with growing understanding of the company. It’s important, before making a decision about whether to hire full-time, to do the maths and calculate whether they will bring measurable value to the company. In sales and marketing, this is usually more easily quantified and, financially speaking, it can make more sense to offer part-time or temp contracts, whilst carefully weighing up the options carefully beforehand.

The dangers of hiring full-time relate mostly to the nature of the business itself. Some companies are seasonal-dependent and, by hiring permanent, you’re paying for services that are not necessarily needed at all months of the year. This is where sales and marketing can differ – as sales staff can be brought on for shorter periods with great impact, whereas marketers tend to require year-long timeframes to work their magic. Remember as well, to factor in overall costs when hiring perm, including perks, added paperwork, and holidays. It’s estimated that added benefits come in at about 1.4% of the basic salary.

Services

Not all expertise comes in the form of freelancers or full-time employees. There’s also a plethora of consultants and off-the-shelf services to help you and your business succeed. Using these intelligently can make all the difference – for example, a Limited Liability Company (LLC) can help reduce liability, provide tax advantages and reduce paperwork. By hiring Zenbusiness, a formation service, you can avoid hefty lawyer fees and receive help negotiating state regulations (as these differ from region to region).

Whoever you hire, remember to carry out as much research as is possible and ethical. It’s a risky business, sharing responsibility with new personnel but a necessary one for growth and, when done correctly, everyone can benefit tremendously.

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