November 2, 2023 • 13 mins
Ever feel like you're drowning in work and wonder if it's time to bring someone on board? We're tackling that crucial question in this episode and more. We're unpacking the markers that signal it's time to hire, and the financial implications of such a decision. Remember, expanding your team doesn't just mean more hands on deck; it means additional costs, taxes, and benefits that need to be factored into your business budget. But don't fret, we've got you covered with handy tools and resources like Gusto.
Running a business isn't just about the numbers, it's about the people too. How do you attract top talent? How do you nurture a team that feels valued and empowered? We're diving headfirst into these vital questions. Offering competitive pay doesn't just lure in skilled employees, it helps cultivate a team that's committed and motivated. We candidly discuss the sacrifices one might have to make, including forgoing your own paycheck. After all, investing in your team is investing in your business. We're also exploring the importance of having revenue-increasing processes in place to support your employees sustainably. So, let's roll up our sleeves and get into the nitty-gritty of hiring and managing your team efficiently. If you know a fellow business owner wrestling with these issues, share this with them - they'll thank you!
Until next time... Follow on Instagram @buytimepodcast
Follow Jacob K. Mead on all the socials @jacobkmead
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey everybody, this is Jacob K Mead and this is the
Buy Time podcast, where wediscuss everything there is to
know about buying back your time.
Be sure to like and follow andshare with somebody who needs to
buy back their time.
Enjoyed today's episode.
Welcome back to another episodeof the Buy Time podcast.
I'm your host, jacob K Mead,and I'm super excited that
you're here, because today Iwant to talk about a very
(00:21):
important subject, and that iswhen is the right time to hire,
how do you know when to hire,how do you go about that process
and how do you financially putyour business in a place that
you can support it?
Because those are all very goodquestions and they're questions
that I had when I was lookingat first hiring my first team
member and I'm talking fullhires, so W2, not independent
(00:42):
contractors, but actually havinga payroll system and payroll
structure.
So let's go ahead and dive intothat.
So, if you've been working inyour business for a while,
chances are it might just be you.
You've been going at it, you'vebeen doing everything wearing
all the different hats, and wealways talk about stepping aside
and letting your team handle it.
So I wanted to take a secondand actually talk to you about
how to do that.
(01:02):
So, before you're actuallylooking at branching out and
getting an employee, you have toask yourself am I ready?
So here's some ways that youcan recognize if you're ready to
actually get an employee tocome on board and help you and
I'm talking like, again, w2employee, not independent
contractor.
So look at your workload.
Are you overworked?
Are you having more sales comein than what you can handle?
(01:22):
Are you having more clientsthan you can handle?
These are all the questionsthat you're going to want to be
asking yourself, because this isgoing to tell you whether or
not you can actually hire onsomeone Now, before you start
doing the math and, financiallyspeaking, trying to figure out
if you can afford someone, it'salso important to remember that
along with payroll comes a lotof taxes associated to that.
(01:45):
So you're going to have yourunemployment tax.
If you off your employeeshealth benefits, you'll have
that as an expense, and so it'simportant, whenever you're
looking at an employee, to makesure that you're factoring all
those additional expenses.
And so there is one greatapplication out there that I use
for this, and it is actuallycalled Gusto.
They do an excellent job ofhelping you with benefits,
(02:08):
payroll, hr, really anythingthat you need to be able to run
a business with employees.
They have time clocks on there,they have reporting systems
everything that you can possiblyneed in order to have employees
they actually offer, and so Iwould recommend starting there
and at least getting an idea ofwhat it's going to run you
(02:28):
monthly, and they even give youcost analysis and like estimates
of what it would be to have anadditional employee with all the
benefits that you offer.
Now let's talk about employeecompensation and why you want to
make sure that you're the oneproviding the most amount of
compensation compared to yourcompetitors.
One thing I find a lot ofbusiness owners do is they're
(02:49):
always looking for the cheapest.
They're looking for theemployee that can come in and
work for the cheapest.
They don't want to pay becausethey want to be able to keep
more revenue in the business,which we all do, right, I mean,
revenue is kind of what makesthe business survive, so you
need it, but what really makesthe business survive and really
lets you be able to start thatprocess of buying back your time
(03:11):
and stepping outside yourbusiness is having a quality
team, having a team that you cantrust, and so what I like to do
, and I pride myself in, ismaking sure that I am paying my
team the highest in the industryacross every little platform
there is, and so the bestbenefits.
I make sure that my team haseverything they possibly need to
(03:33):
thrive and succeed in mybusiness.
Now, does that cost me?
Yeah, it does.
Does it get into my revenue?
Absolutely, but you'll see thatit comes back to 10-fold in
other ways.
You'll see that your team feelsempowered.
You'll feel that your teamfeels valued.
You'll feel that you areactually providing a good
livelihood for your employeesand that makes you feel good on
(03:54):
top of it.
So don't look at, okay, howlittle can I pay these employees
, or what can I get an employeefor, if it's truly someone that
you know is going to grow withyour team and actually be there
for your business success.
Make sure that you'recompensating them well and be
the best at it.
Offer them the highestcompensation package compared to
(04:16):
anyone else in your industry.
You'll see it makes a hugedifference.
So that's more from thefinancial side.
Now you will notice that Payrolldoes eat up a lot of your
revenue, and so it's importantthat you're looking at that
before you go and hire someone,because a lot of the times what
I see is business owners theyget super busy, their workload's
tied down, and then they go andthey hire someone and that kind
(04:38):
of free ups their workload, butthen a couple months go by, six
months, eight months, andthey're having to let go of that
employee because they can nolonger afford them.
And that's a hard place to be,because you've got to look at
your finances.
You've got to say, hey, listen,if I'm going to bring this
employee on, I'm going to paythem.
You know $10 an hour.
(04:59):
You got to make sure you'retelling yourself that, hey, if I
want to pay them $10 an hour,that's really $15 an hour.
Now, we know $10 an hour isn'tvery much, I'm just using that
as an example.
But let's say you're payingthem $10 an hour, I always say
add.5 to that, so that'll be $15an hour.
That's what all of your taxesand everything in there, so you
can financially prepare for thatexpense.
(05:19):
So make sure that you have yourprocesses in place in order to
increase that revenue and makesure that you can afford that
employee, especially on yourslow times too, because you're
going to have slow times wheremaybe you're not as busy, but
you're still going to have to beable to pay for that employee.
So you need to make sure thatyou have enough revenue coming
in that you can actually pay forthat employee.
(05:40):
So definitely have a plan inplace as far as okay, these are
my slow months.
And maybe those slow months youcould have the conversation
with your employee that says,hey, during our slow months I'm
going to have you only working30 hours versus 40 hours, but
make sure that you're havingthis conversation ahead of time.
I think the biggest thingemployees hate is being
surprised by something.
(06:01):
So they come in, you're toldyes, I really need you.
I'm going to give you 40 hoursa week.
And then three months go by andyou get slow and now they're
down to 30 hours a week.
That's a shocking surprise.
They're not expecting that.
Now their finances are allblown into proportions.
So make sure that you'resetting clear expectations with
your employees about how manyhours they're going to get, the
(06:21):
benefits they're going to getand what you're going to provide
for them.
Now let's talk about managingemployees, training employees,
because that all comes into playwhen you get your first
employee.
So your first employee shouldbe the person that you feel will
take the best mentorship fromyou.
They're going to be your righthand person and they're going to
be there to help grow thebusiness.
(06:42):
They're going to be there whenthe business is going through
troubles because they have faithin you, they have faith in the
process, they have faith in thebusiness.
Now, finding this person isn'teasy.
It's actually can be quitechallenging.
So you're going to go throughinterviews after interviews and
you may even make the wrong hireat first.
But listen, that's okay, I'vebeen there, I've done it.
You can overcome that.
(07:03):
If that does happen, but makesure that you're hiring someone
that sees the full potential ofthe business.
That's not necessarily therejust for the paycheck, but it's
there because of the vision.
That's just as important asanything else any skillset,
anything like that, that theymay be bringing to the table.
It's important that they seethe full vision, and so make
(07:25):
sure you're asking thosequestions in the interview.
What does it look like in fiveyears?
Where do you want to seeyourself in this company in five
years?
I've actually had some peoplethat have bombed that question
and it's like well, if you'renot interested in being with me
or even somewhat having a vision.
Yes, I understand things canchange, but if you can't picture
yourself in the company andworking in the company and being
(07:48):
there, then I don't want youbecause you're not part of the
vision.
And I'm all about a really goodwork-life balance, really good
work culture, and that is almostpoisoning the well when you
bring someone in that doesn'tsee your full vision.
So if they're your firstemployee, make sure that they're
seeing your vision and thatyou're able to mentor them,
because they're going to be theperson that's going to help run
(08:09):
the place while you step aside.
They're going to be the personthat helps mentor other
employees that you bring on.
So it's very important that youget that first hire tuned in
and then that you also have goodstructures and good systems in
place.
Now I'm not going to talk toomuch about this either, but when
you start to bring employees in, it's very good that your
(08:29):
business has SOPs and that isbasically to, for your employee
knows exactly what they need todo and it's basically an action
plan that says, hey, if thiscomes up, this is what you have
to do in order to resolve it.
So it's super important,something that you want to make
sure that you have, especiallywhen you're bringing on
(08:49):
employees, it's almost needed,and so don't forget to have
those Now.
Once you get that firstemployee and you're going to
have this happen they're goingto make a mistake.
It's important when they makethat mistake that you're letting
them know that it's all right,that you understand.
(09:10):
Now.
I know this sounds simple, butI've seen business owners almost
harass and belittle and getupset with their employee
because they made a largemistake that cost them lots of
money, and they're told thatover and over.
Well, they're going to makemistakes and they're going to
make mistakes that will cost youmoney.
So realize that, going into it,that they are going to make
(09:30):
mistakes that cost you lots ofmoney.
Let that sink in because it'sgoing to happen, and once you
realize that's going to happen,it's a little easier to deal
with it when it does happen.
I always look at my employeeslike myself.
What would I want someone totell me if I made a mistake?
How would I want someone totreat me if I messed up?
How can I resolve the situationat hand so it doesn't happen
(09:54):
again?
And that's when you're going tooffer a coaching.
You're going to be able tocoach them through what they
could have done, the scenario ofhow it happened, and get them
to a place where they feelconfident that if something like
that were to arise again, thatyou're not going to lose out on
that sale, you're not going tolose a financial value from it.
So take any breath.
(10:14):
When your employees make amistake, know that they're human
and understand that mistakes dohappen.
But that's part of the learningprocess, especially your first
employee.
It's part of the learningprocess and understanding, like
hey, they're learning with thebusiness, they're growing with
the business.
They're learning youroperations, they're learning
your standard operatingprocedures, which is what an SOP
(10:35):
is.
So they're learning all ofthose along with you.
And that's what you want.
You want your proto-J Prettymuch.
You want to be mentoring yourproto-J so that way they can
help run the business while youstep away and work on the
business.
And if that's your plan, like,let's say, that's your plan is
to get someone in there that canwork for you while you work on
(10:57):
the business and you're notconstantly doing all the sales,
if that's your plan, make sureit's clear.
Make sure it's clear and thatthey have an understanding like,
hey, listen, they need to comeat the mindset of like they need
to learn as much as they canabout the business, because
you're going to be the onerunning the business, versus
working in the business.
So I guess one of my questionsfor everyone out there is have
(11:22):
you hired an employee?
And, if you have, what was yourbiggest mistake?
I'd actually love to hear that,because I want to see if some
of our mistakes line up.
Thank you, and you can justleave a message either on my
Facebook or Instagram page atJacobKMead.
Go on there, leave me a message, or send me a message or leave
(11:44):
a comment.
I'm just very curious as towhat was the biggest mistake you
made when you hired an employee.
And if you haven't hired anemployee, why haven't you?
Is it because your sales aren'twhere they're supposed to be?
Is it because you feel like youneed to control every aspect of
the business?
Is it because you don't knowhow to go about doing that?
(12:04):
Is it because you're afraid ofcommitting to an employee?
Why is it that you haven'thired your first employee?
I'm also curious to know thatas well, and maybe we can work
together on finding a solutionthat works best for you.
Well, hopefully, this gave yousome insight on hiring and the
importance of hiring because itreally does start with your team
(12:24):
in order to get your time back.
It's something that Iabsolutely value as my team, and
I will do everything I can forthem, and sometimes that
includes not paying myself,because my team means the most
to me and they always deservethe best.
My name is Jacob K Mead, and iftoday's episode really helped
you and you think it could helpsomeone else, please share it
(12:46):
with somebody that needs to hearthis message and let's make
sure that we're getting our timeback Until next time.
Thanks for listening to today'sepisode.
My name is Jacob K Mead, anduntil next time.
Hey everybody, this is Jacob K Mead and this is the
Buy Time podcast, where wediscuss everything there is to
know about buying back your time.
Be sure to like and follow andshare with somebody who needs to
buy back their time.
Enjoyed today's episode.
Welcome back to another episodeof the Buy Time podcast.
I'm your host, jacob K Mead,and I'm super excited that
you're here, because today Iwant to talk about a very
(00:21):
important subject, and that iswhen is the right time to hire,
how do you know when to hire,how do you go about that process
and how do you financially putyour business in a place that
you can support it?
Because those are all very goodquestions and they're questions
that I had when I was lookingat first hiring my first team
member and I'm talking fullhires, so W2, not independent
(00:42):
contractors, but actually havinga payroll system and payroll
structure.
So let's go ahead and dive intothat.
So, if you've been working inyour business for a while,
chances are it might just be you.
You've been going at it, you'vebeen doing everything wearing
all the different hats, and wealways talk about stepping aside
and letting your team handle it.
So I wanted to take a secondand actually talk to you about
how to do that.
(01:02):
So, before you're actuallylooking at branching out and
getting an employee, you have toask yourself am I ready?
So here's some ways that youcan recognize if you're ready to
actually get an employee tocome on board and help you and
I'm talking like, again, w2employee, not independent
contractor.
So look at your workload.
Are you overworked?
Are you having more sales comein than what you can handle?
(01:22):
Are you having more clientsthan you can handle?
These are all the questionsthat you're going to want to be
asking yourself, because this isgoing to tell you whether or
not you can actually hire onsomeone Now, before you start
doing the math and, financiallyspeaking, trying to figure out
if you can afford someone, it'salso important to remember that
along with payroll comes a lotof taxes associated to that.
(01:45):
So you're going to have yourunemployment tax.
If you off your employeeshealth benefits, you'll have
that as an expense, and so it'simportant, whenever you're
looking at an employee, to makesure that you're factoring all
those additional expenses.
And so there is one greatapplication out there that I use
for this, and it is actuallycalled Gusto.
They do an excellent job ofhelping you with benefits,
(02:08):
payroll, hr, really anythingthat you need to be able to run
a business with employees.
They have time clocks on there,they have reporting systems
everything that you can possiblyneed in order to have employees
they actually offer, and so Iwould recommend starting there
and at least getting an idea ofwhat it's going to run you
(02:28):
monthly, and they even give youcost analysis and like estimates
of what it would be to have anadditional employee with all the
benefits that you offer.
Now let's talk about employeecompensation and why you want to
make sure that you're the oneproviding the most amount of
compensation compared to yourcompetitors.
One thing I find a lot ofbusiness owners do is they're
(02:49):
always looking for the cheapest.
They're looking for theemployee that can come in and
work for the cheapest.
They don't want to pay becausethey want to be able to keep
more revenue in the business,which we all do, right, I mean,
revenue is kind of what makesthe business survive, so you
need it, but what really makesthe business survive and really
lets you be able to start thatprocess of buying back your time
(03:11):
and stepping outside yourbusiness is having a quality
team, having a team that you cantrust, and so what I like to do
, and I pride myself in, ismaking sure that I am paying my
team the highest in the industryacross every little platform
there is, and so the bestbenefits.
I make sure that my team haseverything they possibly need to
(03:33):
thrive and succeed in mybusiness.
Now, does that cost me?
Yeah, it does.
Does it get into my revenue?
Absolutely, but you'll see thatit comes back to 10-fold in
other ways.
You'll see that your team feelsempowered.
You'll feel that your teamfeels valued.
You'll feel that you areactually providing a good
livelihood for your employeesand that makes you feel good on
(03:54):
top of it.
So don't look at, okay, howlittle can I pay these employees
, or what can I get an employeefor, if it's truly someone that
you know is going to grow withyour team and actually be there
for your business success.
Make sure that you'recompensating them well and be
the best at it.
Offer them the highestcompensation package compared to
(04:16):
anyone else in your industry.
You'll see it makes a hugedifference.
So that's more from thefinancial side.
Now you will notice that Payrolldoes eat up a lot of your
revenue, and so it's importantthat you're looking at that
before you go and hire someone,because a lot of the times what
I see is business owners theyget super busy, their workload's
tied down, and then they go andthey hire someone and that kind
(04:38):
of free ups their workload, butthen a couple months go by, six
months, eight months, andthey're having to let go of that
employee because they can nolonger afford them.
And that's a hard place to be,because you've got to look at
your finances.
You've got to say, hey, listen,if I'm going to bring this
employee on, I'm going to paythem.
You know $10 an hour.
(04:59):
You got to make sure you'retelling yourself that, hey, if I
want to pay them $10 an hour,that's really $15 an hour.
Now, we know $10 an hour isn'tvery much, I'm just using that
as an example.
But let's say you're payingthem $10 an hour, I always say
add.5 to that, so that'll be $15an hour.
That's what all of your taxesand everything in there, so you
can financially prepare for thatexpense.
(05:19):
So make sure that you have yourprocesses in place in order to
increase that revenue and makesure that you can afford that
employee, especially on yourslow times too, because you're
going to have slow times wheremaybe you're not as busy, but
you're still going to have to beable to pay for that employee.
So you need to make sure thatyou have enough revenue coming
in that you can actually pay forthat employee.
(05:40):
So definitely have a plan inplace as far as okay, these are
my slow months.
And maybe those slow months youcould have the conversation
with your employee that says,hey, during our slow months I'm
going to have you only working30 hours versus 40 hours, but
make sure that you're havingthis conversation ahead of time.
I think the biggest thingemployees hate is being
surprised by something.
(06:01):
So they come in, you're toldyes, I really need you.
I'm going to give you 40 hoursa week.
And then three months go by andyou get slow and now they're
down to 30 hours a week.
That's a shocking surprise.
They're not expecting that.
Now their finances are allblown into proportions.
So make sure that you'resetting clear expectations with
your employees about how manyhours they're going to get, the
(06:21):
benefits they're going to getand what you're going to provide
for them.
Now let's talk about managingemployees, training employees,
because that all comes into playwhen you get your first
employee.
So your first employee shouldbe the person that you feel will
take the best mentorship fromyou.
They're going to be your righthand person and they're going to
be there to help grow thebusiness.
(06:42):
They're going to be there whenthe business is going through
troubles because they have faithin you, they have faith in the
process, they have faith in thebusiness.
Now, finding this person isn'teasy.
It's actually can be quitechallenging.
So you're going to go throughinterviews after interviews and
you may even make the wrong hireat first.
But listen, that's okay, I'vebeen there, I've done it.
You can overcome that.
(07:03):
If that does happen, but makesure that you're hiring someone
that sees the full potential ofthe business.
That's not necessarily therejust for the paycheck, but it's
there because of the vision.
That's just as important asanything else any skillset,
anything like that, that theymay be bringing to the table.
It's important that they seethe full vision, and so make
(07:25):
sure you're asking thosequestions in the interview.
What does it look like in fiveyears?
Where do you want to seeyourself in this company in five
years?
I've actually had some peoplethat have bombed that question
and it's like well, if you'renot interested in being with me
or even somewhat having a vision.
Yes, I understand things canchange, but if you can't picture
yourself in the company andworking in the company and being
(07:48):
there, then I don't want youbecause you're not part of the
vision.
And I'm all about a really goodwork-life balance, really good
work culture, and that is almostpoisoning the well when you
bring someone in that doesn'tsee your full vision.
So if they're your firstemployee, make sure that they're
seeing your vision and thatyou're able to mentor them,
because they're going to be theperson that's going to help run
(08:09):
the place while you step aside.
They're going to be the personthat helps mentor other
employees that you bring on.
So it's very important that youget that first hire tuned in
and then that you also have goodstructures and good systems in
place.
Now I'm not going to talk toomuch about this either, but when
you start to bring employees in, it's very good that your
(08:29):
business has SOPs and that isbasically to, for your employee
knows exactly what they need todo and it's basically an action
plan that says, hey, if thiscomes up, this is what you have
to do in order to resolve it.
So it's super important,something that you want to make
sure that you have, especiallywhen you're bringing on
(08:49):
employees, it's almost needed,and so don't forget to have
those Now.
Once you get that firstemployee and you're going to
have this happen they're goingto make a mistake.
It's important when they makethat mistake that you're letting
them know that it's all right,that you understand.
(09:10):
Now.
I know this sounds simple, butI've seen business owners almost
harass and belittle and getupset with their employee
because they made a largemistake that cost them lots of
money, and they're told thatover and over.
Well, they're going to makemistakes and they're going to
make mistakes that will cost youmoney.
So realize that, going into it,that they are going to make
(09:30):
mistakes that cost you lots ofmoney.
Let that sink in because it'sgoing to happen, and once you
realize that's going to happen,it's a little easier to deal
with it when it does happen.
I always look at my employeeslike myself.
What would I want someone totell me if I made a mistake?
How would I want someone totreat me if I messed up?
How can I resolve the situationat hand so it doesn't happen
(09:54):
again?
And that's when you're going tooffer a coaching.
You're going to be able tocoach them through what they
could have done, the scenario ofhow it happened, and get them
to a place where they feelconfident that if something like
that were to arise again, thatyou're not going to lose out on
that sale, you're not going tolose a financial value from it.
So take any breath.
(10:14):
When your employees make amistake, know that they're human
and understand that mistakes dohappen.
But that's part of the learningprocess, especially your first
employee.
It's part of the learningprocess and understanding, like
hey, they're learning with thebusiness, they're growing with
the business.
They're learning youroperations, they're learning
your standard operatingprocedures, which is what an SOP
(10:35):
is.
So they're learning all ofthose along with you.
And that's what you want.
You want your proto-J Prettymuch.
You want to be mentoring yourproto-J so that way they can
help run the business while youstep away and work on the
business.
And if that's your plan, like,let's say, that's your plan is
to get someone in there that canwork for you while you work on
(10:57):
the business and you're notconstantly doing all the sales,
if that's your plan, make sureit's clear.
Make sure it's clear and thatthey have an understanding like,
hey, listen, they need to comeat the mindset of like they need
to learn as much as they canabout the business, because
you're going to be the onerunning the business, versus
working in the business.
So I guess one of my questionsfor everyone out there is have
(11:22):
you hired an employee?
And, if you have, what was yourbiggest mistake?
I'd actually love to hear that,because I want to see if some
of our mistakes line up.
Thank you, and you can justleave a message either on my
Facebook or Instagram page atJacobKMead.
Go on there, leave me a message, or send me a message or leave
(11:44):
a comment.
I'm just very curious as towhat was the biggest mistake you
made when you hired an employee.
And if you haven't hired anemployee, why haven't you?
Is it because your sales aren'twhere they're supposed to be?
Is it because you feel like youneed to control every aspect of
the business?
Is it because you don't knowhow to go about doing that?
(12:04):
Is it because you're afraid ofcommitting to an employee?
Why is it that you haven'thired your first employee?
I'm also curious to know thatas well, and maybe we can work
together on finding a solutionthat works best for you.
Well, hopefully, this gave yousome insight on hiring and the
importance of hiring because itreally does start with your team
(12:24):
in order to get your time back.
It's something that Iabsolutely value as my team, and
I will do everything I can forthem, and sometimes that
includes not paying myself,because my team means the most
to me and they always deservethe best.
My name is Jacob K Mead, and iftoday's episode really helped
you and you think it could helpsomeone else, please share it
(12:46):
with somebody that needs to hearthis message and let's make
sure that we're getting our timeback Until next time.
Thanks for listening to today'sepisode.
My name is Jacob K Mead, anduntil next time.
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